You will be helping us if you have evidence that employees of the University of Cologne, students or lecturers are acting contrary to our interests or engaging in any misconduct and by reporting this to us. This includes serious compliance violations and criminal offences such as corruption and fraud, theft and embezzlement, coercion and bullying, but also other breaches of regulations such as environmental or human rights-related risks and other breaches of duty. Imminent or planned offences may and should also be reported. And you can also report to us if you merely suspect misconduct. Even if suspicions subsequently turn out to be unfounded, whistleblowers will not not suffer any disadvantage.

The reporting office in accordance with the HinSchG is not a suitable point of contact for reporting emergencies. If there is a real danger to life and limb, call the police (110) or the fire brigade (112)!

Describe the facts of the case as precisely as possible to our trusted lawyers. Name the department or organizational unit concerned and the persons involved as well as the time and place of the incident. Also provide the names of possible witnesses. 
If possible, you should also forward documents such as pictures, e-mails, etc. that may serve to support your grounds for suspicion.
You decide which data you wish to provide, whether you wish to remain anonymous or whether you are available to answer questions from the confidential counsellors we have appointed.

Within seven days of receipt of your report, you will receive confirmation of this from the reporting office, provided you have given us your contact details. You will receive feedback on the further handling of your report and the measures taken within the following three months. Please note that when providing this feedback, we must ensure that any ongoing internal investigations are not jeopardized and that the rights of third parties are not adversely affected. 

Our trusted lawyers will review your notification and report to the University of Cologne in accordance with the law and data protection regulations. If necessary, your report will be forwarded to the competent authority for follow-up measures.

All personal details will be treated confidentially and you may submit your report anonymously if you wish. 
The reporting office’s online system satisfies the relevant legal requirements. All reports are received by trusted lawyers and processed responsibly before being forwarded to the University of Cologne office responsible for processing whistleblower reports.
The documentation of your report will be deleted by the University of Cologne no later than three years after the procedure has been concluded, unless statutory regulations prevent deletion.

Whistleblowers are protected by law if, at the time of notifying the reporting office, they have sufficient reason to believe that the information they have provided is true. 

For this protection to apply, the report must concern a matter that falls within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act or other relevant laws, i.e. in particular criminal offences and serious regulatory offences. The reported incident must also refer to the University of Cologne or another organization with which you as the reporting person are or were in professional contact. 

In these cases, whistleblowers must not suffer any disadvantages under labour law even if a reported suspicion subsequently turns out to be unfounded.

Various reporting channels are available to you: You can submit your report to the reporting office using the above-mentioned online forms or in person, by telephone, by e-mail or by letter using the contact details given above. 

You also have the option of submitting your report to an official reporting office. These are the federal government’s external reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice, external reporting offices set up by the federal states and the external reporting offices responsible for specific cases, for example at the Federal Cartel Office or the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. You can also send your report to European Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies. This includes, for example, the external reporting channels of the EU Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). The contact details can be found on the website of the respective authority. On request, we or our trusted lawyers will be happy to provide you with further information on external reporting procedures.

However, the law stipulates that you as the whistleblower should prioritize reporting to the university reporting office over the external official reporting office if effective action can be taken internally against violations.

If you have any queries, you can contact the reporting office by telephone or e-mail using the contact details given above. If in doubt, however, it makes sense to use the online system. Our trusted lawyers handle incoming reports responsibly and prudently and process them on the basis of their extensive experience.
 

Heuking's data protection information applies to privacy policy by Heuking.

For data processing of whistleblower reports within the University of Cologne, the privacy policy of the University of Cologne applies.