FAQ

This platform is aimed in particular at reporting persons who are employed at BOKU and have obtained information on breaches in a work-related context. It is also aimed at third parties having a professional connection to BOKU and wish to provide information on a (suspected) breach.

Reportable incidents are breaches of the Union law under the EU-Whistleblower-Directive [Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law] such as

•     public procurement

•     financial services, products and markets, and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing

•     product safety and compliance

•     transport safety

•     protection of the environment

•     radiation protection and nuclear safety

•     food and feed safety, animal health and welfare

•     public health

•     consumer protection

•     protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information system

For detailed information on breaches of the Union law, see Annex I and II of the EU-Whistleblower-Directive.

In addition, the reporting-system allows reports that fall within the material scope of the HSchG [Bundesgesetz über das Verfahren und den Schutz bei Hinweisen auf Rechtsverletzungen in bestimmten Rechtsbereichen (HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz - HSchG) BGBl. I Nr. 6/2023)] as well as in the following areas, which are relevant for BOKU:

•     abuse of official authority as defined in § 302 StGB

•     negligent violation of the freedom of the person or the domiciliary right as defined in § 303 StGB

•     corruptibility as defined in § 304 StGB 

•     accepting of advantages as defined in § 305 StGB 

•     taking advantages to influence as defined in § 306 StGB

•     bribery as defined in § 307 StGB

•     forbidden intervention as defined in § 308 StGB

•     acceptance of gifts and bribery of employees or agents as defined in § 309 StGB

•     breach of trust as defined in § 153 StGB

•     acceptance of gifts by authorized persons as defined in § 153a StGB

•     sexual harassment as defined in § 218 StGB

•     discrimination of groups of employees

•     mobbing/bossing

1. By clicking on the button “Submit new report” you start the reporting process.

2. On the following page you will be asked for the focus/category of your report.

3. After selecting the appropriate category, the report page appears. Here you can first select whether you want to submit the report completely anonymously or confidentially (using your name or a pseudonym). Afterwards, you have to specify the area within the selected category, indicate which BOKU location is affected and your relationship to BOKU.

4. In the next step, you can describe the incident in your own words and, if necessary, add word processing, spreadsheet and presentation documents (XLS, XLSX, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX), images in numerous file formats and PDF documents as attachments.

5. Before submitting the report, you can select whether you want to submit the report with delay or without delay. 

6. By clicking the button “Submit report” you submit your report. 

7. After submitting the report, you will receive an automatically generated link - protected by a password - to access your report. The access data for calling up your report can be downloaded as a text file, which must be saved in a safe place, as otherwise it will no longer be possible to call up the report, view messages and, if necessary, respond to queries.

8. You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your report within the next 7 (seven) days at the latest.

9. Within the next 90 (ninety) days you will receive feedback on follow-up measures (e.g. initiation of internal investigations, forwarding to authorities, discontinuation of prosecution).

Where can I submit a general enquiry or a complaint?
BOKU´s reporting system is not intended to handle general enquiries, suggestions, requests or complaints concerning the daily university operations.

Please address your general questions, suggestions, requests or complaints directly to the responsible departments.

Taking into account the circumstances and the available information, all information about the reported incident must have reasonable grounds to believe that the reported incident is/was true at the time of the report. Reports should be as specific and precise as possible and must not be abusive delivered.

Reports that are proven to be deliberately false may result in legal consequences for the reporting person and claims by the accused.