Criminal conduct means conduct constituting a criminal offence. Severe antisocial activity includes:

• crimes under sections 168, 170, 170b, 177, 212, 213, 217, 221, 226, 233a, 237 to 240, 243, 243a, 247, 247d, 251a, 252 to 254, 261 to 263, 266 to 268, 271, 278a, 283, 299a, 302, 305, 326 to 327a, 328 to 336b, 336d, 348, 352a or 374 of the Criminal Code,
• a crime for which the Criminal Code imposes a sentence of imprisonment with an upper limit higher than two years,
• an administrative offence punishable by a fine with a maximum upper limit determined by calculation; or
• an administrative offence punishable by a fine can with a maximum upper limit equal to or higher than EUR 30,000.

Other anti-social activity means conduct that constitutes an infraction or other administrative offence; other antisocial activity also includes conduct that does not constitute an infraction or other administrative offence but has a negative effect on the society; e.g.:

• Misuse of the position for personal benefit,
• Cronyism (preferring goods and services from friends, colleagues, or family members and simultaneously refusing goods and services from relationally neutral persons whose goods and services are of the same or of higher quality, or preferring friends or their family members or colleagues’ family members when recruiting an employee),
• Improper or unprofessional conduct,
• Aggressive behaviour at the workplace,
• Bullying at the workplace,
• Neglect of duties,
• Alcohol abuse, various types of pathological addiction (drugs, gaming machines, internet),
• Obstructions in making a Notification or recording a Notification,
• Unjustified recourse against a Whistleblower and Whistleblowing Officer,
• Retaliatory actions against a Whistleblower or other persons to whom protection is due, etc.

The person responsible for the Company’s whistleblowing programme and for verification of notification (Whistleblowing Officer) is the department of the Risk Management and Internal Audit, which performs the Employer’s tasks under the Act. The Whistleblowing Officer is obliged to:

• Confirm acceptance of the notification to the Whistleblower within 7 days upon having received it;
• Verify the notification, make a conclusion, and notify the Whistleblower about the outcome of the completed verification of his/her notification and of the action taken as a result of the verification of notification, if any, within 90 days upon having confirmed the notification acceptance or, if the notification acceptance was not confirmed, within 90 days after the deadline of 7 days after having received the notification; other method of notification handling, (e.g. information that the notification does not constitute a notification under the Act, or forwarding the notification to another Company department competent to handle the matter) is also considered the verification of the notification;
• Adopt/agree with the responsible Company departments the measures and deadlines for their delivery, review their delivery and achieved results; inform the Whistleblower about the measures adopted based on the notification  within 10 days from their adoption, if they have not been adopted within the period set out for verification of the notification.
• Keep the identity of the Whistleblower and identity of the person concerned confidential. Provision of the information about the identity of the Whistleblower is subject to his/her written consent, except for the cases when such information is provided for the purposes of criminal proceeding or administrative offence proceeding; the Company will inform the Whistleblower thereof. If Whistleblower wishes to stay anonymous, the Company keeps the Whistleblower’s identity confidential.
• Keep records of the notifications for no less than three years from the date of notification delivery.
• Prevent retaliatory actions against the Whistleblower.

Reporting the anti-social activity does not affect the Whistleblower’s duty to report or mar a crime under the Criminal Code.

Whistleblower is natural person who makes a notification in good faith to an authority competent to receive notifications (Whistleblower Protection Office, Public Prosecutor’s Office or a public authority) or to the Employer. In addition to the above, the Whistleblower means also a person who in good faith:

