Whistleblowing procedure

Procedure for complaints and notices

Responsible, ethical and lawful conduct is a top priority for O₂ Telefónica in its own business activities and in its relationships with its business partners, customers and other stakeholders.

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O₂ Telefónica has implemented a whistle-blower procedure which enables individuals, companies and other organisations such as non-governmental organisations to report human rights and environmental-related risks or violations as well as breaches of applicable law under § 2 of the German Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz / HinSchG) as well as other legislation, internal guidelines, internal guidelines, the Business Principles, the Declaration of Principles on Respecting Human Rights, the Supply Chain Sustainability Policy or concerns regarding a potential or actual infringement of these regulations. The purpose of the whistleblowing procedure is to ensure that all reports submitted are examined and processed transparently and fairly. To ensure that all persons affected by the actions of O₂ Telefónica and its suppliers have effective access to this whistleblowing procedure, the website can be read aloud in German and English via the speaker icon in the path bar above. The Rules of Procedure are available in five languages.

Reporting Channels

Rules of Procedure

Complaints procedure / whistleblowing procedure

Rules of Procedure english

PDF | 551 kb

Rules of Procedure german

PDF | 396 kb

Rules of Procedure french

PDF | 523 kb

Rules of Procedure spanish

PDF | 386 kb

Rules of Procedure chinese

PDF | 476 kb

1. Foreword

2. Who can submit a report?

3. What topics does the whistleblower procedure cover?

4. To whom can I submit my report?

5. Can reports also be submitted anonymously?

6. What information should a report contain?

7. Who is responsible for processing the reports received?

Telefónica Deutschland ensures that all persons entrusted with the handling of this procedure act impartially, are independent, are not bound by special instructions, are bound to secrecy and protect your identity or the identities of third parties. We additionally ensure that these persons have the specialist knowledge necessary. For the purpose of these rules of procedure, the person entrusted with an incoming report is referred to as the report officer. For the purpose of these rules of procedure, the persons charged with further processing of the matter are referred to as report processors. 7.1 Human rights and environment-related reports The external ombudsperson and the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability department, which manages the human rights inbox, are the report officers. They are responsible for receipt and initial classification of the report as well as for communication with you. In the case of confidential complaints made via the ombudsperson, you will communicate exclusively with the ombudsperson. The members of Telefónica Deutschland’s cross-departmental Human Rights and Environment Committee are the report processors. This committee handles the topic of human rights and environmental protection together with the company’s human rights officer and is responsible for further investigation of the report and the deriving of any subsequent measures. 7.2 Compliance-related reports The external ombudsperson and certain members of the Compliance department, who manage the tell-us@telefonica.com inbox, are the report officers. They are responsible for receipt and initial classification of the report as well as for communication with you. The confidentiality of the identity of the reporting person is top priority. In the case of anonymous reports made via the ombudsperson, you will communicate exclusively with the ombudsperson. The members of the Compliance department are the report processors. They are responsible for further investigation of the report and the deriving of any subsequent steps.

8. How are reporting persons protected?

8.1. Safeguarding the confidentiality of your identity and data protection requirements Telefónica Deutschland ensures that the confidentiality of your identity and of any other persons mentioned in the report is protected and that unauthorised employees cannot access the report. This means personal data relating to you and any other persons will never be shared with third parties. To further strengthen this protection, the report officers stated in section 7 and all other report processors are contractually bound to secrecy. The external ombudsperson is additionally bound by the lawyers’ professional duty of confidentiality and will only share your personal data with other report officers if you explicitly consent to this. Further, complaints are always anonymised as soon as they are passed on by the competent report officer to the report processors for further processing. A report processor, as well as a substitute, will have direct contact with you. This ensures that the group of persons who are aware of your identity is kept as small as possible and, as such, also that you do not suffer any disadvantages by using this procedure. All the reports submitted are handled in accordance with the data protection regulations. Information regarding identity may only be shared with the competent authorities if this is necessary pursuant to a legal obligation or a court or official order or if there is reasonable suspicion of a criminal offence. 8.2 Protection against disadvantage or punishment Telefónica Deutschland guarantees that your report will be handled confidentially. This is the basis for appropriate and effective protection from discrimination and punishment. Should you experience discrimination or punishment due to the submission of a report, we will endeavour to protect you within the bounds of our legal influence. In the event of the demonstrably grossly negligent or intentional sharing of false and/or misleading information (e.g. intentionally false suspicion), Telefónica Deutschland reserves the right to consider disciplinary and/or civil or criminal law steps, as well as the claim for damages under the HinSchG.

