Note: Reports of violations should also be submitted even if they are presumed not to fall under any of the reporting categories offered. The exact legal assessment is always the responsibility of Eberspächer.

A. Violations of the law

The following report categories are offered:

1. Antitrust / Competition violations:

Free, unrestricted and fair competition is a fundamental principle of the market economy and at the heart of our corporate culture. Competition and antitrust laws prohibit the impairment of competition through anti-competitive behavior such as agreements and arrangements between companies that have the purpose or effect of restricting competition.

Examples: Exchange of information between companies on prices, pricing process, market, customer or territory allocations, cost and production expenditure, strategies, boycotting, etc. in violation of antitrust law; allocation of certain tenders among competitors, abuse of a dominant market position / market abuse through abusively inflated prices; requirement for a customer or distribution partner to comply with a certain minimum or fixed price.

2. Corruption / Bribery / Corruptibility

Orders should be won through innovation, quality and the price of our products and services. Our dealings with public officials and elected representatives are based on respect, compliance with the law and correctness.

It is a violation if an Eberspächer employee or representative of Eberspächer allows himself to be promised, demands or accepts inappropriate benefits from external business partners for himself personally or for a third party by taking advantage of his own official position. The same applies if an Eberspächer employee offers, promises or grants an advantage to employees or representatives of external business partners, public officials or third parties in breach of duty.

Examples: Inappropriate gifts or invitations granted shortly before a decision on an award is made or which are linked to a quid pro quo (e.g. invitation to a luxury trip with the intention of winning a contract); benefits to a public official to obtain approval. 

3. Fraud / Misappropriation / Theft / Embezzlement

Fraud, misappropriation, theft, and embezzlement are criminal acts that damage Eberspächer's assets. 

Fraud is a criminal offense in which the perpetrator obtains an unlawful benefit for himself or a third party and thereby damages the assets of another party, e.g., by misrepresenting false facts or by distorting or suppressing true facts, causing or maintaining an incorrect belief of the other party.

A misappropriation occurs when the perpetrator abuses his authority to manage or obligate the assets of another party, or violates his duty to protect the asset interests of another party, thereby inflicting damage on that party.

Theft is the unlawful taking of another's asset with the intention of appropriating it for oneself or for a third party. Theft involves the breaking of another's custody (the misappropriation of another's assets). 

Embezzlement is committed when a perpetrator unlawfully appropriates another person's assets for himself or a third party. In contrast to theft, the perpetrator already has the object in his possession. 

Examples: Issuing increased invoices to divert/ withhold the excess amount; Withholding company funds or work materials; Unauthorized taking of company assets.

4. Violations of documentation obligations / Falsification of documents

Non-compliance or incorrect compliance with legal or internal company requirements for the creation, storage or traceability of documents.

Falsification of documents involves the intentional alteration, production or falsification of a document or part of a document with the intention of misleading in legal proceedings.

Examples: Non-documentation of business transactions requiring documentation; Falsification of a signature; Subsequent alteration of contract contents. 

5. Violations of tax law / Customs law 

Violations of tax law are actions in which tax obligations are not fulfilled or are intentionally misstated.

Violations of customs law are actions in which customs regulations are not complied with.

Examples: Incomplete or false tax declarations; smuggling of goods, incorrect or incomplete customs declarations, evasion of customs duties or the withholding of required documents. 

6. Export control / Embargoes / Sanctions 

The cross-border exchange of products, software, technologies, and services is subject to a large number of national and international export control regulations. Compliance with these regulations by all Eberspächer Group companies is a high priority for business activities. Violations of export control regulations can have extremely serious consequences for the operating Eberspächer Group companies, the Eberspächer Group and the acting and responsible persons.

Violations of the law occur when transactions violate export and sanction regulations (country-specific restrictions/embargoes). Country-related embargo checks must be carried out on the basis of the applicable embargo regulations of the EU or the respective nation states, i.e. it must be checked whether the recipient country is subject to an embargo that prohibits or restricts trade or economic relations.

Examples. Deliveries to a customer from an embargoed country; deliberate misclassification of goods to bypass licensing requirements; illegal onward deliveries to embargoed countries; deliberate ignoring or concealment of indications of prohibited use of our products by the customer/goods recipient.

7. Money laundering / Terrorist financing

The Eberspächer Group is subject to the obligations arising from the law on the tracing of profits from serious criminal offenses. Eberspächer's business activities must not be misused to channel assets originating from a crime or other illegal activities into the legal economy (money laundering). 

Terrorist financing means the provision or collection of funds with the intention that they be used in whole or in part to carry out terrorist attacks or to support the objectives of terrorist organizations. 

Examples: An Eberspächer employee has knowledge of facts that indicate that the assets associated with a business transaction or business relationship could be money laundering or terrorist financing and ignores this fact.

8. Violations of accounting / Bookkeeping obligations

Violations of all aspects of accounting, in particular bookkeeping and accounting, auditing, internal accounting controls or auditing.

