INTERNAL REPORTING PROCEDURE

INTERNAL REPORTING PROCEDURE IN MCP SP. Z O.O.

 

§ 1

Purpose of the Internal Reporting Procedure

  1. Purpose of the Procedure:

1) to establish an internal mechanism to increase the effectiveness of detecting, monitoring and resolving cases of violations of the law (i.e. fraud and crime) and non-compliance with the regulations that apply at MCP sp. z o.o., with its registered office in Rzezawa, at  Przemysłowa 56;

2) to improve transparency and integrity by specifying the manner of protecting whistleblowers, persons assisting in reporting, persons associated with the whistleblower, who may be subject to retaliation in connection with the reporting, in the context of the Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers (J./L. item  928);

3) to protect public interests by reporting activities that compromise safety, natural environment;

4) to strengthen the organisational culture, by creating a more transparent and more open workplace;

5) to minimise legal and financial risks, by addressing reports at an early stage;

6) to increase the loyalty and morale of Employees, by acting in accordance with the principles of ethics.

§ 2

Subject of the Procedure

  1. The procedure specifies the manner of reporting the violations of the laws or regulations applicable in MCP sp. z o.o. with its registered office in Rzezawa, ul. Przemysłowa 56, identifies people who are responsible for receiving the Reports and the investigation procedure as well as defines the responsibility for the Report (Appendix 3 contains a form of the proper authorization for persons receiving and verifying the aforementioned Reports).
  2. The procedure defines possible means of communication and deadlines for responding to a Report.
  3. The procedure ensures protection of the Whistleblower from possible retaliation action.

§ 3

Glossary

  1. The expressions or abbreviations used in this Procedure shall mean:

1) Anonymous Report – a report that does not contain the details of a whistleblower;

2) Follow-up actions – action taken to assess the correctness of the allegations contained in the report, internal investigation, enquiry, filing of complaints, measures of attempting to rectify or the rectification of the damages, as well as to close the reporting procedure;

3) Retaliation – a direct or indirect act or omission which is caused by a report and which infringes or is likely to infringe the rights of the whistleblower or causes or is likely to cause adverse consequences to the whistleblower, or to a person assisting in reporting the violation and to a person associated with the whistleblower;

4) Action in good faith – a legal presumption as provided for in the Civil Code relating to a person’s intentions, regardless of the outcome of their actions. It relies on a person’s belief, justified under the circumstances, that they are entitled to such a right as they actually exercise;

5) The information on the violation of the law – information, including a reasonable suspicion of an actual or potential violation of the law, which has occurred or is likely to occur in MCP sp. z o.o., in which the Whistleblower participated in the recruitment process or other pre-contract negotiations, works or worked, or in another legal entity which the Whistleblower is or was involved with in a work-related context, or information concerning an attempt to conceal such a violation of the law.

6) Feedback – information provided to the Whistleblower on the follow-up actions planned or taken and the reasons for such actions.

7) Work-related context – future, present or past activities related to the performance of work under an employment relationship or any other legal relationship constituting the basis for the performance of work or services or holding a position in or for MCP sp. z o.o., as part of which information on a violation of the law has been obtained and there is a possibility of experiencing retaliation actions.

8) Violation of the law – an act or omission that is unlawful or intended to circumvent the law, occurring at MCP sp. z o.o. related to:

– corruption;

– public procurements;

– services, products and financial markets;

– counteracting money laundering and financing of terrorism;

– products safety and their compliance with the requirements;

– safety of transport;

– environment protection;

– radiation protection and nuclear safety;

– food and feed safety;

– animal health and welfare;

– public health;

– consumer protection;

– privacy and personal data protection;

– security of information and communication networks and systems;

– financial interests of the Treasury of the Republic of Poland, of local government administration and of the European Union

– internal market of the European Union, including public law principles of competition and state aid as well as corporate taxes;

– constitutional freedoms as well as human and citizen rights

9) Confidential channels for reporting violations of the law – technical and organisational solutions enabling a whistleblower to confidentially submit a report in a manner entailing the least probability of identification of the whistleblower’s personal data by unauthorised persons;

10) Employer – President of Board of MCP sp. z o.o. or a person acting on their behalf;

