Responsibilities and contact person
Complaints are handled by the Compliance department of Fraport AG and, where necessary, with the support of other experts. The contact person is the head of the Compliance department, Elke Breuer.
How the complaints procedure works
Complaints are received by the Compliance department. The whistleblower receives a confirmation of receipt and is kept informed of the next steps that will be taken and the progress of the procedure.
In a first step, an initial assessment is carried out to check whether the reported breach falls within the material scope of the complaints procedure. Otherrequirements for instituting an investigation to establish the facts include whether the incident that has been described can be judged on the whole to be plausible and generally possible and might indicate a violation of any law or a serious breach of an internal regulation. In this process, it is examined whether any collection, processing, or use of data that takes place in the course of the investigation is permissible under data protection law.
The aim of the investigation is to clarify the facts of the matter that are the subject of the report in a neutral, competent, and objective manner. The investigation of the facts is carried out by suitable persons, who are required to act independently and maintain confidentiality. They contact the whistleblower, check the validity of the report that has been received, and, if necessary, request the whistleblower to provide more information. Reports of breaches at a direct supplier are investigated jointly with the supplier. The investigation is conducted on the basis of documents and interviews and is recorded comprehensibly in a case file. Case files are deleted once a year if there is no legitimate interest in retaining them. The whistleblower receives feedback on the progress of the procedure within three months following confirmation of receipt of their report. Feedback is provided only insofar as this does not affect any internal investigations and the rights of the persons who are the subject of a report or who are named in the report are not adversely affected.
Each case concludes with a written final report, which remains strictly confidential. The list of people to whom the report is distributed depends on the nature and severity of the breaches that are identified and is determined on a case-by-case basis. Information is disclosed only if this is necessary and permitted under data protection law.
The final report includes penalties and suitable actions for remedying irregularities and preventing similar breaches in the future. After the investigation has been concluded, the whistleblower is notified of the follow-up actions to be taken, if this is permitted by law.
Protection against reprisals
At Fraport, special protection is given to whistleblowers who pass on information in good faith in order to expose irregularities. The Compliance department guarantees that they are protected by maximum confidentiality and, whenever legally possible, by ensuring their anonymity.
In terms of case management at Fraport, this means that the identity of the whistleblower is disclosed solely to the persons who are responsible for receiving information or for instituting follow-up actions.
Fraport ensures through the whistleblower system that whistleblowers who have sufficient reason to believe that their information is true are not obstructed, restricted, or influenced when they submit the information.
Whistleblowers who have been identified by name need not fear any reprisals, such as suspension, termination, relocation to other duties, disciplinary measures, discrimination, bullying or similar retaliation, from their Fraport employer after they have submitted a report.
Information that is submitted with malicious intent or in bad faith to implicate employees is explicitly unwelcome. Information of this kind that is clearly intended only to harm, denounce, or disparage other people will not be processed. The whistleblower will not be given special protection against reprisals and can be subject to liability in these cases.