Examples: Failure to properly record business transactions, such as concealing sales or costs; Intentional manipulation of records to embellish results or conceal losses; Circumvention of internal accounting control systems, such as lack of approvals or authorizations; Failure to properly store supporting documents, such as invoices, receipts, or contracts, contrary to legal requirements.

9. Infringement of business secrets

A business secret is confidential information that has an economic value due to its inaccessibility to the public. Such information is protected by the owner through appropriate measures in order to safeguard a legitimate interest in its confidentiality.

The unauthorized transfer, use or disclosure of such information constitutes a violation of business secrets.

Examples: A developer of a company discloses details of a new product that has not yet been launched on the market to the public or to competitors; disclosure of confidential information about internal operating procedures (e.g. specific production processes). 

10. Violations of data protection regulations / IT security regulations

Violations of data protection regulations concern the unauthorized collection, processing or disclosure of personal data that violate legal requirements/data protection laws such as the GDPR. 

IT security breaches refer to the failure to take appropriate security measures to protect IT systems and data. 

Example: Unauthorized storage of customer data or failure to obtain the necessary consent; ignoring security updates or inadequate access controls.

11. Violations of product-related obligations / Technical compliance

Breaches of product-related obligations refer to non-compliance with legal, contractual or internally defined obligations that result in a non-compliant product.

Examples: Product does not comply with legal safety standards / placing safety-critical products on the market. 

12. Conflicts of interest

A conflict of interest arises when an employee's personal interests clash with the interests of the company, which means that decisions may not be made objectively or in the best interests of the company.

Examples: Personal financial interests influencing decision making; Employee favors a relative in awarding a contract; An employee initiates, encourages or approves the award of a contract to a business partner in which a family member is involved; A hiring manager hires a close friend or relative without fairly considering the objective qualifications of other applicants; A supervisor favors an applicant from whom he expects private benefits; A purchaser favors a supplier who provides him with private gifts or entertainment even though other suppliers offer better terms.

13. Other legal violations

This report category is applicable to you if your report cannot be assigned to any of the categories listed. The exact legal assessment will be carried out by Eberspächer in all cases.

B. Human rights and environmental risks/ breaches of duty

The following reporting categories are offered for human rights and environmental risks and their violations:

1. Bullying / Harassment / Discrimination / Unequal treatment

Such behavior is unacceptable and contradicts our corporate values. We have a positive attitude and rely on the commitment and honesty of each individual (trust). We show consideration for each other and treat each other with respect. We respect the opinions and views of others, even if they differ from ours (tolerance).

Bullying is the repeated and systematic mistreatment of a person. The aim is to isolate or humiliate the person concerned.

Harassment includes inappropriate behavior such as sexual, racist, or discriminatory remarks.

Discrimination refers to the unjustified disadvantaging of an employee on the basis of their gender, religion, ethnicity or beliefs. 

Unequal treatment is the different treatment of persons in comparable situations without an objective or factual reason.

Examples: An employee makes inappropriate sexual remarks about a female colleague; An older colleague is ridiculed because of his age; A supervisor regularly gives an employee unobjective and inappropriate feedback that has nothing to do with the work; An employee is embarrassed in front of other colleagues in meetings; Unequal treatment or ignoring an employee because of his or her origin or gender. 

Note: The processing of inquiries or information on personnel-related topics such as bullying, discrimination and harassment is usually carried out in close cooperation with the responsible HR department. Therefore, please consider, as far as possible, addressing any personnel-related issues by directly contacting your superior or the Human Resources department responsible for you.

2. Abuse of power

The use of power for inappropriate or unlawful purposes describes the abuse of a position to gain personal advantage, make unjust decisions or enforce actions that violate legal regulations or ethical principles.

Examples: A supervisor favoring an employee based on personal relationships or taking advantage instead of considering objective criteria; unequal treatment of employees based on personal prejudices (e.g. gender, origin or age); sanctioning or discriminating against employees who express criticism or disagree; forcing overtime; personal favors or concealing grievances; favoring relatives or friends in promotions, projects or contract awards.

3. Violations of occupational health and safety regulations

The health and safety of our employees is a top priority at Eberspächer. We consider it at a great importance to create safe working conditions and protect health in the long term. 

Violations in this area include actions or omissions that endanger health, work ability or safety in the workplace.

Examples: Repeated and persistent violations of occupational health and safety regulations, e.g. not wearing prescribed protective equipment such as helmets or safety goggles, not following safety instructions, not complying with prescribed maintenance or inspection intervals for work equipment and ignoring accident or hazard warnings. 

4. Other human rights violations / environmental violations

This report category includes human rights and environmental risks as well as violations of due diligence requirements, in particular:

• Forbidden child labor / forced labor / slavery
• Disregard for union freedom and the right to collective bargaining
• Withholding the appropriate wage or the local statutory minimum wage
• Violations of the prohibition on the impairment of food resources, drinking water and access to sanitary facilities
• Violations of the prohibition on unlawful eviction and land seizure
• Violations of the prohibition of the improper use of security personnel
• Obviously unlawful violation of legal positions
• Irresponsible handling of hazardous raw materials / chemicals such as mercury or persistent organic pollutants and waste