11) Employee – a person employed by MCP sp. z o.o. under an employment contract and/or civil law contract or any other legal relationship (e.g. nomination); regardless of their position in the organisational hierarchy;

12) Superior– an individual appointed by the Employer to perform managerial and/or supervisory, and/or organisationally superior functions in relation to the Employee;

13) Public Disclosure – means the release of information about a violation of the law to the public

14) Whistleblower – an individual who reports or publicly discloses information about the violation of the law obtained in a work-related context:

– Employee;

– Temporary employee;

– a person performing work on the basis other than an employment relationship, including under a civil law contract;

– an entrepreneur;

– a proxy;

– a shareholder or a partner;

– a member of a body of a legal entity or an organisational unit without legal personality;

– an intern;

– a volunteer;

– an apprentice;

– an officer;

– a soldier within the meaning of Article 2 point 39 of the Homeland Defence Act of 11.03.2022 (J./L. of 2024, item 248 and 834)

– an individual , in the case of reporting or public disclosure of information on the violation of the law obtained in the work-related context prior to the establishment or after the termination of an employment relationship or other legal relationship constituting the basis for the performance of work or services or holding a position in or on behalf of MCP sp. z o.o., or performing a service in a legal entity.

15) Internal reporting – non-anonymous information communicated in good faith, in writing, through the dedicated channels for reporting violations of the law established at MCP sp. z o.o..

16) External reporting – oral or written communication to the Public Ombudsman or to a public authority about a violation of the law.

§ 4

Whistleblowing Procedure

  1. The internal whistleblowing procedure allows for reporting irregularities through accessible, dedicated channels. It guarantees reliable, impartial verification of reported violations within a reasonable timeframe and ensures monitoring the effects of the report, as well as monitoring the follow-up actions taken.
  2. The Management Board of MCP sp. z o.o. has appointed the following persons, acting on the basis of relevant powers of attorney, to receive and investigate the reports:

1) Roksana Nyc-Plucińska HR Business Partner

2) Krzysztof Barnaś – Production Director

3) Paweł Sitko – Head of the Design Engineers Department

  1. Reports on violations of the law may be submitted by the Whistleblower through the dedicated confidential reporting channels operated by MCP sp. z o.o.:

– in writing, by letter to the address: MCP sp. z o.o. ul. Przemysłowa 56, 32-765 Rzezawa, necessarily with the annotation on the envelope ‘SIGNAL’;

– in person, by contacting the authorised persons listed in § 4.2.

  1. The report may be:

1) non-confidential, when the Whistleblower agrees to fully disclose their identity to both, the persons involved in the investigation of the Report and to members of the public;

2) confidential, when the Whistleblower’s data is protected from unauthorised access, in particular by classifying the Whistleblower’s personal data.

  1. The Whistleblower’s personal data shall be processed in accordance with the Security and Personal Data Protection Policy applicable in MCP sp. z o.o..
  2. The Report shall contain:

1) the Whistleblower’s details  (name, place of work, position), including contact details;

2) date and place of drawing up the report;

3) details of the person(s) who committed any violations of the law that are the subject of the report (name, place of work, position);

4) a description of the above-mentioned violations of the law, including the circumstances in which they occurred and the dates on which they occurred;

5) a description of the actual and potential consequences of these violations;

6) actions taken by the Whistleblower to eliminate the violations of the law or their consequences (including previous reports, e.g. to superiors), if any;

7) any evidence collected by the Whistleblower to support the facts, e.g. documents, witnesses, if any; the Form of the Report is attached as Appendix 1 to this Procedure.

  1. All Reports are subject to registration (the register form is provided in the Appendix 2) and their formal and substantive verification by the authorised persons.
  2. The Employer shall be informed of each received Report.
  3. If the Report is received by another department of MCP sp. z o.o., the latter is obliged to forward the Report to persons authorized by the Management Board of MCP sp. z o.o. with due confidentiality.
  • Reports shall be examined in the order of their receipt by the person responsible for receiving the reports.
  • The person responsible for receiving the report shall confirm the receipt of the report within 7 days from the date of its receipt, unless the Whistleblower does not provide a contact address to which the confirmation should be forwarded – Appendix 4 to this procedure.
  • The person responsible for receiving the report shall carry out an initial verification of the report,

and then, with due diligence, is required to undertake follow-up actions.

