IN LUBATEX SPÓŁKA Z OGRANICZONĄ ODPOWIEDZIALNOŚCIĄ 

WITH SEAT IN LUBAWKA

Chapter I

1. The internal reporting procedure was adopted in LUBATEX SP. Z O.O. on the basis of Art. 25 sec. 1 and 2 in conjunction with Art. 24 sec. 1 of the Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers (Journal of Laws 2024.928).

2. The procedure specifies: 

a) methods and channels for making internal reports; 

b) the organizational unit/external entity authorized to accept internal reports; 

c) the organizational unit within the organizational structure of LUBATEX SP. Z O.O.  authorized to take follow-up actions, including verification of the internal report and further communication with the whistleblower; 

d) conditions for covering whistleblowers and persons assisting in reporting with protection in connection with the made report; 

e) measures of protection for whistleblowers and persons assisting in reporting against retaliatory actions.  

3. LUBATEX SP. Z O.O. ensures compliance with the Internal reporting procedure, including caring for the proper functioning of channels enabling reporting of violations of law, taking into account the need to protect the whistleblower’s identity from disclosure to unauthorized persons. 

4. The internal reporting procedure applies to:

a) former and current employees, regardless of the type of employment contract concluded, including temporary workers and seasonal employees; 

b) persons performing work on a basis other than an employment relationship, including on the basis of a civil law contract;

c) persons conducting business activity on their own account, who have knowledge of violations of law in the Legal entity; 

d) persons forming part of the bodies of the Legal entity, including commercial proxies;

e) partners, shareholders and stockholders;

f) interns, volunteers and trainees;

g) a natural person referred to in point 4 lit. a-f, in the case of a report of a violation of law obtained before establishing an employment relationship or other legal relationship constituting the basis for performing work or services or holding functions in the Legal entity or for this entity or already after their termination;

and who make an internal report of a violation of law in a context related to work performed. 

5. The provisions of the Internal reporting procedure also apply to:

a) persons assisting in making the report;

b) persons associated with the whistleblower;

c) legal entities that are owned by the person making the report, for which such person works, or which are otherwise associated with him in a work-related context. 

6. For the purposes of applying this Internal reporting procedure, the following definitions apply:

a) “follow-up action” – this should be understood as an action taken by the legal entity to assess the veracity of the information contained in the report and to counter the violation of law being the subject of the report, in particular by explanatory proceedings, initiation of control or administrative proceedings, filing an indictment, action taken to recover financial measures or closing the procedure carried out within the internal procedure for reporting violations of law and taking follow-up actions;

b) “retaliatory action” – this should be understood as a direct or indirect action or omission in a work-related context, which is caused by a report or public disclosure and which violates or may violate the rights of the whistleblower or causes or may cause unjustified harm to the whistleblower, including unfounded initiation of proceedings against the whistleblower;

c) “feedback” – this should be understood as information provided to the whistleblower about planned or taken follow-up actions and the reasons for such actions;

d) “organizational unit” – this should be understood as an employee designated by LUBATEX SP. Z O.O.  as an impartial unit within the organizational structure authorized to accept internal reports and a 3-person committee designated to take follow-up actions, including verification of the internal report and further communication with the whistleblower, including requesting additional information and providing feedback to the whistleblower; 

e) “work-related context” – this should be understood as past, present or future actions related to work performed on the basis of an employment relationship or other legal relationship constituting the basis for performing work or services or holding functions in a legal entity or for this entity, within which information about a violation of law was obtained and there is a possibility of experiencing retaliatory actions;

f) “violation of law” – this should be understood as an action or omission inconsistent with law or aimed at circumventing the law, concerning:

1) corruption;

2) public procurement;

3) financial services, products and markets;

4) anti-money laundering and terrorist financing;

5) product safety and their compliance with requirements;

6) transport safety;

7) environmental protection;

8) radiological protection and nuclear safety;

9) food and feed safety;

10) animal health and welfare;

11) public health;

12) consumer protection;

13) privacy and personal data protection;

14) network and information systems security;

