Whistleblowers
This system is intended for:
- employed workers, including workers whose employment relationship is governed by Legislative Decree No. 81 of 15 June 2015, or by Article 54-bis of Law No. 50 of 24 April 2017, converted with amendments by Law No. 96 of 21 June 2017;
- self-employed workers, including those referred to in Chapter I of Law No. 81 of 22 May 2017, as well as the holders of a collaboration relationship referred to in Article 409 of the Code of Civil Procedure and Article 2 of Legislative Decree No. 81 of 2015, who work for private sector entities;
- workers or collaborators working for public or private sector entities that supply goods or carry out works for third parties;
- self-employed professionals and consultants working for public or private sector entities;
- paid and unpaid volunteers and trainees, working in public or private sector entities;
- shareholders and persons holding administrative, management, control, supervisory or representative roles, including where such roles are de facto exercised in public or private sector entities.
The protection of the above-mentioned persons shall also be guaranteed when the reporting, allegation or public disclosure occurs in the following circumstances:
- before the commencement of the legal contractual relationship, if information on breaches was acquired during the selection process or at other pre-contractual stages;
- during the probationary period;
- after the termination of the legal contractual relationship, if the information on breaches was acquired when the contractual relationship was in place.
Circumstances subject to reporting
Reports shall concern information on breaches of specific national and European laws detrimental to the public interest or the integrity of the Company, acquired in the performance of professional duties. Reports shall also concern conducts aimed at concealing breaches (e.g., concealment or destruction of evidence concerning the commission of the breach).
Breaches are to be understood as conduct, acts or omissions detrimental to the public interest or the integrity of the public administration or private entity and include:
- administrative, accounting, civil and criminal offences;
- unlawful conduct pursuant to Legislative Decree 231/01 or breaches of the Organisation, Management and Control Model;
- offences falling within the scope of EU acts (e.g., public procurement, services, financial products and markets, etc.);
- acts or omissions detrimental to the financial interests of the European Union;
- acts or omissions in the context of domestic market (e.g., competition and state aid-related breaches);
- acts or conduct that jeopardise the object and purpose of the provisions of the acts of the European Union.
Please note that clearly unfounded news, information already publicly disclosed, and rumours may not fall within the scope of reportable information.
Recipients of reports
INTERNAL CHANNEL
Reports shall be addressed to and received by the person in charge, who – considering the relevant subject matter/field – shall perform any activity deemed necessary to ensure diligent follow-up, also in compliance with privacy legislation.
Please note that reports may also relate to:
- information on conduct aimed at concealing breaches;
- unlawful activities that have not yet taken place but that the reporter reasonably believes may occur where specific circumstances arise;
- serious grounds.
Specifically, the system is designed to automatically notify (by e-mail) the operator every time a report is submitted.
Please note that whistleblowers are assigned a unique code (generated upon submitting the report), which can be used to send further information to the operator, as well as to verify the status of the report. Especially in the case of an anonymous report, whistleblowers may only receive feedback (expected within seven days) by accessing the system using the above-mentioned unique code. The unique code may only be known by the whistleblower concerned.
Whistleblowers are required to clearly indicate in the subject line of the report that such report is to be understood as confidential, thus benefiting from the protections provided for in the event of any retaliation following the report. Should the whistleblower fail to specify the confidential nature of the report, the procedure will be treated as ordinary.
Moreover, whistleblowers are requested to authorise the provision of their personal data and the contents of the report to another person in charge of carrying out the assessment.
Where voice messaging is used, whistleblowers are required to: a) give the express authorisation referred to above concerning the transfer of their identity and the contents of the report to another person in charge or other party appointed to carry out the assessments; b) to provide their contact details (telephone number/email) so that they can be contacted.
Channels
Reports can be submitted through:
Internal reporting channel
All channels are accessible through the IT platform by selecting the company for which you wish to report.
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- Written reports
- Verbal reporting via voice messaging system
- Face to face meeting upon request of the whistleblower
External reporting channels
activated by ANAC (IT platform, verbal reports and face to face meetings). For further details, please check the institutional website
Public Disclosure
by print or electronic means or by means of dissemination capable of reaching a large audience
Complaint
to the public or accounting authority.
Please note that external reporting and public disclosure channels may only and exclusively be used upon existence of specific prerequisites set out in Legislative Decree No. 24/2023.
EXTERNAL REPORTING
External reporting is permitted provided the following conditions are met:
- the professional relevant context does not require mandatory activation of the internal reporting channel; or, although mandatory, the internal reporting channel is not in operation or, although in operation, it is found to be not compliant with the law;
- the whistleblower has already submitted an internal report which was not followed up;
- the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that, if an internal report were to be made, it would not be followed up or that the report itself might entail risk of retaliation;
- the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that the breach may constitute an imminent or evident detriment to the public interest.
External reports, permitted provided that the above-mentioned conditions are met, must be submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) in charge, which in turn shall activate a reporting channel that guarantees confidentiality, including through the use of encryption tools:
- IT platform. By clicking the link to the dedicated page on ANAC’s institutional website, you can access the service dedicated to ‘whistleblowing’ (https://www.anticorruzione.it/-/whistleblowing);
- Verbal reports;
- Face-to-face meetings within a reasonable time
The whistleblower concerned will receive an acknowledgement of receipt within seven days from the receipt of the report (unless otherwise requested by the whistleblower or unless ANAC believes that the acknowledgement of receipt would undermine the protection of the confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity).