  • The person responsible for receiving the report shall negatively verify the report, in particular, if the report is obviously unreliable or it is impossible to obtain the information necessary for the investigation.
  • Where the report allows for verification of its legitimacy, the person responsible for the receipt of the report shall take follow-up action, which shall be carried out without undue delay.
  • The Whistleblower, if they made a non-anonymous report, has the right to access information on the course of the investigation in relation to their report, unless all or part of the information are classified under the applicable regulations.
  • In justified cases, the responsible person shall appoint a committee for the examination of the report.
  • The members of the Committee may not be:
  1. the whistleblower who provided the information subject to investigation;
  2. the person to whom the report refers;
  3. a person who is a direct subordinate or superior of the person to whom the report refers;
  4. a person close to the person to whom the report refers (within the meaning of the Criminal Code);
  5. a person who performs activities or carries out tasks the legality of which will be investigated (may be a person who performs activities or carries out tasks of a similar type);
  6. a person whose participation in the proceedings would give rise to justified doubts as to their impartiality for any other reasons.
  • Where the Committee is appointed, the investigation shall be carried out by the committee. The Committee shall always be chaired by the person responsible for the receipt of the report, who shall provide feedback to the whistleblower.
  • The person responsible for the receipt of the report, together with the Committee, shall take steps to gather a complete dossier of evidence. Therefor, they may call upon employees or associates to provide explanations or to make available evidence and provide the necessary information to establish all the circumstances determining the legitimacy of the
  • The duties of the Committee shall include in particular:
  1. conducting an investigation,
  2. requesting supplementary information,
  3. assessment of the evidence collected,
  4. drawing up, based on the investigation, the minutes of the

of the Committee’s meeting,

  1. informing the Management of the Company of the results of the investigation,
  2. drawing up feedback addressed to the whistleblower.
  • During the violation investigation proceedings, due diligence shall be exercised to avoid opinions based on erroneous or groundless accusations.
  • Investigations shall be conducted with respect for the dignity, good name of

employees, third parties and all persons involved in the case.

  • All organisational units of the Company, employees are obliged to provide the necessary information concerning the investigation.
  • The conducted activities shall be recorded in written or electronic form.
  • The reported irregularities shall be investigated without undue delay, within a period of not more than 30 days from the date of initiation of the investigation, provided that it is possible for the Committee to collect the necessary documents and evidence in that time.
  • The parties to the investigation shall be obliged to bring forward facts which are of material importance for the assessment of the case and to submit motions as to evidence.
  • Motions as to evidence may be rejected if they are irrelevant, aim to delay the proceedings, the disputed circumstances have already been sufficiently clarified or relate to facts already admitted by the opposing party or generally known. The parties to the proceedings shall be notified of the rejection of evidence.
  • In particularly complicated cases, the examination of the report of the irregularities may be completed within a maximum of 90 days from the date of initiation of the investigation.
  • Feedback shall be provided to the whistleblower within a period not longer than 3 months from the confirmation of receipt of the report or, if no confirmation was provided to the whistleblower, in the period of 3 months from the expiry of 7 days from filing the report.
  • As a result of the follow-up actions, a report may be considered to be:
    1. founded, in which case the corrective action is taken or the competent authorities are notified;
    2. unfounded (unsupported) and the case is then closed.
    3. Upon completion of the investigation, a report is prepared on the activities carried out and the conclusions reached.
    4. In the event of the need to take disciplinary and corrective actions, the relevant information is forwarded to the Management Board of MCP sp. z o.o., which then takes decisions and allocates tasks to relevant departments.
    5. The Whistleblower, whose report is found to be unreliable or submitted in bad faith, in particular constituting deliberate slander and/or intentionally misleading by, inter alia, providing false data, shall be informed of this fact immediately and their Report rejected.
    6. Misuse of the whistleblowing procedure is considered grossly improper and may result in disciplinary action and, in the event of a violation of the law, may be subject to reporting to the relevant authorities.
    7. In the situation referred to in clauses 33 and 34, the Whistleblower shall not be entitled to the protection defined in § 8 of this Procedure.
    8. All violations of the law committed by employees, irrespective of their position in the structure of MCP sp. z o.o., shall be treated with the same severity.