9. What happens after a report is submitted and how quickly are reports processed?

The individual steps of the whistle-blower procedure are explained in greater detail below. All the reports submitted are carefully examined and processed as part of this procedure. The processing of a report usually involves the steps below. 9.1. Confirmation of receipt of your report You will receive confirmation of receipt of your report within seven days of submitting it. This confirmation of receipt is sent via the same reporting channel used to submit the report. If a confirmation of receipt is not possible in the reporting channel chosen by you (e.g. anonymous post), we cannot normally provide you with a confirmation of receipt. This does not include customer complaints that evidently have no relation to human rights, the environment under the LkSG or compliance under § 2 HinSchG as well as other legislation. 9.2. Examination of human rights and environment-related reports If permitted by the reporting channel chosen by you, the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability department will send you a (second) confirmation of receipt containing additional information regarding the next steps and the time frame for the procedure as well as regarding your right to protection from discrimination and/or punishment due to this procedure. Further, the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability department/the ombudsperson will contact you within 14 days of receipt of your report. In this context, you will be given the opportunity to explain your report and the underlying problem in greater detail. You will also be asked about your expectations regarding potential preventive measures and remedial action. These are measures designed to prevent a risk from occurring or minimise or end an actual violation. Based on this initial talk, the relevant report officer will perform initial classification of the report. A reasonable report is then further examined by the Human Rights and Environment Committee. At this stage of the process, your personal details or those of third parties are guaranteed to be anonymised in order to further strengthen protection of the confidentiality of your identity or of third-party identities. If this analysis indicates that there is an imminent risk, the Human Rights and Environment Committee will immediately take remedial action to prevent or minimise the risk as quickly as possible. To further process the report, the Human Rights and Environment Committee discusses the matter with the accused and involves relevant contact persons depending on the case, if the situation allows it. Upon conclusion of its detailed examination, the Human Rights and Environment Committee prepares a detailed, written and criteria-based assessment as to whether your report constitutes a human rights or an environment-related violation or risk. Should there be an actual violation or risk, the Human Rights and Environment Committee contacts the relevant internal department and/or supplier to introduce suitable preventive measures or remedial action. Your expectations are taken into account and incorporated in the definition of these. The Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability department/the ombudsperson will provide you with regular updates on the status of the procedure. If a report is groundless, the procedure is terminated by Telefónica Deutschland. A report is groundless if no risk or violation of human rights or environment-related obligations could be identified or the report is in no way linked to Telefónica Deutschland or its business partners. If a procedure is terminated, you will be provided with notification of this, with justification of the termination. Irrespective of the outcome of the procedure, if permitted by the reporting channel chosen by you, you will receive a questionnaire via which you can describe and rate your experience with the whistle-blower procedure (the questionnaire can also be found in Annex II of these rules of procedure). The purpose of this questionnaire is to make the whistle-blower procedure more effective, more transparent and more accessible for reporting persons. The information collected in this way is accordingly used to review the effectiveness of and improve the procedure. Further, if permitted by the reporting channel chosen by you, you will be contacted by the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability department again one month after conclusion of the procedure. This is to continue to ensure that you have not experienced any discrimination or punishment due to your report. In addition, the reporting channel will remain open to you in the future should you subsequently be punished or discriminated against due to your report. 9.3. Examination of compliance-related reports If you did not submit your report anonymously, you can be contacted by a report officer to discuss the facts of your report and the underlying problem in greater detail. This is followed by a review of the report and the underlying facts. The Compliance department then coordinates the examination of a reasonable report further. In this procedural step, your personal details or those of third parties are anonymised in order to further strengthen protection of the confidentiality of your identity or of third-party identities. If the situation allows it, the Compliance department discusses the matter with the accused and, if needed, involves its own relevant divisions or suppliers. If the examination of the report reveals that further internal contact persons need to be involved in the investigation, this will be done with due regard to the confidentiality. If the Compliance department, upon conclusion of its detailed examination, comes to the assessment, that your report constitutes a compliance risk or violation, the Compliance department introduces or orders suitable measures.