Following the above procedure, the existence of at least one of the conditions for an external report is verified. At the end of this preliminary assessment, if none of the above conditions are met, the report is dismissed as inadmissible. Otherwise, the admissibility requirements will be assessed.
Within three months (six months if justified and substantiated reasons exist) from the date of the acknowledgement of receipt or, lacking such an acknowledgement, within three months from the expiry of the seven-day period from the submission of the report, ANAC will provide the whistleblower with the relevant feedback.
For more details on the procedures for handling and submitting reports, please see the Guidelines published on the ANAC website.
PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
Public disclosure may be allowed provided that whistleblowers:
- have previously reported internally and externally or directly externally, but no appropriate action has been taken in response to the report within the time limits set out in the regulations;
- have reasonable grounds to believe that there may be an imminent or evident detriment to the public interest;
- have reasonable grounds to believe that the external report may entail a risk of retaliation or may not be followed up due to the specific circumstances of the case.
Please note that the person making a public disclosure shall be different from the person representing the source of information for journalists. In such cases, the rules on professional secrecy of journalists, with reference to the source of the news, shall remain applicable.
Should the person making the disclosure not reveal their identity (e.g. by using a pseudonym or nickname in the case of social networking), such disclosures shall be treated as anonymous reports.
Please note that clearly unfounded news, information already publicly disclosed, and rumours may not fall within the scope of reportable information.
Safeguards, prohibition of retaliation and penalties
The Salcef Group is committed to ensuring:
- timely acknowledgement of receipt (within seven days) as well as formal acknowledgement (within three months);
- the utmost protection and confidentiality (of the identity of the whistleblower, of the reported person, of any person involved, of the contents of the report and of the accompanying documentation) without prejudice to legal obligations and the protection of the rights of the Company or of the persons concerned, as well as the guarantee of protection against any form of retaliation, discrimination or penalisation for reasons connected with the report.
- Protected persons shall also include:
- facilitators, i.e., persons aiding the whistleblower in the reporting process;
- persons working in the same professional environment as the whistleblower or the person who made a public disclosure and who are relatives up to the fourth degree of kinship;
- work colleagues of the whistleblower who have a regular and current relationship with such person;
- entities owned by the whistleblower, by the person who lodged a complaint or the person who made a public disclosure, as well aś those operating in the same work environment as the aforementioned persons;
- the entities where the reporter, whistleblower or person making a public disclosure works;
- entities operating in the same work environment as the reporter, whistleblower or person making a public disclosure;
- the anonymous whistleblower if they are identified and retaliated against.
- that the report will be recorded through appropriate technical and organisational methods aimed at keeping the information secure and that the report will be processed exclusively by authorised personnel. Where the report is made by using a voice message line, such report shall be documented, with the consent of the whistleblower, either by recording it on a device suitable for storage and listening or by full transcription. Where transcription is used, the whistleblower may verify, correct or confirm the content of the transcript by their own signature. Where the alleged fact is reported verbally during a meeting upon request of the whistleblower, the report shall be recorded by means of minutes. In the case of transcription/reporting, the whistleblower may verify, correct or confirm the content of the transcript by their own signature;
- protection against false, unfounded or malicious reports made for the sole purpose of slandering, defaming or harming the reported persons or other persons mentioned in the report.
Any form of retaliation, even if only attempted or threatened, shall be expressly prohibited. Any cases of retaliation may be reported to the ANAC, which may use the Civil Service Inspectorate or the National Labour Inspectorate, for the measures falling within their jurisdiction (for more details on the operation and management of the retaliation assessment procedure, see the Guidelines published on the ANAC website).
Please note that anyone who breaches the whistleblowing protection measures will be liable to disciplinary or contractual actions (depending on the type of whistleblower) as well as anyone who submits reports with malicious intent or gross negligence that turn out to be unfounded.
Moreover, pursuant to Article 21 of Legislative Decree No. 24/2023, ANAC shall impose the following administrative pecuniary sanctions against the person found guilty of the above malicious intent:
a) 10,000 to 50,000 euro in the event of a proven retaliation;
b) 10,000 to 50,000 euro in the event of hindrance to the submission of the report;
c) from 10,000 to 50,000 euro when the Authority establishes that the confidentiality obligation set out in Article 12 of Legislative Decree No. 24/2023 has been breached. This shall apply without prejudice to the sanctions imposed by the Data Protection Authority
d) 10,000 to 50,000 euro when the Authority verifies that no reporting channels have been established;
e) from EUR 10,000 to EUR 50,000 when the Authority establishes that no procedures for submitting and handling reports have been adopted or the adoption of such procedures does not comply with the provisions of the decree;
f) from EUR 10,000 to EUR 50,000 when the Authority establishes that the reports received have not been duly verified and analysed;
g) from EUR 500 to EUR 2,500, where it is established, also by first instance ruling, that the whistleblower is civilly liable for malicious intent or gross negligence, unless they have already been convicted, including by first instance ruling, for the offence of malicious intent or slander committed with the report to the judicial authority.
Content of the report
To ensure proper handling of the reporting process, whistleblowers are recommended to include all the information they hold by sending a clear and complete report describing all the elements useful for the relevant investigation. Specifically, based on the information they have, whistleblowers are kindly asked to include:
- a description of the alleged facts (including the place and day, where possible) and the manner in which they were found;
- useful indications to identify the reported person(s);
- names of other persons, if any, who can contribute to ascertaining the facts being reported;
- any documents accompanying the report;
Finally, please note whistleblowers are required to provide express authorisation to transfer the data relating to their identity and the contents of the report to another entity in charge or other entity tasked with the performance of the relevant duties.