KACO whistleblower system

The whistleblower system is an important part of KACO’s corporate governance to receive and follow up on violations in our own business areas and in the supply chain (both upstream and downstream).

Only by complying with laws, regulations and standards can harm be avoided to people, the environment, KACO, stakeholders, etc.. Compliance with laws, contractual agreements and internal regulations is a top priority for KACO. Therefore, misconduct must be detected and corrected at an early stage. KACO has established two communication channels for whistleblowers to fairly and appropriately follow up on reports of violations that pose a high risk to KACO and its stakeholders:

Information from interested parties (customers, employees, owners, suppliers, authorities, banks, insurance companies, associations, neighbours, NGOs, local residents, etc.) about violations of

• human rights, in particular
  • child labour
  • Forced labour, slavery, debt bondage, human trafficking
  • Failure to comply with local health and safety regulations
  • Disregard for freedom of association
  • Unequal treatment on the basis of origin, ethnicity, health status, disability, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, ideology or political opinion
  • Minimum wage regulations
  • Expropriation, eviction or loss of livelihood

• environmental rights, in particular
  • harmful changes to the land, water or air pollution, noise emissions and excessive water consumption

which are defined in the law on corporate due diligence in supply chains, will be received by the Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. (wdk) in accordance with the rules of procedure for the implementation of the “complaints procedure” according to the LkSG (Link) and will be processed jointly with KACO.

Your contact for this information is

Dr Christoph Sokolowski, who can be contacted at
E-mail:             c.sokolowski@wdk.de (at any time)
Telephone:    0049 69 7936-137 (voicemail Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm CET)
Address:         Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V.
                           Press Officer and Head of the Capital Office
                           Unter den Linden 26
                           D-10117 Berlin
                           Germany

Contacting wdk is free of charge for the person providing the information. The wdk guarantees confidentiality.

Information from natural persons (employees and employers, apprentices, home workers, trainees, members of supervisory bodies, shareholders, etc.) who, in the course of their professional activity or in the run-up to a professional activity (applicants, etc.), provide information on

• criminal offences
• Offences punishable by a fine, provided that the offence was committed in order to protect life and limb or health, or to protect the rights of employees or their representative bodies.
• Other violations of federal, state or EU law, in particular with regard to
• Money laundering and the financing of terrorism
• Product safety and conformity
• Transport of dangerous goods
• Protection of the environment
• Use of renewable energy and energy efficiency
• Protection of privacy
• Protection of personal data
• Accounting and bookkeeping
• Tax regulations
• Restrictions on competition

may be reported to the following bodies in accordance with the Act on the Better Protection of Whistleblowers (Germany: HinSchG, Austria: HSchG, Hungary: Act XXV):

KACO GmbH + Co KG
Phone: +49 7266 913-1300 (during business hours)
E-mail: betriebsrat-de@kaco.de

KACO Dichtungstechnik Ges.m.b.H.
Phone +43 6477 8989 411 (during business hours)
E-mail: betriebsrat-at@kaco.de

KACO Hungary Kft.
E-mail: betriebsrat-hu@kaco.de

In addition, KACO Works Councils can also receive information in a personal meeting.

KACO (Wuxi) Sealing Systems Co., Ltd.
Whistleblower
Human Resource
No. 159 Huichang Road
Huishan Economic Development Zone
214174 Wuxi, Jiangsu / PR China
Tel. 0086 510 8113 8005
E-mail: whistleblower-wu@kaco.de

KACO (Anhui) Sealing Systems Co, Ltd.
Whistleblower
Human Resource
No. 9 Yangshan Road
Economic & Technical Development Zone – Nanshan Zone
242300 Ningguo City / PR China
Tel. 0086 563 529 0100
E-mail: whistleblower-an@kaco.de

Once the report is received, it is registered by the internal reporting office, checked for validity and compliance with legal requirements, and the next steps are determined depending on the outcome of the check. The whistleblower will be informed of the next steps (unless the report was made anonymously).

The internal reporting office assures the whistleblower, the persons concerned and all persons named in the procedure of confidentiality within the framework of legal protection. Reprisals, discrimination or even punishment of whistleblowers will not be tolerated and will be strictly prosecuted if they become known.

KACO attaches great importance to fairness – both in dealing with whistleblowers and with those affected. For this reason, both incriminating and exculpatory facts are given equal weight in the assessment and the principle of proportionality is always observed.

Contacting KACO’s internal reporting centre is free of charge for the whistleblower.

For reasons of readability, the simultaneous use of masculine, feminine and plural forms (m/f/d) is avoided. All personal references apply equally to both genders. The same applies to the terms complaints and reports, which are used interchangeably.