Governance, Risk & Compliance
Confidential communication
Would you like to make a complaint or report a breach of the law or our rules? You can directly contact our internal compliance team at compliance@hrs.com. Alongside you may also make a confidential report to our Ombudsman. You can also remain anonymous, if you prefer.
Ombudsman of the HRS Group
Alongside contacting the relevant internal team, the ombudsman provides an additional confidential way of making a complaint or reporting any unlawful conduct or breaches of internal rules in connection with the business activities of the HRS Group. The overarching goal is to prevent harm to employees, business partners and the HRS Group.
Current or former employees of the HRS Group and business partners can contact the external ombudsman with information and can remain anonymous if preferred.
The person contacting the ombudsman can do so free of charge. For more information about the ombudsman, how to provide information to the ombudsman and how this information is handled, please refer to the FAQ below.
Whistleblower System (Whistleblower Hotline)
Reports can be submitted confidentially via our whistleblower hotline:
https://portal.bdolegal-whistleblower.de/
Ombudsman
Our ombudsman and Compliance Officer can be contacted at the following address:
Stefan Rau (Attorney)
BDO Legal Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
Zielstattstraße 40
81379 Munich
phone: +49 172-8244516
mail: stefan.rau@bdolegal.de
FAQs
All your questions, answered.
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What is the role of the ombudsman?
Employees, business partners and external parties have the right to report circumstances that indicate a breach of the law or our internal rules. This information can be reported to the ombudsman. The ombudsman offers a legally protected and confidential service outside the company. It informs whistleblowers about their rights and how the information they provide will be handled. The ombudsman will only share this information with its contact at the company if the whistleblower [1] consents to this. The ombudsman can be asked to act as a representative in the matter. The ombudsman is always available for the whistleblower to contact.
[1] Any gendered terms always include people of all genders. The HRS Group is committed to the Diversity Charter and considers everyone to be equal, regardless of gender, age, background, religion, disability or sexual orientation. The wording of this text has been chosen solely to make the text easier to read.
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Who can contact the ombudsman?
All employees and external parties, such as suppliers or service providers, can contact the ombudsman.
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What information does the ombudsman accept?
The ombudsman accepts information regarding breaches of the law and our internal rules. The main objective is to investigate and prevent economic offenses, accounting offenses and financial losses. However, any violations of internal policies such as the Code of Conduct can also be reported to the ombudsman. Confidential and anonymous reports of discrimination, sexual harassment or similar issues can also be submitted to the ombudsman.
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Can I be certain that the ombudsman will only pass on information as far as I allow?
Yes. The whistleblower alone decides what information to provide to the ombudsman and what information the ombudsman can pass on to the company in the second step of the process. The ombudsman is only permitted to pass on information against the wishes of the whistleblower in cases of misuse, i.e. if the whistleblower has intentionally provided incorrect information. The ombudsman will make this clear upon initial contact with the whistleblower.
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Does it cost me anything to use the ombudsman?
No, the ombudsman is free to use.