Internal communication channel
1. Objective
The purpose of this document is to establish guidelines for the Internal Information Channel and procedures for the management, investigation and execution of any irregular, illegal or criminal behaviour that may occur at ARNEPLANT SL, as well as the guarantees and rights of each party, while preserving anonymity and protecting the informant at all times.
2. Scope
This procedure will be applicable to any natural and/or legal person who has any relationship with ARNEPLANT SL (partners, employees, managers, customers, suppliers, collaborators, etc.) and who reports any type of breach, irregularity or illegal or criminal act by means of the Internal Information Channel provided for this purpose.
3. Management procedure
3.1 Communications
In the event that any partner, employee, manager, customer or supplier understands that there has been a legal breach of the internal regulations of the company or of the policies that compose it, they may report it through our contact form, or via an email to the following address:
canal.denuncias@arneplant.com
or talk directly to the Director of Human Resources (person responsible for any investigation).
If for technical reasons it is not possible to communicate through these means, the report may be sent by postal mail to the following address:
ATTN. DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
ARNEPLANT SL
P.E. La Maja C/ Cosme García 1-3
26580 Arnedo (La Rioja)
The person in charge of managing the Internal Information Channel will never reveal the name of the Informant, unless required by law. Arneplant SL has taken the necessary measures to guarantee the confidentiality of the data corresponding to the people affected by the information provided.
All communications may be anonymous if the Informant so wishes.
If the communication is not anonymous, it must contain the following data.
- Name and ID (or similar document) of the Informant.
- Contact details: telephone and email.
- Communication content: the events that took place must be described correctly and precisely, indicating the date (or period) and the possible individuals responsible.
- The documentation must be accompanied by all relevant information, in any format (document, audio, video, etc.).
Upon compiling the information, it is necessary to indicate whether the data is voluntary or mandatory. Refusal to provide mandatory data will imply non-provision of, or the impossibility to access the service for which they were required. Likewise, data may be provided voluntarily so that the services offered can be provided in the best way possible. ARNEPLANT S.L. may keep your data once any relationship with the user has ended in order to comply with its legal obligations.
3.1.2 Reception and processing of communications
Receiving body for communications
Communications made through the Internal Information Channel will be received by the person in charge of investigations at Arneplant SL. He or she will be responsible for implementing this management procedure in its entirety, within a period not exceeding the statute of limitations of the possible sanction and never exceeding 3 months, in compliance with the LOPDGDD (Article 24).
The mailboxes enabled for the reception of communications will be checked weekly.
In the event that the communication refers to the person responsible for investigations, he or she will refrain from intervening in the entire process and will immediately communicate this situation to the Management of the company which will appoint the appropriate person (with no conflict of interest) to perform the functions required for the investigation.
Registration of communications
All communications received will be registered through the form included in Annex 1 of this document, for control and statistical purposes. The registration will include the following fields:
- Reference number.
- Date of receipt.
- Description of the communication.
- Informant (only the initials will be included).
- Means by which the communication was received.
Acknowledgement of receipt and information for the user about the channel
In order for the Informant to obtain confirmation of receipt of the communication, an acknowledgement of receipt will be provided within a maximum period of 7 days. Information regarding the characteristics of the channel and the Informant’s rights will also be provided:
- Commitment to confidentiality. The person who manages the Internal Information Channel will not reveal the name of the Informant at any time, except when required by a court or under legal obligation.
- Indemnity for any Informant who reports in good faith. The sending of communications in bad faith will be communicated to the company, who may take disciplinary measures.
- Data protection. The Internal Information Channel complies with all the regulations relating to the Protection of Personal Data, both Spanish (Law 3/2018 on Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights) and European (General Data Protection Regulation).
The acknowledgement of receipt must contain the clauses set out in Annex 2 to this document.
3.1.3 Analysis of communication
All communications received will be analysed to assess whether the fact reported could be considered illegal in our legal system or if it could violate internal regulations or any of the policies of ARNEPLANT SL. In addition, it will be necessary to analyse whether the incident is credible and whether the communication may have been fraudulent or in bad faith.
Evaluation criteria
The Informant is considered to be acting in good faith when the communication is based on facts or indications from which irregular, illicit or criminal behaviour can reasonably be deduced.
In any case, the following communications will not be admitted:
- Those that do not refer to facts that may constitute a violation of any regulations or criminal offence.
- When there is insufficient information about the facts under investigation or when there are clear inaccuracies.
- Those that appear to be manifestly unfounded.
3.1.4 Admitted and invalid communications
All admitted and invalid communications will be registered in the form in Annex 1.
3.1.5 Information for interested parties
The Informant will be informed about the communication process and the content of the report within a period of less than 3 months.
The person under investigation will be informed within 30 days, unless it is necessary to do so later in order not to interfere with the investigation and preserve evidence, thus avoiding its destruction or alteration. In case of delay the reasons must be indicated in writing.
