Compliance
Comprehensive compliance organisation and activities
Compliance activities encompass the topics antitrust legislation, data protection, corruption, product liability, environment and fundamental employee rights. Audits are carried out to check the corresponding regulations are being adhered to.
Corporate Sustainability and Process Management is responsible for compliance topics connected to the environment, while Corporate HR is responsible for fundamental employee rights. Otherwise, the Geberit Group’s legal department is the point of contact for all issues related to compliance. Regular internal audits demonstrate a well-developed sensitivity among the employees in relation to compliance topics, particularly in the area of antitrust legislation and data protection.
As in previous years, compliance activities again focused on antitrust legislation and data protection in 2020. Comprehensive training courses were carried out, including eLearning modules, for example. In these courses, employees were made aware of the respective topic and informed about the applicable legal regulations and the directives within the Group. The training concepts and tools were developed further and professionalised. Geberit has effective instruments at its disposal for the comprehensive and straightforward training of affected employees across the Group on the topics of antitrust legislation and data protection.
In the reporting year, Group management and all employees at the European sales companies were trained on the topic of antitrust legislation. It is planned to carry out these training courses at the companies outside Europe in 2021.
Focus on data protection
The implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was started in 2018, was completed in all Group companies where the GDPR is applicable in 2020.
An external audit of the data-protection compliance system was carried out to ensure conformity with GDPR requirements. Corrective measures were implemented in cases where the audit results did not meet internal requirements. Employees in HR and marketing who are particularly affected by the topic were trained using a newly created training programme addressed specifically to their needs.