§ 5

Internal Reporting and Public Disclosure

  1. The Whistleblower may, in any case, report a violation of the law to a public authority or a central authority, disregarding the procedures provided for herein, in particular when:
  2. feedback is not provided to the Whistleblower within the applicable time limit or if follow-up action is not taken within that time limit,
  3. the Whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that the violation of the law may present an imminent or obvious danger to the public interest, in particular there is a risk of irreparable harm;
  4. filing an Internal Report will expose the Whistleblower to retaliation.
  5. The Report shall be made to the Central Authority – the Ombudsman or to the public authorities that are competent for reporting the violations in the areas of their competence.
  6. The Whistleblower may make a public disclosure by reporting to the public.
  7. A report made to a public authority or a central authority without internal reporting shall not deprive the Whistleblower of the protection guaranteed by the provisions of the Act on the protection of whistleblowers.
  8. The provisions of §5 shall come into force on 25 December 2024.

§ 6

Anonymous Reporting

  1. It is acceptable to anonymously report the irregularities.
  2. Each anonymous report is subject to an entry in the register (the register form is attached as Appendix 2). If an anonymous report is left without a follow-up action, the person responsible for handling the reports is obliged to indicate the reasons justifying such a decision.
  3. An anonymous report does not allow for the identification of the Whistleblower.
  4. If, in the course of investigation of an anonymous report, the identity of the Whistleblower is established, the person responsible for handling the report shall immediately grant them the status of the Whistleblower.

 

§ 7

False Report

  1. Any reporting of irregularities may only be made in good faith.
  2. False reporting of irregularities is not acceptable.
  3. In the event that it is determined, as a result of the preliminary analysis of the report or in the course of the investigation, that the whistleblowing report intentionally contains false information or conceals the truth, the Whistleblower who is an employee may be held disciplinary accountable in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Code. Such behaviour may also be considered as a severe violation of the employee’s basic duties and as such may result in termination of the employment contract without notice.
  4. In the case of the Whistleblower providing services to MCP sp. z o.o. under a civil law agreement, a false report of irregularities may result in the termination of the agreement and a permanent termination of cooperation between the parties.
  5. Irrespective of the consequences indicated above, a person who intentionally makes a false report of irregularities may be held liable for damages, should any damage occur to MCP sp. z o.o. as a result of the false report.

§ 8

Protection of the Whistleblower, the person assisting the Whistleblower

  1. MCP sp. z o.o. strictly prohibits any retaliatory actions or any attempt or threat of such actions against the Whistleblower who submits the report in good faith and in the reasonable belief that they are disclosing the violation of the law, whereby it is irrelevant whether the disclosed information was confirmed and whether the violation of the law actually occurred.
  2. The Whistleblower shall be entitled to protection from the moment of reporting or public disclosure, if:

1) they acted in good faith;

2) they had a reasonable belief that the information disclosed and all allegations contained therein, are substantially true, they are not making the disclosure for their own benefit, and that the disclosure of all the circumstances of the case is justified.

  1. The personal data of the Whistleblower, which allows for the establishment of their identity, shall not be disclosed to unauthorised persons, unless with the express consent of the Whistleblower. Upon receiving the report, MCP sp. z o.o. shall process the personal data to the extent necessary for the acceptance of the report or any possible follow-up action. Personal data that are not relevant for the processing of the report shall not be collected and, if accidentally collected, shall be deleted immediately. The personal data shall be deleted within 14 days of the determination that it is not relevant to the case.
  2. Where work was, is being or is intended to be performed under an employment relationship, there shall be no retaliation or attempted or threatened retaliation against the Whistleblower or the person assisting the Whistleblower, in particular:

– refusal of establishing an employment relationship;

– termination or dismissal without notice of the employment relationship;

– refraining from concluding a fixed-term employment contract or an indefinite-term employment contract after the expiration of a trial period employment contract, refraining from concluding another fixed-term employment contract or refraining from concluding an indefinite-term employment contract after the expiration of a fixed-term employment contract, where the Whistleblower had a reasonable expectation that such a contract would be concluded with them;

– reduction of remuneration for work;

– withholding of promotion or exclusion from promotion;

–  exclusion from or reduction of work-related benefits other than remuneration;

– transfer to a lower position;

– suspension from employment or duties;

– delegating the Whistleblower’s current duties to another employee;