4. Investigation procedure and modus operandi
4.1 Investigation
responsible for taking the relevant steps to clarify the facts reported. If necessary, said person may always request the help of specialists, whilst preserving the anonymity of the informant.
For the investigation to be carried out correctly, any actions considered necessary to verify that the information reported is real may be taken, as long as these actions comply with current labour regulations.
Such actions may consist of:
- Interviews of the person under investigation or of other people, which will be duly documented and recorded.
- Requests for information and documentation to be produced by the person under investigation or by third parties.
- Compiling information or documentation that is considered necessary from all departments of Arneplant SL, with full respect for the legislation on data protection, labour law and the basic rights of the person under investigation.
- Requesting help from external investigators to analyse specific information.
- Any other action that the person in charge of the investigation deems appropriate to carry out said investigation.
All actions will be confidential, and a written record must be kept in order to verify that they have been carried out.
The person responsible for the investigation will prepare a final report that will include:
- A proposal for sanction or closure, always with thorough justification.
- Practical actions and their results.
- Possible infringements of regulations, company policies or violated procedures.
- A proposal for disciplinary measures regarding the person or persons responsible.
- The allegations, if any, of the person under investigation, allowing a period of no less than 10 working days to make them and present the relevant evidence.
4.2 Decision, execution and closure
If a sanction is proposed, the final report on the content of the documentation will be sent to the management of the company, who will be responsible for imposing the sanction based on the information received.
Once the person under investigation has been sanctioned, the communication is filed and registered along with all the information of the process.
5. Rights and obligations
Guiding principles of the protocol
In order to ensure a procedure with all possible legal and procedural guarantees, this document is based on the following guiding principles:
- Presumption of innocence.
- Contradiction.
- Confidentiality.
- Non-retaliation against Informants.
Rights and obligations of the Informant
The confidentiality of the Informant’s identity will be guaranteed, and the investigations will not be disclosed to third parties linked to the company.
Even so, such disclosure may be necessary by virtue of an investigation carried out by an official entity (police, government or any competent authority).
There will be no kind of retaliation or negative consequence against the Informant for reporting the issue, unless the investigation carried out concludes that the communication was made with knowledge of its falsehood, with reckless disregard for the truth, in bad faith or in abuse of the legal system.
Making false allegations may result in disciplinary sanctions.
Informants who have taken part in the violation of the policies of ARNEPLANT SL will not be exempt from possible responsibility simply because they have formulated the communication.
Rights and obligations of the person under investigation
- The person under investigation must appear before the person in charge of the investigation when required to do so.
- He or she may be accompanied by a lawyer.
- He or she may present his or her full version of the facts to the person in charge of the investigation and provide all those documents considered pertinent to the clarification of the facts. The interview may be recorded.
- He or she will be informed of the decisions that ARNEPLANT SL may adopt as a result of the investigation.
- He or she must keep strict confidentiality regarding all aspects related to the investigation.
If the person under investigation fails to comply with any of the above obligations, he or she may be sanctioned.
Rights and obligations of persons called to collaborate with an investigation
All persons involved in this procedure shall:
- Attend any interviews with the person in charge of the investigation, if summoned, and answer all the questions asked.
- Respond to all requests for information or documentation made by the person in charge of the investigation.
- Provide the person in charge of the investigation with any documents that serve to back up the facts reported.
- Keep strict confidentiality regarding the existence of the investigation and its content.
Failure to comply with any of the above obligations may result in a sanction.
Simply by being a collaborator or a person under investigation can never be a justification for a sanction or for retaliation.
6. Protection of personal data
ARNEPLANT SL’s code of ethics complies with Organic Law 3/2018 on Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights and with the General Data Protection Regulation. Therefore, the retention periods and the information requirements for the interested parties have been established according to Article 24 of the LOPDGDD.
The personal data provided for each communication and obtained as a result of the corresponding internal investigation will be processed solely for the management of said communication and investigation.
The owners of Personal Data may exercise their rights of access, rectification, erasure and opposition in accordance with the provisions of the current regulations on the protection of personal data by sending an email to: rrhh@arneplant.com. Moreover, the exercising of such rights by the person under investigation will not imply that the data of the Informant will be communicated to him or her.
In any case, after three months from its introduction into the Internal Communication Channel, the data must be deleted from the communications system, unless the purpose of its conservation is to preserve evidence to prove that the system implemented to prevent crimes being committed by the legal entity has been effective. Communications that have not been acted upon may only be recorded anonymously, without the blocking obligation mentioned in Article 32 of the LOPDGDD being applicable.
After the period mentioned in the previous paragraph has expired, the data may continue to be processed by the corresponding body for the investigation of the facts reported, but not kept in the internal communications information system itself.
Personal data that is not relevant for the processing of a specific case will be deleted immediately.
7. Review
This procedure will be updated and reviewed periodically in accordance with organisational and/or legal changes and evaluations of the use of the Internal Information Channel.
