Reporting misconduct

Instructions for reporting misconduct

Introduction

Verkkokauppa.com Oyj’s Code of Conduct explains our expectations for doing business responsibly, ethically, and consistently, according to our values, our policies, and the law.

Transparency is one of our values.  We encourage everyone to raise their concerns and ask for advice in any unclear situations. To enable this, our personnel and external stakeholders have access to several feedback and reporting channels, including a channel hosted by an independent third party for reporting misconduct.

The instructions below describe how employees, customers, and other stakeholders can report activity that they suspect to be in violation of any applicable law or Verkkokauppa.com’s Code of Conduct or other company policies. The instructions also describe how the company will act upon receiving such a report.

What topics can be reported?

These instructions apply to reporting misconduct. For the purposes of this Policy, the term “misconduct” means all violations of law and any severe violation of our Code of Conduct or policies supplementing the Code.

Examples of such misconduct include human rights violations, bribery and corruption, unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information, violations of money laundering or sanction laws, insider trading or misuse of inside information, discrimination or harassment, financial crime such as fraud or accounting offence, and environmental, health, and safety violations.

The reporting procedures described herein are not applicable in the following circumstances:

Customer complaints: Customer complaints, claims, and other similar notifications made by our customers should primarily be directed to our customer service whose contact information can be found at https://asiakaspalvelu.verkkokauppa.com/.

Immediate threat to somebody’s life, health, property, or the environment: If you have an emergency or you need urgent assistance from the authorities (such as police, emergency medical services, fire and rescue services, or social services), call the emergency number 112.

Channels for reporting misconduct

Concerns or suspicions about misconduct in the company’s operations should primarily be discussed with the person’s own supervisor, the company’s HR or other relevant department, management or other contact person at the company.

If the reporter believes that the matter cannot be dealt with through other available channels, they can use our reporting channel hosted by an external partner to raise concerns confidentially and, if they wish, anonymously. A report can be submitted in Finnish or English.

At the end of the reporting process, the reporter will receive a personal code to track the progress of the report.

If you have made a report and lost the case-specific code, we ask you to make a new report referring to your original report. This way, the investigation can continue in cooperation with you.

More information about reporting can be found on our service provider's website at https://www.juuriharja.fi/en/for-whistleblower-faq 

Review and investigation of reports

The company is committed to thoroughly investigating all reports and taking necessary actions based on the report, regardless of the reporting channel used.

Reports are assessed and investigated in an independent, fair, and unbiased manner with respect to all parties involved, protecting the privacy of both the reporter and the subject of the report. The processing of personal data complies with the obligations under the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). Information about the report is shared within the company on a strict need-to-know basis. If necessary, external experts, such as lawyers or auditors, may be involved in the investigation. The person suspected of misconduct will not participate in the investigation.

Persons handling the reports

Reports made through the reporting channel are handled by the company’s CFO, CHRO and Head of Legal, who report all received reports of misconduct to the company’s CEO and the board’s Audit Committee.

Report processing times

After receiving the report, we will acknowledge its receipt within 7 days. If necessary, we will request additional information from the reporter during the investigation. This phase also takes place through the reporting channel, confidentially and anonymously. We will inform the reporter of the outcome of the investigation through the channel within 3 months of submitting the report.

Protection of reporting persons

The company has a strict policy of non-retaliation against anyone who raises a compliance concern in good faith.

Reporting to the centralized reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice

You can report a misconduct that occurred in Verkkokauppa.com's operations to the centralized reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice if the violation falls within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act (1171/2022) and the other conditions for reporting are met. Please note that one of the requirements for protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act is that the report of a violation in the organization's operations is primarily made to the organization's own reporting channel. Read more about reporting to the centralized reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice and the requirements for protection: How to make a report? | Chancellor of Justice