We at GLS are committed to clear ethical principles

This is a pillar of our success as a business. All GLS staff bears responsibility for ensuring that we live up to our principles. Even the misconduct of a few can undermine the reputation of an entire company. It is therefore important for us to identify possible violations of the law by our employees, suppliers or other third parties at an early stage so that we can react quickly and take effective remedial action.

„Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz“ - what can be reported?
(German Act to improve the protection of whistleblowers)

Effective 2 July 2023, the German „ Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz – (HinSchG)“ (German Act to improve the protection of whistleblowers – “Act”) came into force. This Act obliges us to establish an internal reporting channel. Through this internal reporting channel, whistleblowers can inform us of potential work-related misconduct. Whistleblowers may use the internal reporting channel to report the following:

• Information on suspected criminal offences;
• Information on suspected administrative offences to the extent the relevant provisions are aiming at protecting life, physical integrity or health or employee rights or the rights of those representing employees (like works council members);
• Information on other offences within the meaning of Section 2 para. 1 no. 3 of the Act (such as suspected offences against the General Data Protection Regulation concerning the use of personal data).

Reports which concern the offences detailed above will be treated with the utmost confidentiality to maximize the protection of whistleblowers and those mentioned in the report. In addition, the Act protects whistleblowers against any form of retaliation.

Internal reporting channel for reports according to HinSchG and LkSG

The internal reporting channel within the meaning of Section 12 et seq. of the Act is Compliance.

The internal reporting channel is also responsible for operating the complaints mechanism required under Section 8 of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (“Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtenge-setz – LkSG”). In addition to the above, you may also report in confidence potential human rights or environmental risks as well as human rights violations or violations of environmental duties.

For all other reports please feel free to also contact the internal reporting channel. Such reports are also treated strictly confidentially.

However, please be advised that, as a whistleblower, you will only enjoy the protections guaranteed by the Act if at the time of submitting the report you had sufficient reason to assume that your report was true. You are not protected when submitting a report which you know is untrue.

Please contact the internal reporting channel via:

1) GLS Integrityline

or

2) via our ombudsman Dr. Rainer Buchert:

Dr. Rainer Buchert
Attorney-at-Law
Kaiserstraße 22
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 69 710 33 330 or +49 6105-921355
Fax: +49 69 710 34 444
Email: kanzlei@dr-buchert.de

Please feel free to use the electronic contact form also:

Go to contact form

External reporting

Besides contacting the internal reporting channel, you also have the possibility to contact the relevant authorities directly (external reporting). The relevant authorities are:

• The general venue for your report is the Federal Office of Justice.
• In cases specifically defined by the Act, you may contact the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority or the Federal Cartel Office.

Please find more information here .

Internal or external?

The Act allows you to choose whether you would like to contact the internal reporting channel first or whether you prefer to submit your report directly to the relevant external authority. However, we urge you to always contact us first via the internal reporting channel. We investigate each report with the utmost seriousness and will try to remedy the offence. If you are still dissatisfied with the situation following the completion of our internal follow-up measures, you may contact the external authorities afterwards.

In case of questions

Do you have any questions in relation to the above? Please feel free to email us at
compliance@gls-germany.com .