15) financial interests of the State Treasury of the Republic of Poland, units

16) of local government and the European Union;

17) the internal market of the European Union, including public law principles of competition and state aid and taxation of legal persons;

g) “person concerned by the report” – this should be understood as a natural person, legal person or organizational unit without legal personality, which is granted legal capacity by law, indicated in the report or public disclosure as a person who committed a violation of law, or as a person with whom the person who committed a violation of law is associated;

h) “person assisting in making the report” – this should be understood as a natural person who helps the whistleblower in reporting or public disclosure in a work-related context and whose assistance should not be disclosed;

i) “person associated with the whistleblower” – this should be understood as a natural person who may experience retaliatory actions, including a co-worker or a close person of the whistleblower within the meaning of Art. 115 § 11 of the Act of 6 June 1997 – Penal Code; 

j) “Legal entity” – this should be understood as LUBATEX SP. Z O.O.;

k) “Internal reporting procedure” – this should be understood as this Procedure;

l) “Internal reports register” – this should be understood as a register kept in paper form containing information about made reports;  

m) “GDPR Regulation” – this should be understood as Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ EU L 119 of 04.05.2016, p. 1, as amended);

n) “whistleblower” – this should be understood as a natural person referred to in points 4 and 5 who makes a report of a violation; 

o) “public disclosure” – this should be understood as making information about a violation of law public;

p) “Act” – this should be understood as the Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers (Journal of Laws 2024.928);

q) “report” – this should be understood as an oral or written report of a violation or an external report, submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the Act;

r) “report of a violation” – this should be understood as an oral or written internal report to LUBATEX SP. Z O.O. of a violation of law – internal report;

s) “external report” – this should be understood as an oral or written transmission to the Ombudsman or a public body of information about a violation of law.

7. Handling of a report of a violation is free of charge.

8. The legal entity does not accept and does not consider reports of violations made anonymously. 

9. The legal entity is the administrator of personal data collected in the Internal reports register within the meaning of the GDPR Regulation.

Chapter II

1. Persons to whom this Procedure applies, the legal entity provides protection against retaliatory actions in a situation when:

a) they had reasonable grounds to believe that the information about violations being the subject of the report was true at the time of making the report and this information may constitute information about a violation of law;

b) they made an external report referred to in the Act in the justified concern that making a report of a violation would not prevent retaliatory actions;

c) they made a public disclosure referred to in the Act having reasonable grounds to believe that: 

i. the violation may constitute a direct or obvious threat to the public interest, in particular when there is a risk of irreversible damage, or

ii. making an external report would expose the whistleblower to retaliatory actions, or

iii. in the case of making an external report, there is a low probability of effectively countering the violation of law due to special circumstances of the case, such as the possibility of hiding or destroying evidence, the existence of conspiracy between a public body and the perpetrator of the violation or the participation of a public body in the violation.

2. The legal entity ensures the possibility of making reports of violations through channels for accepting external reports, which:

a) are independent of communication channels used within the ordinary activities of the Legal entity;

b) are intended solely for accepting reports of violations of law, respectively for conducting communication with the whistleblower and registering events within the follow-up actions conducted by the Legal entity; 

c) ensure completeness, confidentiality and integrity of data, including their protection against access by unauthorized persons;

d) allow for storing information in a durable manner to enable further explanatory proceedings; 

e) prevent unauthorized persons from accessing information covered by the report;

f) ensure protection of the confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity and the person concerned by the report.

3. The legal entity ensures impartiality and independence of persons accepting reports of violations of law, as well as persons conducting follow-up actions.

4. Each person accepting a report of a violation has written authorization to accept reports of violations. 

5. Each person taking follow-up actions in connection with a made report of a violation, including verification of the report and further communication with the whistleblower, including requesting additional information and providing feedback to the whistleblower has written authorization to take follow-up actions. 

