Aasted Grievance Mechanism

How can you raise a concern?

If you are an employee, you can raise your concern to your manager, to HR, to Legal, Insurance & Compliance or to one of the directors. See also our Speak-Up policy.  If you prefer, you may also use the whistleblower reporting system.

If you are external, kindly reach out to your Aasted contact person or, if you wish to be anonymous, use the whistleblower reporting system – open here.

The whistleblower reporting system enables you to confidentially report concerns or suspected violations of Aasted policies or the law. It is hosted on a secure external platform, and you have the option to remain anonymous. 

What happens after you file a report?

Once submitted, your report will be logged. If filed through the whistleblower platform, the external whistleblower manager will forward them to the General Counsel, unless the report involves the General Counsel or the CEO. In case the report involves the General Counsel, it will be forwarded to the CEO. If the report involves the CEO, the report will be forwarded to the Chairman of the Board.

In case of an incident, the case will be handled by the legal department and if needed with support from outside and independent legal expertise. Investigations are carried out independently of the people and management line involved in the case to retain objectivity and to protect whistleblowers and reporting parties against retaliation. All incidents will be reported to the board of directors.

You will receive an acknowledgement of your report within 10 working days.

All reports are taken seriously, and appropriate action will be taken. Action may involve disciplinary actions against the wrongdoer if adequately supported by evidence.

When a case is closed, you will receive information that the grievance has been resolved, or in the case that the issue is not accepted as a grievance, why this is the case.

Protection against retaliation

At Aasted, we protect individuals who report concerns in good faith. We have a strict policy against retaliation of any form toward anyone who raises a reasonable concern or participates in an investigation. We ensure the protection of users and handle grievances confidentially with respect to users’ rights to privacy and data protection.

If you believe you have been subjected to retaliation for reporting a concern or taking part in an investigation, we encourage you to report it immediately via the whistleblower hotline. All such reports will be treated with confidentiality and investigated thoroughly. 

The whistleblower hotline may not be used for false accusations. Submitting knowingly false information may result in disciplinary action in accordance with Aasted policies. 

What can be reported?

You can use the reporting system to report breaches of Aasted’s policies or violations of the law including:

  • Economic crime such as bribery and corruption, theft, violation of competition law, fraud or breach of insider rules including the assistance of a third party in such conduct
  • European Union law on general product safety, on market surveillance and compliance of products, on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed, or on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data
  • Aasted’s Code of Conduct
  • Confidentiality agreements e.g. non-disclosure agreements and other disclosure of confidential information regarding Aasted or its customers
  • Accounting, internal control and audit irregularities
  • Unsafe working conditions 
  • Serious allegations of harassment and discrimination
  • Human rights and labor standards
  • Data privacy
  • Environmental law
  • Export control and international trade sanctions
  • Ethical marketing policy
  • Other serious violations of Aasted policies or law

Minor irregularities and HR issues, which are not covered by the scope, such as, dissatisfaction with pay, incompetence, collegial difficulties, absence, breach of internal guidelines on smoking and consumption of alcohol, and other forms of misconduct should not be reported under this scheme.

Such issues must be reported through the usual channels, e.g. by contacting the immediate superior or HR directly. If such issues are reported under the whistleblowing scheme, the report will be deleted.

However, in some cases the HR department may follow up on the specific matter outside of the whistleblower scheme if deemed necessary and relevant e.g. if the reporting concerns bullying of employees or other similar issues.