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HinSchG - Group Reporting Office

Hybrid reporting office solution for group structures.

Definition

A group reporting office is a central office within the group, for example at the parent company, that receives reports for subsidiaries. Under § 14(1) HinSchG, the tasks of the internal reporting office may be entrusted to a third party; the duty to set up the office and the duty to take appropriate measures itself to remedy a breach remain with each subsidiary that normally has at least 50 employees (details below). In practice: a hybrid reporting office (subsidiary primarily + group office as a third party) — a practice recommendation, not a statutory requirement.

The underlying principle — subsidiaries with 50 to 249 employees may share internal reporting office resources but each remain responsible themselves — follows from Art. 8(6) of the EU Whistleblower Directive (EU) 2019/1937. Germany and Austria have implemented this requirement in their own statutes, which is why the sections and competent bodies differ.

Germany (HinSchG)

Under § 14(1) of the German Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG), an internal reporting office may be operated by the employer's own staff, an internal unit or a third party. Where a central group office is entrusted as such a third party, this does not release the individual employer from the duty to take appropriate measures itself to remedy a breach. Under § 14(2) HinSchG, several private employers with as a rule 50 to 249 employees may set up and operate a joint reporting office for receiving reports; the duty to remedy the breach and to provide feedback to the reporting person remains with the individual employer.

Austria (HSchG)

In Austria, the Austrian Whistleblower Protection Act (HSchG, BGBl. I Nr. 6/2023) applies. Under § 11(1) HSchG, companies with 50 or more employees must set up an internal whistleblowing system (internal office). Under § 13(4) HSchG, companies may transfer the tasks of the internal office to a joint office; third parties may also be entrusted with these tasks, whereby the rights and duties of the internal office also apply to the office so entrusted. For companies with fewer than 250 employees, §§ 11 to 13 HSchG have applied since 17 December 2023 (§ 28(2) HSchG). A group-wide collective reporting office does not — as in Germany — release the individual legal entity from its own responsibility for confidentiality, feedback and follow-up measures.