Whistleblowing

What to Report

The report may concern behaviors, acts, or omissions that harm the public interest or the integrity of the public administration or the private entity, and which consist of:

• administrative, accounting, civil, or criminal offenses;
• offenses falling within the scope of application of European Union or national acts in the following areas: public procurement; financial services, products and markets, and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; product safety and compliance; transport safety; environmental protection; radiation protection and nuclear safety; food and feed safety and animal health and welfare; public health; consumer protection; protection of privacy and personal data, and the security of networks and information systems;
• acts or omissions that harm the financial interests of the Union;
• acts or omissions concerning the internal market;
• acts or conduct that defeat the object or purpose of the provisions set out in the acts of the Union.

What Cannot Be Reported

The following reports are not covered by this procedure and therefore will not give rise to protection measures:

• disputes, complaints, or requests related to a personal interest of the whistleblower or of the person who has filed a report with judicial or accounting authorities, which concern exclusively their individual employment relationships, or those relating to their working relationships with hierarchically superior figures;
• reports of violations already mandatorily regulated by European Union or national acts listed in Part II of the Annex to Legislative Decree No. 24 of March 23, 2023, or by national acts implementing the European Union acts listed in Part II of the Annex to Directive (EU) 2019/1937, even if not explicitly mentioned in the aforementioned Annex;
• reports of violations concerning national security.

Reporting Channels

The available reporting channels are as follows:

• internal (within the work environment);
• external (ANAC – the National Anti-Corruption Authority);
• public disclosure (through the press, electronic means, or any medium capable of reaching a large number of people);
• report to the judicial or accounting authority.

The choice of the reporting channel is up to the whistleblower, who may use the external channel (ANAC) when:

• the activation of an internal reporting channel within the work environment is not required, or, if required, it is not active or, although active, it does not comply with legal requirements;
• the whistleblower has already made an internal report which has not been followed up;
• the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that an internal report would not be effectively followed up, or that making such a report could expose them to a risk of retaliation;
• the whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that the violation may constitute an imminent or obvious danger to the public interest.

Protection and Safeguard Measures for the Whistleblower

Legislative Decree 24/2023 has strengthened the measures to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers, in order to increase awareness among those who wish to report a violation and, consequently, to ensure the effective implementation of whistleblowing regulations. Therefore:

• the identity of the whistleblower may not be disclosed to anyone other than those authorized to receive or handle the reports;
• protection must cover not only the name of the whistleblower but also all elements of the report that could lead, even indirectly, to the identification of the whistleblower;
• the report is excluded from access under administrative transparency laws and from the right of general civic access;
• confidentiality protection is extended to the identity of the persons involved and those mentioned in the report, until the conclusion of the proceedings initiated as a result of the report, in compliance with the same safeguards provided for the whistleblower.

Often, those who become aware of an alleged wrongdoing choose not to report it out of fear of retaliation.

Retaliation (as defined in Chapter III of Legislative Decree No. 24 of 2023, Articles 16 and following) refers to any behavior, act, or omission — even if merely attempted or threatened — carried out as a result of a report, a complaint to judicial or accounting authorities, or a public disclosure, and which causes or may cause, directly or indirectly, unjust harm to the whistleblower or to the person who made the report, where such harm is to be understood as unjustified.

Below are some examples of retaliatory behavior:

• dismissal, suspension, or equivalent measures;
• demotion or denial of promotion;
• change of duties, relocation to a different workplace, salary reduction, or modification of working hours;
• suspension from training or any restriction on access to training opportunities;
• negative performance reviews or unfavorable references;
• the imposition of disciplinary measures or other sanctions, including financial penalties;
• coercion, intimidation, harassment, or ostracism;
• discrimination or any other form of unfavorable treatment;
• failure to convert a fixed-term employment contract into a permanent one, where the worker had a legitimate expectation of such conversion;
• non-renewal or early termination of a fixed-term employment contract;
• damage, including harm to the person’s reputation (particularly on social media), or economic or financial harm, including the loss of economic opportunities and loss of income;
• placement on unofficial blacklists based on a formal or informal sectoral or industry agreement, which may result in the person being unable to find future employment in that sector or industry;
• early termination or cancellation of a contract for the supply of goods or services;
• revocation of a license or permit;
• the request to undergo psychiatric or medical evaluations.

In the event of retaliation, the whistleblower may activate the protection mechanisms provided, in particular, by Articles 18 and 19, which allow them to take legal action by turning to the judicial authorities, including with the support of ANAC.

Conversely, the whistleblower may lose the protections granted to them if it is established— even by a first-instance judgment— that they are criminally liable for defamation or slander, or for the same offenses committed through a report to the judicial or accounting authorities, or if they are found civilly liable for the same conduct in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence. In such cases, the whistleblower may also be subject to disciplinary sanctions.

How to Report

It is possible to submit a report through the “WHISTLEBLOWINGIT Platform,” accessible via the link provided in the box.

At the end of the process, a code will be displayed that can be used to verify the submitted report and stay informed about its processing status. It will also be possible to add further information or upload additional documents related to the report.

The unique identification code of the report must be carefully preserved, as it cannot be recovered or duplicated in any way if lost.

The company also allows reports to be submitted by mail. In this case, it is necessary to print Form A (personal details and contact information of the whistleblower) and Form B (report), both available in this section of the website, and proceed as follows:

• Form A, duly completed, must be placed in a sealed envelope with the label “whistleblower identification data” written on the outside;
• Form B, duly completed, must be placed in a separate sealed envelope labeled “report” on the outside;
• The two envelopes referred to in points 1 and 2 must be placed inside a larger envelope bearing the following wording on the outside:

To the attention of the

WHISTLEBLOWING MANAGER

c/o Chimet S.p.A.

Via dei Laghi 31/33,loc. Badia al Pino

52041 Civitella Val di Chiana (AR)

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