Information on Legislative Decree No. 24 of March 10, 2023 (Whistleblowing Decree)
In accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2019 concerning the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, Legislative Decree No. 24 of March 10, 2023 (in Official Gazette, March 15, 2023, no. 63) for “the Implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law and on provisions concerning the protection of persons who report breaches of national laws. (so-called Whistleblowing Decree).”
Frigo Tecnica Internazionale S.r.l., as a private entity required to apply the aforementioned legislation, has prepared a special protocol, aimed at regulating the submission and management of reports of unlawful conduct made by employees and persons treated as such who have become aware of them by reason of their employment and/or equivalent relationship with Frigo Tecnica (“whistleblowing“), offering adequate protections to the reporting parties so that they are not exposed to adverse consequences.
This protocol in particular is prepared in the general interest of the integrity, legality and good performance of the company while simultaneously protecting the rights and identity and confidentiality of whistleblowers.
Frigo Tecnica Internazionale S.r.l., therefore, considering that
- the new discipline is a tool to counter (and prevent) corruption and maladministration in the public and private sectors;
- whistleblowers provide information that can lead to the investigation, detection and prosecution of cases of violation of the rules, thus strengthening the principles of transparency and accountability of democratic institutions;
- it is the objective of the new discipline to ensure the protection – both in terms of protection of confidentiality and protection from retaliation – of those who expose themselves with reports relating to prejudicial situations;
- the protection of the whistleblower has been extended to all individuals who are even temporarily in a working relationship with an administration or private entity, even if they do not have the status of employees (such as volunteers, trainees, whether paid or unpaid, self-employed workers who work for entities in the private sector, freelancers and consultants who perform their activities at private sector entities), those employed on probationary period, as well as those who still do not have a legal relationship with the mentioned entities or whose relationship has ended if, respectively, information about violations was acquired during the selection process or other pre-contractual stages or during the course of the employment relationship (Whistleblowers);
- the Whistleblowing Decree establishes that are the subject of reporting, information on violations, including well-founded suspicions, of national and European Union regulations that harm the public interest or the integrity of the private entity, committed within the organization of the entity with which the reporter has one of the qualified legal relationships considered by the legislature;
- information on violations (civil offenses, administrative offenses, illegal conduct relevant under d.Legislative Decree No. 231/2001, violations of the organization and management models provided for in Legislative Decree No. 231/2001) must concern conduct, acts or omissions of which the reporter has become aware in the work context and may also concern violations that have not yet been committed but which the reporter reasonably believes could be committed on the basis of concrete elements learned in the work context;
- the legislator has provided that special “internal channels” must be set up within the entities to which the regulations apply in order to receive and process reports;
with this communication Frigo Tecnica Internazionale informs that a special protocol has been defined for the management of reports and protection of the identity of the reporter and his confidentiality.
To this end, an external person, third party to the company, (hereinafter also “Designated Person“) has been appointed as the person responsible for this processing, with the task of managing whistleblowing reports, guaranteeing the independence and confidentiality of the process. In addition, a special e-mail communication channel has been established at whistleblowing@frigotecnica.com
Reports should therefore be submitted to this person, by the Whistleblower, by email communication sent to whistleblowing@frigotecnica.com
This communication should be as circumstantial as possible in order to make the handling of reports more accurate and effective and to enable the examination of the facts by the individuals responsible for receiving and handling reports.
In particular, the following should be clear:
- the circumstances of time and place in which the fact that is the subject of the report occurred;
- the description of the fact;
- the personal details or other elements that make it possible to identify the person to whom the reported facts can be attributed.
It is understood that at the time of sending the communication, the Reporting Party must have a reasonable and well-founded reason to believe that the information about the reported violations is true and falls within the scope of the relevant regulations.
The Designated Person, who will act as the custodian of the identity of the reporter, will receive and manage the reports, then identify within the Company the Entities directly concerned with them and provide with them the subsequent analysis and definition – where necessary – of the appropriate corrective actions.
Where the subject of the report is not adequately detailed, the Designated Person will have the right to ask for additional elements from the reporter so as to allow the execution of a complete investigation into the circumstances reported.
The Designated Person will carry out a preliminary activity of verification and analysis on the legitimacy of the report and will start the investigation on the facts and/or conduct reported in compliance with the principles of impartiality, confidentiality and transparency, providing information to the reporter on the progress of the investigation with reference to the main junctures. In particular, it will be the responsibility of the Designated Person to take charge of the following activities:
- issuing to the reporter an acknowledgement of receipt and taking charge of the report within seven days from the date of receipt;
- maintaining dialogue with the reporter;
- giving full and correct follow-up to the reports received;
- where necessary, providing feedback to the reporter on the outcome of the report.
Frigo Tecnica Internazionale S.r.l.