– unfavourable change of the place of work or work schedule;

– negative performance evaluation or a negative opinion of work;

– imposing or applying a disciplinary measure, including a financial penalty, or a measure of a similar nature;

– coercion, intimidation or exclusion;

– mobbing;

– discrimination;

– unfavourable or inequitable treatment;

– withholding from participation in, or exclusion from, professional qualification trainings;

– unjustified referral for medical examination, including psychiatric examination, unless separate regulations provide for the possibility of referring an employee for such examination;

– actions intended to hinder future employment in a particular sector or industry on the basis of informal or formal sectoral or industrial arrangements;

– causing financial loss, including economic loss, or loss of income;

– causing other non-material damage, including damage to personal rights, in particular to the Whistleblower’s reputation.

  1. Where work or services were, are being or are to be provided on the basis of a legal relationship other than an employment relationship governing the performance of work or services or the performance of a function or service, reporting or public disclosure shall not constitute grounds for retaliation or an attempt or threat of retaliation, including in particular:

1) termination of a contract to which the Whistleblower is a party, in particular concerning the sale or supply of goods or the provision of services, the withdrawal from such contract or its termination without notice;

2) imposition of an obligation or refusal to grant, limitation or revocation of an entitlement, in particular a license, permit or relief.

  1. The Employer shall protect the Whistleblower from harassment, discrimination or psychological abuse in connection with its lawful actions related to reporting of the discovered or alleged violations of the law.
  2. The protection shall last for any period which is justified by the circumstances, but not less than the period of the investigation.
  3. The protection of the Whistleblower under this Procedure does not supersede the protection under the applicable law.
  4. In the event of retaliation, the Whistleblower shall inform the persons authorised to receive and verify the aforementioned violations, who, upon the examination of the case, shall draw up an opinion together with recommendations and submit it to the Management Board of MCP sp. z o.o.
  5. Persons authorised to receive and investigate the aforementioned violations shall monitor the situation of the Whistleblower, at least for the whole period of protection guaranteed pursuant to § 5 clause 6 of this Procedure or longer, if justified by the circumstances.
  6. Persons authorised to receive and investigate the aforementioned violations are authorised to check whether the Whistleblower has been subjected to discrimination or other forms of retaliation.
  7. A person who refused to participate in the violation of the law and/or assisted in the disclosure of the violation of the law by providing information to the Whistleblower or by testifying, a person assisting in making a report and, a person associated with the Whistleblower shall be protected to the same extent as the Whistleblower.
  8. The Whistleblower who has been subjected to retaliation shall be entitled to compensation in an amount not lower than the average monthly salary in the national economy for the previous year, published for pension purposes in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland ‘Monitor Polski’ by the President of the Central Statistical Office, or to a right to redress.

 § 9

Responsibility of the Whistleblower for participating in a violation of the law

  1. Reporting a violation of the law shall not exempt the Whistleblower from liability for acts committed to the detriment of the Employer, including acts relating to breaches of common law and internal regulations.
  2. If the reporting of violations of the law relates to an act in which the Whistleblower participated, then the reporting shall be taken into account as a mitigating factor when deciding on disciplinary action.
  3. A person who has suffered damage due to a Whistleblower’s intentional reporting or public disclosure of false information shall be entitled to compensation or redress for the violation of personal rights from the Whistleblower who made such a report or public disclosure.
  4. Reporting or public disclosure cannot give rise to liability, including disciplinary liability or liability for damages for violation of the rights of others or obligations set out in the law, in particular with respect to slander, violation of personal rights, copyright, protection of personal data and the confidentiality obligation, including business confidentiality, except the situations where the Whistleblower had reasonable grounds to believe that the reporting or public disclosure was necessary to disclose the violation of the law in accordance with the Act.

 

§ 10

Related Documents

  1. Related documents:

1) Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of whistleblowers (OJ  UE L 305 of 26.11.2019, page  17, OJ  UE L 347 of 20.10.2020, page  1, OJ  UE L 265 of 12.10.2022, page  1 and OJ  UE L 150 of 09.06.2023, page  40);

2) Act of 14.06.2024 on the protection of whistleblowers (J./ L., item  928)

3) Order No. 1/2020 of 20-02-2020 on the Security and Personal Data Protection Policy in MCP sp. z o.o.