Whistleblower scheme - Govers Accountants / Advisors

If you suspect that an employee of Govers Accountants/Adviseurs has committed an abuse, you can report it. Below is the procedure for the whistleblower scheme.
If there are situations as mentioned under the scope of the complaints procedure of Govers Accountants Adviseurs, we request you to make use of the complaints procedure. The whistleblower scheme below only applies to abuses as defined below.

1. The following definitions are used in these Whistleblower Procedures:

Competent authority:
The competent authorities as referred to in Art. 2c Whistleblower Protection Act, namely: the Consumer and Market Authority; the Financial Markets Authority; the Personal Data Authority; De Nederlandsche Bank N.V.; the House for Whistleblowers as referred to in Art. 3 Whistleblower Protection Act; the Health Care and Youth Inspectorate; the Dutch Healthcare Authority; the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority and any further organizations and administrative bodies to be designated by AMvB;

Social interest:
The public interest is at stake in any case if the act or omission does not only affect personal interests of the reporter and there is either a pattern or structural character or the act or omission is serious or extensive;

Notifier:
A natural person who reports or discloses suspected wrongdoing in the context of his work-related activities;

Reporting:
Report of suspected wrongdoing;

Malpractice:
A wrongdoing is, either a violation or danger of Violation of Union Law, or an act or omission whereby the social interest is at stake:
1° by a violation or danger of violation of a legal regulation or internal rules of the employer (which rules imply a concrete obligation and are established by the employer pursuant to a legal regulation) or
2° posing a danger to public health, the safety of persons, environmental degradation or the proper functioning of the employer's business; or ii) a violation or danger of violation of EU law.

Violation of Union law:
An act or omission that either a. is unlawful and relates to Union acts and policy areas falling within the material scope referred to in Article 2 of EU Directive 2019/1937, or that b. undermines the purpose or application of the rules in the Union acts and policy areas falling within the material scope referred to in Article 2 of EU Directive 2019/1937;

Suspicion of wrongdoing:
The suspicion of a reporter that there is wrongdoing within the organization in which he works or has worked, or with another organization if he has come into contact with that organization through his work, insofar as the suspicion is based on reasonable grounds arising from the reporter's knowledge with his employer or arising from the reporter's knowledge gained through his work with another company or another organization;

Work-related context:
Future, current or past work-related activities through which, regardless of the nature of that work, individuals may obtain information about wrongdoing and in which those individuals may face harm if they were to report such information;

Employer:
The name(s) of the relevant entity(ies) acting as employer;

Employee:
The person who performs work under a contract of employment or the person who otherwise performs work for remuneration in a subordination relationship (e.g. interns, self-employed persons without staff, partners, directors, supervisors) for employer.

2 Making a notification

2.1 Any reporter who suspects wrongdoing may report that suspicion to the employer in the manner set forth below.
2.2 Reports can be made to Harm Kolen, "the independent officer," by phone(+31 40 2504504 or email(kolen@govers.nl).
2.3 If the reporter has a reasonable suspicion and he makes the suspicion known that the independent officer is involved in the suspected wrongdoing or is not independent, the report is not made to the independent officer, but to the compliance officer, Hubert Simons (telephone +31 40 2504504 or e-mail simons@govers.nl) who then acts as 'the independent officer'.
2.4 A report may be made: by letter, by e-mail, by telephone, by voice message system to the officer named in Article 2.2, or by conversation, upon request and within a reasonable time to be determined by the officer, at a location to be specified with the person named in Article 2.2.
2.5 The reporter must provide with the report a (private) home and/or (private) email address and telephone number at which the reporter can be reached by mail and/or email and by telephone in connection with the report.
2.6 The suspicion of wrongdoing must be based on reasonable grounds arising from the reporter's knowledge at the employer or arising from the reporter's knowledge from his work at another company or organization performing work for or on behalf of the employer.
2.7 When reporting, the reporter provides as much information as possible available to him in that regard.

3 Any confidential advice

3.1 Anyone who suspects wrongdoing may seek advice about it in confidence (consult and request, for example, information, consultation and support).
3.2 Confidential advice may be obtained from the officers listed in Articles 2.2 and 2.3.

4 Treatment of the notification

4.1 Upon receipt, the report shall be recorded in a register set up for that purpose.
4.2 The report will be investigated and followed up by the independent officer, who will thereby assess which persons within or outside the organization should be involved in dealing with the report.
4.3 If the report is made orally (whether in a consultation scheduled for that purpose or not), [the designated independent officer] will either make a written record of the consultation or make a recording of the consultation. A recording of the consultation requires the prior consent of the reporter. The reporting party will be given an opportunity to respond in writing to any written record of the consultation.
4.4 Receipt of the report is confirmed to the reporter no later than seven days after receipt, by sending a written confirmation to the (private) home or e-mail address provided by the reporter. The confirmation of receipt should preferably contain an objective description of the report and a copy of the report or of the written account of the report if made orally.
4.5 Unless the report is not based on reasonable grounds or it is clear in advance that the reported matter does not concern wrongdoing, the report will be investigated by one or more person(s) not directly involved in the reported facts.
4.6 If the report is not based on reasonable grounds or it is clear in advance that the report does not relate to wrongdoing, the reporter will be informed in writing, with an explanation of that determination.
4.7 The person or persons to whom the report relates will be informed of the report unless the employer deems it not in the interest of the investigation.
4.8 Within no more than three months after the confirmation of receipt is sent, the reporter is provided with information about the assessment and, if applicable, the follow-up of the report.
4.9 The person(s) to whom the report relates will be informed of the assessment and, if applicable, the follow-up of the report at least at the same time as the reporter under Article 4.8.

5 Secrecy

5.1 Anyone within the employer who is involved in a report or in the investigation of a Suspicion of wrongdoing, and in doing so receives information whose confidential nature he knows or should reasonably suspect, is obliged to maintain the confidentiality of that information, except insofar as any statutory regulation obliges him to disclose or insofar as the necessity to disclose arises from his task in the implementation of this Act.
5.2 Information of a confidential nature includes, in any case, information about the identity of the reporter and about the identity of the person to whom the wrongdoing is attributed or with whom that person is associated, and information about a trade secret.
5.3 The identity of a reporter and the information from which the reporter's identity can be directly or indirectly traced will not be disclosed outside the Employer's organization without the reporter's consent. By making a report, the reporter consents to the use of his/her identity to the extent required for the investigation of the report and any follow-up, unless the reporter expressly indicates at that time that he/she does not consent.
5.4 In the event that any law requires disclosure of a reporter's identity in the context of investigation of the report or legal proceedings, the reporter shall be given as much advance notice as possible, unless such information could jeopardize the related investigation or legal proceedings.

6 Protection of the detector

6.1 The reporter will not be disadvantaged during and after the handling of a report as a result of the report, under the condition that the reporter had reasonable grounds to believe that the reported information about the suspected wrongdoing was correct at the time of the report.
6.2 Adverse effect within the meaning of Article 6.1 is understood to include the taking of an adverse action by the employer against the reporting party, such as dismissal or suspension (other than at the reporting party's own request) or the imposition of a fine (as referred to in Article 7:650 of the Dutch Civil Code).

7 Publication of these regulations

- 7.1 The employer will publish these regulations on its intranet and website.