10. When will I receive information about the outcome of the procedure?

11. For how long will the information be retained?

12. Can a report also be submitted to external reporting offices?

13. Review of the effectiveness of the whistleblowing procedure according to §8 (5) LkSG

14. Accessibility of these Rules of Procedure according to § 8 (4) LkSG

15. Privacy information for whistleblowers

ANNEX I

Examples of the whistleblowing procedure

If you are unsure whether your report can be addressed via the channels, or what the correct reporting channel is, you can find examples here:

Example: Working conditions and occupational health and safety
Topic	Background information	Relevant reporting channels
Occupational health and safety incl. working time	One-time or recurring disregard of applicable occupational health and safety regulations if this results in the risk of accidents at work and/or work-related health hazards (e.g. due to lack of safety standards, lack of protective measures; insufficient training and instruction). This also includes violations of the Working Hours Act, etc..	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com
Adequate wages	Errors in the remuneration process as well as withholding of appropriate wages (payment of salaries, overtime, bonus, etc.) not related to fraud. The appropriate wage is at least the minimum wage established under the applicable law.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com
Child labour	Unlawful employment of children under the age at which compulsory education ends according to the law of the place of employment, whereby the age of employment may not be less than 15 years, as well as unlawful disregard of the prohibition of the worst forms of child labour (e.g. slavery, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking) for children under 18 years.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com
Forced labour and slavery	The use of labour akin to slave-like practices, such as slavery, human trafficking, debt bondage, servitude and sex work.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com
Freedom of association	Situation in which employees are prohibited from joining a coalition and/or joining or forming a trade union, or are unjustly discriminated against on the basis of their membership of a coalition and/or trade union.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com
Abuse of power by private and public security forces	Hiring or using private or public security guards to protect the company's project if, due to a lack of instruction and/or control by the company, they do not respect the requirement of humane treatment and/or the freedom of association.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com

Example: Protection of the environment and habitats
Topic	Background information	Relevant reporting channels
Environmental protection (to protect health and life)	Causing harmful environmental changes such as soil pollution, water pollution, air pollution, noise emissions or excessive water consumption.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Other environmental protection topics (to protect the environment and health)	Use of mercury in products and production and treatment of mercury waste contrary to the provisions of the Minamata Convention. Use and production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and treatment of waste containing persistent organic pollutants contrary to the provisions of the POPs Convention. Import and export of hazardous waste contrary to the provisions of the Basel Convention.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Habitat protection	Situation of unlawful eviction and unlawful deprivation of land, forests and waters in the acquisition, construction or other use of land, forests and waters, the use of which secures the livelihood of a person.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com

Example: Information security / Data protection
Topic	Background information	Relevant reporting channels
Information security/ Data protection	Use of information of the company, customers, employees, shareholders or external partners for their own benefit or for the benefit of third parties. Violation of processes that guarantee the confidentiality, integrity and availability of sensitive company information.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com

Example: Actions that damage integrity or that are economically criminal
Topic	Background information	Relevant reporting channels
Conflicts of interest	A conflict of interest exists in situations where a personal or private advantage or interest influences professional decisions of an employee and this personal advantage or interest conflicts with the interests of the Telefónica Deutschland Group.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Bribery of public officials	Promising, offering, paying, giving or authorising gifts, hospitality or any other type of inducement to a public official for the purpose of improperly influencing or obtaining an unlawful advantage.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Bribery in commercial transactions	Promising, offering, paying, giving or authorising gifts, invitations or other types of inducements to a business partner for the purpose of improperly influencing or obtaining an unlawful advantage. The same applies to the acceptance of benefits by employees who perform an act in breach of their duties in return.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Theft / embezzlement Fraud / Infidelity	Unlawful appropriation of property belonging to third parties (e.g. the company, other employees, business partners). Procuring an unlawful pecuniary advantage by deceiving a third party or damaging the company's assets by breaching a fiduciary duty and causing financial damage.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Internal control system for financial reporting	Accounting irregularities (accounting fraud) related to internal control over financial information.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com
Non-compliance with contractual obligations towards customers	Non-compliance with obligations entered into with clients with regard to contractually agreed services, billing, quality of products and services, etc., as well as suspicion of theft of client data and/or company-sensitive information.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com

Example: Customer complaints
Topic	Background information	Relevant reporting channels
Discrimination	Discrimination against persons outside of the employment relationship, especially against customers, residents of stores, etc.. Unequal treatment or arbitrary differentiation, e.g. on the basis of gender, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, political opinion, disability, age, language, social origin. Discrimination can also be an isolated event that affects one person or a group of people in a similar situation.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com
Other	Any other indication by customers that cannot be attributed to any of the aforementioned characteristics and disregards the legal position of another person that is to be protected under applicable law.	Ombudsperson: www.telefonica.de/ombudsperson-en Human Rights PO Box: humanrights-de@telefonica.com

Example: Other
Topic	Background information	Relevant reporting channels
Other	Any other indication that cannot be attributed to any of the aforementioned characteristics insofar as concerns of the Whistleblower Protection Act are affected. The specified channels are not responsible for general customer complaints.	Whistleblower-inbox: tell-us@telefonica.com

Whistleblowing procedure

Procedure for complaints and notices

Rules of Procedure

ANNEX I

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