1. Makes a notification and whose employment or other similar relationship has been terminated, if he/she learned the information about an anti-social activity during such employment or other relationship (volunteer activity, internship, self-employed person working through a contract, etc.),
2. Makes a notification and whose employment or other similar relationship has not been yet established, if he/she learned the information about an anti-social activity during the recruitment process or within the pre-contractual relations,
3. Made a notification anonymously and their identity was disclosed,
4. Disclosed information about an anti-social activity, which he/she learned during the recruitment process or within the pre-contractual relations, and whose employment or other similar relationship had not been yet established, or during his/her employment or other similar relationship, or after his/her employment or other similar relationship had been terminated, on account of the fact that:
   • He/she made a notification using the internal notification verification system and was not informed about the outcomes of the notification verification or adequate measures were not taken and the person subsequently made a notification to the authority competent to receive notifications and was not informed about the status of verification or outcomes of the verification within the appropriate deadline,
   • He/she made a notification to the authority competent to receive notifications and was not informed about the status of verification or outcomes of the verification within the appropriate deadline,
   • There is a justified concern that the anti-social activity could constitute an immediate or obvious threat to public interest, or
   • There is a justified concern that the reporting to an authority competent to receive notifications would expose the Whistleblower to recourse or, with regards to the specific circumstances of the case, there is a risk that the authorities receiving the notification will not ensure unbiased and independent verification of the facts specified in the notification.

Whistleblower protection (Sec. 3, 5, 12 of the Act)

Status of a Protected Whistleblower

When reporting a severe anti-social activity, the Whistleblower may request to be granted the status of the so-called Protected Whistleblower by the Public Prosecutor or public authority competent to investigate the matter. If the Public Prosecutor or public authority grant the status of the Protected Whistleblower, it will mean that the Company cannot make any act towards the Whistleblower, with which Whistleblower disagrees, without the consent of the Whistleblower Protection Office.

The Company needs a prior consent of the Whistleblower Protection Office for any labour-related legal act affecting the Protected Whistleblower, except for the cases where such act is acknowledging an entitlement or is related to the termination of the employment relationship, which resulted from factum juridicum independent of the assessment of the Company.

Status of a Protected Whistleblower terminates upon:

• The delivery of a written notice by the Protected Whistleblower about the waiver of protection to the Whistleblower Protection Office.
• The completion or termination of the employment relationship of the Protected Whistleblower with the Employer.
• The expiry of three years after the end of the criminal proceedings or the administrative offence proceedings; however, the protection will not cease if the criminal proceedings result in forwarding the case to another authority,
• The conviction of the Protected Whistleblower of false allegation or false testimony or perjury in connection with the submission of a qualified notification.
• The delivery of a written notice by the authority having provided protection to the employer, if it has been established that the qualified notification had not been made in good faith.

Suspending the effect of a labour-related legal act – consequential protection

The Act allows the whistleblowers to receive also the so-called consequential protection, which consists in suspending the effect of a labour-related act already carried out by the employer against the Whistleblower. The Whistleblower must file such request to the Whistleblower Protection Office within 15 days from the day when he/she learned about such labour-related legal act. If the Whistleblower Protection Office evaluates the request with a positive outcome and suspends the effect of the labour-related legal act, the Whistleblower must turn to the court within 30 days with a proposal to impose an interim measure (Sec. 12 of the Act). The Whistleblower can also request provision of legal assistance free of charge at the Legal Assistance Centre.

Other persons who face retaliation in relation to a notification made by someone else can also seek protection. Other persons to whom protection may be due:

1. Whistleblower’s close person,
2. Natural person – entrepreneur or legal entity, which is managed by the Whistleblower, in which he/she has a share, in which he/she is incumbent member of a body of the legal entity, or for which he/she works,
3. Natural person – entrepreneur or legal entity, which has control of the legal entity in which the Whistleblower has a share or in which he/she is incumbent member of a body of the legal entity,
4. Person who provided help to the Whistleblower in relation to the notification, and
5. Whistleblowing Officer or a person participating in the tasks of a Whistleblowing Officer.

Prohibition of retaliatory actions

A Whistleblower cannot be subject to Retaliatory Actions for submitting a notification, verifying a notification or for rejecting to participate in anti-social activity. This protection cannot be waived. This protection from retaliatory actions is not applicable, if the Whistleblower participated in the anti-social activity.

Retaliatory actions can include various acts of the employer, including but not limited to the termination notice, suspension, disciplinary measures, change in the place of job performance, failure to acknowledge a bonus, pressure, intimidation, bullying, failure to extend the contract for a definite period, premature termination of a contract, etc.

If an Employee believes that the termination of an employment relationship or a change of an employment relationship constitutes a retaliatory action, he/she has a right to file a Report of Retaliatory Action to the Whistleblowing Protection Office before it is materialized or request the so-called consequential protection.