ETHICS OFFICEs
Freudenberg Group Whistleblower Solution and Complaints Procedure
The Ethics Offices are a confidential contact center for all Freudenberg employees and third parties (i.e. individuals outside the Freudenberg Group, such as suppliers or customers) who would like to report an actual or imminent violation of laws or the Corporate Principles applicable at Freudenberg (Business and Guiding Principles, our Code of Conduct and supplementary internal regulations).
Contact the Ethics Offices confidentially:
The purpose of the Ethics Offices is to ensure that the Freudenberg Group conducts its business in compliance with the laws and its principles, thereby protecting the Freudenberg Group from liability risks and reputational damage and its managers and employees from personal liability. Detection and correction of misconduct help the Freudenberg Group in implementing essential principles of good corporate governance and support the Freudenberg Group in fulfilling its corporate human rights responsibility along global supply chains at the same time.
The Ethics Offices are accessible to everyone: Members of a Freudenberg Group company, as well as third parties, may report any committed or imminent company-related violation of laws or breaches of our Corporate Principles, or any other internal or external guidelines and local practices.
Such violations include bribery and corruption or non-compliance with anti-trust, environmental protection, safety or labor laws. Information providers may also report human rights and environment-related risks and violations pursuant to the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (so called Complaints Procedure) that have arisen as a result of the economic actions of Freudenberg in its own business area or the actions of a direct or indirect supplier of Freudenberg.
The Freudenberg Group has one central Ethics Office in Europe (Corporate Ethics Office) and three regional Ethics Offices (Regional Ethics Offices Asia, India and Americas).
You may reach the Ethics Offices via the electronic reporting system. Information and reports can also be provided orally by means of an audio file or an audio recording (Automated Message Service); for confidentiality reasons, the voice is anonymised and transcribed into text. In addition, it is also possible to upload files (except in .exe format).
https://freudenberg.integrityline.app
Automated Message Services (at local landline rate)
Corporate Ethics Office +49 30 9925 7146
Regional Ethics Office Asia +86 10 8003 200116
Regional Ethics Office India +91 11 7181 6583
Regional Ethics Office Americas +1 21 3279 1015
Company PIN for Freudenberg 1015
Alternatively, you can also contact us by post.
Corporate Ethics Office
Corporate Ethics Office Freudenberg
P.O. Box 100807
69448 Weinheim
Germany
A personal meeting with members of the Corporate Ethics Office can be arranged via the electronic whistleblower solution.
Regional Ethics Office Asia
Freudenberg Regional Ethics Office Asia,
720 Pudong Avenue, 24/F, Unit D,
Shanghai 200120, PRC
Regional Ethics Office India
c/o Freudenberg Regional Corporate Center 1st Floor, Silver Jubilee Block, 3rd Cross, Mission Road,
Bangalore -560 027, India
Regional Ethics Office Americas
Freudenberg Regional Ethics Office Americas,
47774 West Anchor Court,
Plymouth, MI 48170, USA
The procedure is free of charge for you as an information provider (note: except when using the Automated Message Service, local landline charges apply).
Yes, you can make a report with your name or anonymously, to the extent permitted by law.
Please note that, if you choose to report anonymously by post or Automated Message Service, you do not enable the Ethics Office to contact you, if necessary, and the Ethics Office will not be able to provide you with relevant information or ask you questions throughout the process.
The information can be provided in any regional or local language. The electronic reporting system currently offers 27 languages for this purpose. If necessary, the Ethics Offices will take care of a confidential, professional translation.
The respective Ethics Office takes note of the information submitted, checks them for coherence and plausibility and how to proceed. For reports within the scope of the EU Whistleblower Directive1 , you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt no later than seven days after receipt of your report - if you have opened a contact option. At the latest within three months and seven days after receipt of the report, you will receive feedback on the status of the case and on the action(s) taken. Even if the Ethics Office closes the case without taking any action, you will receive a brief explanation of the reasons.
The Freudenberg Group will not retaliate against any person who in good faith reports a violation, assists in reporting a violation or assists in the investigation of a violation and will protect such person from retaliation such as termination or reprimand.
The Ethics Offices treat information and the identity of the whistleblower as strictly confidential to the extent permitted by law. The relevat data protection regulations are complied with.
Our Privacy Statement can be found under Important Documents.
External reporting channels
Reports relating to matters in member states of the European Union or which are also recognized by whistleblowers within the European Union can also be submitted to external reporting offices.
Overview of external reporting channels:
1 Reports that relate to facts in member states of the European Union or that are recognized by information providers within the European Union.
