Whistleblowing and Complaints Procedure

Corporate responsibility is a central element of our business activities and contributes to the long-term success of our company. At Pepperl+Fuchs, it goes without saying that all activities are performed in accordance with regulations, laws, and our internal guidelines and code of practice. All of these rules form the framework of our business activities. These include, in particular, respect for and compliance with legal and ethical requirements as well as our self-imposed obligations.

With the Pepperl+Fuchs policy statement on human rights strategy, the Management Board commits itself to comply with internationally recognized human rights and the fundamental labor standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO) worldwide. The policy statement transparently sets out how we as a company meet this responsibility. Furthermore, our principles of cooperation are anchored in our Code of Conduct.

Due to corresponding legal requirements (e. g., German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act or Whistleblowing Directive), Pepperl+Fuchs is also obligated to provide channels for reporting potential violations of these rules. For instance, all human rights and environmental topics according to this acts as well as compliance issues can be reported by external as well as internal stakeholders. This way, rule violations can be eliminated and future rule violations can be prevented with greater effectiveness. To report such violations of rules, Pepperl+Fuchs provides you with the use of the digital whistleblowing platform Speak Up.

If you would like to submit information via the Speak Up digital whistleblower platform, there are several options available:

[1] Once you have accessed the platform from a device of your choice using the link or QR code provided, you can submit information in text form in the browser application.

[2] If you use the Speak Up app or the Speak Up telephone service, you can leave a message in a voice recording. In both cases, the voice recording will be transcribed in Speak Up and translated if necessary to ensure that the information cannot be deduced as originating from you personally.

You will receive a unique „report number“ for each method of submitting information. Speak Up is available around the clock in a broad range of languages worldwide, so you can access your report at any time and view its current status using your report number. You can only view your own reports.

In addition to the reporting channels offered by Pepperl+Fuchs, there is also the option to contact the competent administrative body in the country concerned. Please find a list of country-specific hotlines on this page. 

A new case will be created in Speak Up using the information you provided. This case is handled by the internal Pepperl+Fuchs Speak Up team, which is made up of selected individuals from the Global Compliance department. The members of the Speak Up team are obliged to maintain confidentiality and neutrality, and are not bound by a mandate when they are clarifying the facts of the case. Before the case can be processed internally, the received information is checked for credibility and then categorized. Depending on the relevant facts, selected representatives from the affected departments will be involved in processing the case. Depending on the case situation, external contact persons may also be involved. There is an explicit obligation to treat the information as confidential in all cases.

You will be protected from reprisals as soon as the information has been submitted, i.e., from retaliatory measures or disadvantages resulting from the information submitted, if such information has been provided in good faith. Intentional false reports and misuse of whistleblower protection for other purposes will not be tolerated. The identity of the whistleblower and of third parties mentioned in a report shall be treated as confidential, even after the case has been investigated. In certain cases regulated by law, Pepperl+Fuchs is obligated or authorized to disclose the identity of the whistleblower. The cases entered in Speak Up are stored in accordance with the applicable regulatory requirements and deleted in a timely manner. Information submitted anonymously will not be traced back to the whistleblower under any circumstances.