6. A report of a violation can be made by means of: 

a) Written report to the employer’s address: ul. Mickiewicza 17, 58-420 Lubawka in which in an additional sealed envelope with the inscription “whistleblower” will be the content of the internal report. The sealed internal envelope should be immediately transferred by the person receiving the company mail to the person authorized in the plant to accept internal reports 

b) A submission box located in the corridor at the employer’s HR office marked as “INTERNAL CHANNEL FOR MAKING REPORTS OF VIOLATIONS OF LAW” 

7.  At the whistleblower’s request, a report of a violation can be made during a personal meeting with the whistleblower. The meeting should take place no later than within 14 days from the moment of submitting the request. A protocol in written or electronic form is drawn up from the conducted meeting. The whistleblower has the right to check, correct and approve the meeting protocol by signing it.

8. A report of a violation should include in particular: 

a) indication of the whistleblower’s identity and contact address with the whistleblower; 

b) indication of persons assisting in making the report and persons associated with the whistleblower; 

c) presentation of what the violation of law consists of with reference to persons, facts, events or other circumstances allowing to consider that the transferred information about the violation of law is justified and the information contained in the report may be true at the time of making the report;

d) date or period in which the violation of law could or occurred;

e) documents that may constitute evidence to demonstrate the facts referred to in the report of a violation;  

9. Personal data of the whistleblower, allowing to determine his identity, are not subject to disclosure to unauthorized persons, unless with the explicit consent of the whistleblower.

10. The organizational unit may conduct preliminary verification of the made report. Preliminary verification of the report cannot constitute an obstacle to accepting the report and conducting follow-up actions. 

11. A report of a violation is entered in the Internal reports register, unless as a result of the conducted preliminary assessment of the report it is obvious that the made report:

a) is unjustified because it was based entirely on untrue statements and this fact is objective and does not raise any doubts, or 

b) is not covered by the scope of this Procedure, or 

c) was made anonymously. 

12. Each report of a violation is entered in the Internal reports register.

13. The legal entity within 7 days from the moment of making a report of a violation informs the whistleblower about accepting the report ensuring necessary protection of the whistleblower’s identity from its disclosure to unauthorized persons.

Chapter III 

1. The Internal reports register is kept by the organizational unit having written authorization of the Legal entity to keep the Internal reports register. 

2. The Internal reports register is kept in electronic form, including using the IT system. Access to data collected in the Internal reports register is available only to authorized persons. 

3. The Internal reports register should be kept systematically. 

4. After receiving a report of a violation, the legal entity processes personal data to the extent necessary for accepting the report or taking possible follow-up action. Personal data that are not relevant for considering the report are not collected, and in case of accidental collection are immediately deleted. Deletion of this personal data occurs within 14 days from determining that they are not relevant to the case.

5. The provision of Art. 14 sec. 2 lit. f of the GDPR Regulation does not apply, unless the whistleblower does not meet the conditions specified in Chapter V point 1 of the Internal reporting procedure or has given explicit consent to disclosure of his identity.

6. The provision of Art. 15 sec. 1 lit. g of the GDPR Regulation regarding the transmission of information about the source of obtaining personal data does not apply, unless the whistleblower does not meet the conditions specified in Chapter V point 1 of the Internal reporting procedure or has given explicit consent to such transmission.

7. The Internal reports register includes at least: 

a) report number;

b) subject of the violation of law;

c) personal data of the whistleblower and the person concerned by the report, necessary for identification of these persons;

d) contact address of the whistleblower;

e) date of making the report;

f) information about taken follow-up actions;

g) date of case closure.

8. Personal data and other information in the internal reports register are stored for a period of 3 years after the end of the calendar year in which follow-up actions were completed, or after the completion of proceedings initiated by these actions.

Chapter IV 

1. The organizational unit authorized by the Legal entity to take follow-up actions, including verification of the internal report and further communication with the whistleblower, including requesting additional information and providing feedback to the whistleblower performs its function impartially and objectively ensuring respect for the rights of the whistleblower, persons assisting the whistleblower and also persons associated with the whistleblower. 

2. In case of a conflict of interest, the person conducting follow-up actions in connection with a made report of a violation should refrain from further conducting follow-up actions. A conflict of interest exists when impartial and objective conduct of follow-up actions is threatened due to any personal interests or personal relationships with the whistleblower.    

