Eik Servering AS Whistleblowing Policy
1. Introduction
At Eik Servering AS ("Eik" or "Group") we want to foster a culture of openness and communication. This is
important for the working environment in general, but also for everyone’s well-being at work.
All employees and hired-in personnel (jointly referred to as “employees”) in the Groups operations have a legal right, and in some cases a duty, to report about misconduct that occur in connection with the company’s business. We encourage all our employees to report their concerns about illegal or unethical behaviour that they become aware of in relation to their work.
We have implemented this whistleblowing policy to ensure that employees can express their concerns in a responsible and effective manner internally. The policy shall also secure a safe and responsible handling of whistleblowing reports at Eik.
2. What to report? 2.1 Misconduct
Employees are encouraged to report their concerns about breach of laws and regulations, Eik’s written policies and procedures, or other ethical standards that are widely recognized in the society, such as:
Danger to life or health
Danger to climate or environment
Corruption or other financial crime
Abuse of authority
Unjustifiable working environment, including harassment, human and labor rights violations
Breach of personal data protection regulations
Matters that only concerns the employee’s own employment relationship with the company will generally not be considered misconduct according to law unless it otherwise falls within the above descriptions. Such matters will not be handled in accordance with this policy and should be addressed with your manager.
2.2 Right and duty to report
Employees have a legal right to report about such illegal activity or misconduct as described above in relation to the company’s business, cf. the Norwegian Working Environment Act ("WEA") (No. arbeidsmiljøloven) Section 2 A-1.
Employees also have a legal obligation to report if they become aware of harassment or discrimination in the workplace, or circumstances that may endanger life or health which the employee cannot correct him- /herself, cf. the WEA Section 2-3.
3. How to report?
Any whistleblowing report shall be done in a responsible manner in accordance with this policy, whatever the reason for the report may be. Reports can be made orally or in writing.
6. 6.1
As a main rule, reports should be made internally in the company and primarily to your line manager. If this is not possible or appropriate (e.g. because the matter concerns your manager), you may report to Eik’s CFO. Reports may also be made to the company's employee representative, or through an attorney at the expense of the employee. If you do not obtain any appropriate response or do not feel comfortable reporting the matter to any of the aforementioned persons, you may report to the Chairperson of Eik’s Board of Directors.
Employees may always report to public authorities.
Disclosure to the media or the public in general is not acceptable, unless the employee is in good faith regarding the content of the report, the report concerns misconduct which has public interest and the employee has tried internal reporting first or has reasons to believe that internal reporting will not be appropriate.
4. Protection against retaliation
Employees who report in a responsible way shall be protected against any adverse act or omission as a consequence of, or a reaction to, reporting the matter (retaliation). This includes becoming subject to:
threats, harassment, unjust discrimination, social exclusion or other unfair treatment
warning, unjustified change of work tasks, relocation or degradation; or
suspension, termination (with notice or by summarily dismissal) or disciplinary punishment.
If necessary, the company will implement measures to protect the whistleblower against retaliation.
5. Confidentiality
All whistleblowing reports made in Eik will be handled with confidentiality. This means that:
The whistleblower’s identity shall be disclosed strictly on a need-to-know basis, only to those receiving and handling the report. Anyone receiving and handling the report shall keep the whistleblower’s identity confidential to the extent possible and permitted by law.
The handling of the report is confidential and information about the content of the report is only disclosed to people on a strictly need-to-know basis. The fact that a report has been made, what the report concerns and that it is investigated can be communicated to the organization, the authorities, media or others, if deemed necessary.
Process of handling reports Routines upon receipt of reports
All whistleblowing reports will be taken seriously. How the whistleblower makes the report shall not affect how it is processed. If the report is made orally the receiver of the report shall write it down. Anonymous whistleblowing reports will also be handled. However, it is helpful, and sometimes necessary, for the recipient to be able to contact the whistleblower to raise questions and obtain information needed to assess the report.
The whistleblower shall receive a written confirmation that the report has been received within reasonable time.
Any conversations with the whistleblower shall be subject to minutes. The whistleblower's identity shall not be stated in any written material, unless approved by the whistleblower. A copy of the minutes shall be provided to the whistleblower upon request.
Eik has established a permanent committee for handling whistleblowing reports (“the Committee”), consisting of the CEO of EIK and CEO of the subsidiary. The person who receives a report shall immediately communicate the report to the Committee. If the report contains the name of a member of the Committee, the report shall be communicated to the Chairperson of Eik’s Board of Directors, who will be responsible for the handling of the report by others than the Committee.
6.2 The handling of reports
The Committee evaluates all received reports on a case-by-case basis. Reports regarding misconduct (ref. section 2.1) shall always be subject to appropriate investigation and be handled within reasonable time. The Committee shall give a preliminary response to the whistleblower within two weeks from receipt of the report, regardless of whether the report is still under evaluation. To the extent possible, the response should include an estimate of when the case may be expected to be concluded.
With respect to reports that clearly does not concern misconduct as described in section 2.1 (e.g. employment grievances), the Committee may close the case without further actions or refer it to be handled by other relevant functions in Eik. The Whistleblower shall nevertheless be notified that the case has been closed/referred to another function, as well as an explanation of the reason.
The Committee can make its own investigations and conclude in cases when it is appropriate to do so. Based on an assessment and examination of the available facts, the Committee shall reach a decision in the case and, if relevant, determine suitable follow-up actions. The Committee shall document its assessment and conclusion in writing, including the factual circumstances on which it is based.
The Committee decides on a case-by-case basis if the case should be notified to the Company’s board. The Board should always be notified about cases concerning suspicion of corruption, bribery, breach of anti- trust laws or other economic crimes, as well as other criminal offences relating to the company and/or cases representing a substantial reputational risk for the company.
6.3 Report Panel
A panel shall be appointed for more serious and complex reports ("Report Panel"). The Report Panel is appointed by the Committee, or the Chairperson of the board if the report contains the name of a member of the Committee, and shall consist of internal and/or external people who have the appropriate expertise to contribute in the specific case.
The Report Panel shall establish a mandate for its investigation. The mandate shall at least describe: (i) the matter that will be investigated; (ii) whether the Report Panel is to assess facts or also make legal assessments; (iii) investigation steps the Report Panel will take (e.g. interviews, securing data, inspections, document review etc.); and (iv) the procedural requirements that will be followed during the investigation.
The Report Panel shall safeguard involved person's right to contradiction and right not to explain themselves of self-incriminating matters. Involved employees shall be notified about the right to be assisted by an employee representative or a counsellor, and persons who have participated in interviews shall receive draft minutes for comments.
The Report Panel shall prepare a written report from its investigation to the Committee (or the Chairperson) with assessment and recommended actions.
6.4 Closing of a whistleblowing case
Once the investigation is concluded, the whistleblower shall be informed about the outcome of the case. The same applies to the extent possible to the person(s) being the subject of the report and other people who have been involved in the case.
In case of documented misconduct, the company may take appropriate internal disciplinary actions with respect to personnel or revisions of Eik’s compliance routines, internal controls etc.
7. Processing of personal data
Whistleblowing reports are likely to contain personal data. Employees must be aware that personal data might be collected and processed for the purpose of handling a report. Examples of personal data that may be processed are:
Name, position and contact details of the whistleblower and the person(s)concerned, as well as any witnesses or other individuals affected.
Details of the misconduct of the person(s) concerned.
Any collection of personal data for the handling of whistleblowing reports will be processed for the purpose of administering and investigating allegations raised, and dealing with discovered misconduct, as described in this policy.
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Policy approved by the board of directors of Eik Servering AS on [19.10.23]