3. Follow-up actions are conducted in a systematic and thorough manner allowing for reconstruction of the chronology of undertaken actions and persons involved in conducting follow-up actions.  

4. The purpose of undertaken follow-up actions includes, among others: 

a) establishing facts in accordance with legal provisions; 

b) collecting and securing evidence; 

c) establishing persons who may be related to the violation of law;

d) protection of the identity of the whistleblower and persons concerned by the report;

e) providing feedback to the whistleblower;

f) initiating administrative or judicial proceedings; 

g) submitting a notification about the possibility of committing a crime;

h) introducing solutions allowing to avoid violations of law in the future. 

5. Within a period not exceeding 3 months from the day of confirming acceptance of the report of a violation, the Legal entity provides feedback to the whistleblower about the method of handling the case. 

Chapter V

1. The whistleblower is covered by the protection specified in the provisions of this Chapter from the moment of making the report or public disclosure, provided that he had reasonable grounds to believe that the information being the subject of the report or public disclosure was true at the time of making the report or public disclosure and that it constitutes information about a violation of law.

2. No retaliatory actions or attempts or threats of applying such actions may be taken against the whistleblower, consisting in particular of:

a) refusal to establish an employment relationship;

b) termination or dissolution without notice of the employment relationship;

c) not concluding a fixed-term employment contract or indefinite-term employment contract after termination of the probationary employment contract, not concluding another fixed-term employment contract or not concluding an indefinite-term employment contract after termination of a fixed-term employment contract – in cases where the whistleblower had reasonable expectation that such a contract would be concluded with him;

d) reduction of the amount of remuneration for work;

e) suspension of promotion or omission in promotion;

f) omission in granting other than remuneration benefits related to work or reduction of the amount of these benefits;

g) transfer to a lower position;

h) suspension from performing employee or official duties;

i) assigning the whistleblower’s current duties to another employee;

j) unfavorable change of place of work performance or work schedule;

k) negative assessment of work results or negative opinion about work;

l) imposition or application of a disciplinary measure, including a financial penalty, or a measure of similar character;

m) coercion, intimidation or exclusion;

n) mobbing;

o) discrimination;

p) unfavorable or unfair treatment;

q) suspension from participation or omission in selection for participation in training improving professional qualifications;

r) unjustified referral for medical examinations, including psychiatric examinations, unless separate provisions provide for the possibility of referring an employee for such examinations;

s) action aimed at hindering finding work in the future in a given sector or industry based on an informal or formal sectoral or industry agreement;

t) causing financial loss, including economic loss, or loss of income;

u) causing other non-pecuniary damage, including violation of personal rights, in particular the good reputation of the whistleblower.

3. An attempt or threat of applying the measures specified in point 2 is also considered a retaliatory action because of making a report or public disclosure.

4. If work or services were, are or are to be performed on the basis of a legal relationship other than an employment relationship constituting the basis for performing work or services or holding functions, or holding service, making a report or public disclosure cannot constitute the basis of retaliatory actions or an attempt or threat of applying retaliatory actions, including in particular:

a) termination of a contract of which the whistleblower is a party, in particular concerning the sale or delivery of goods or provision of services, withdrawal from such a contract or its termination without notice;

b) imposition of an obligation or refusal to grant, limitation or revocation of an entitlement, in particular a concession, permit or relief.

5. The whistleblower, against whom retaliatory actions have been taken, has the right to compensation in the amount specified in the Act. 

6. The whistleblower may bring civil proceedings for compensation for damage caused by retaliatory actions referred to in point 2, or demand that an appropriate amount be paid to a public benefit organization conducting statutory activities for the protection of whistleblowers, instead of compensation.

7. The burden of proof that retaliatory actions were not taken for reasons specified in point 2 rests with the legal entity.

Chapter VI

1. In matters not covered by this Procedure, the provisions of the Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers (Journal of Laws 2024.928) apply.

2. This Procedure comes into force on 1 December 2024.