Whistleblowing policy

This whistleblowing policy applies to all UHasselt staff members.

The new whistleblowing decree protects people who report breaches of specific EU law that they have become aware of in connection with their employment relationship with the university. To enable reports about breaches of EU law, UHasselt operates an internal reporting channel in accordance with this whistleblowing policy.

For more general information on the whistleblowing regime in (higher) education, please consult the website of the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training.

Disclaimer: This English translation is provided for information purposes only and is a translation of the original Dutch regulations and information. In case of any discrepancies or interpretation issues, the Dutch version shall prevail.

Any employee of UHasselt,  whether contractual or statutory, including bursary holders and persons holding an FWO mandate, in any role, may submit a report to the internal reporting channel of UHasselt if they obtained information about breaches in the context of their work relationship.

Note!  Students may not use this internal reporting channel.

If you have knowledge of, or reasonably suspect, a breach of Union law as described in Article V.230/2 of the Higher Education Codex, you may submit a report to UHasselt’s internal reporting channel by:

• preferably email: whistleblower@uhasselt.be

• post to: Internal reporting channel – Whistleblowers, Martelarenlaan 42, 3500 Hasselt (mark the envelope “confidential”)

Reports may concern actual or suspected breaches occurring, or likely to occur, within UHasselt in the context of work where the reporting person has knowledge of the facts. Interpersonal grievances are not within scope.

Specifically, reports may relate to breaches in the following areas:

• public procurement
• financial services, products and markets, including anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing
• product safety and compliance
• transport safety
• environmental protection
• radiation protection and nuclear safety
• food and feed safety, animal health and animal welfare
• public health
• consumer protection
• protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information systems

Additionally, reports may concern:

• breaches harming the financial interests of the European Union under Article 325 TFEU
• breaches related to the internal market, including breaches of EU rules on competition and state aid under Article 26(2) TFEU.

UHasselt commits to protecting the identity of the reporter (whistleblower) and not to take any measures (or to threaten to take such measures) against reporters (whistleblowers) who fall under the protection of the Whistleblower Decree, as retaliation for a report or a disclosure.

Once the internal reporting channel has received the report, the designated persons send an acknowledgement of receipt to the reporter within 7 working days, and the facts (not the identity of the reporter) are passed on to the investigator, who starts investigating the report. The report is checked for correctness and admissibility. This means that it is verified whether the report was made by a member of staff and whether the report falls within the scope of the whistleblower policy. It is also determined whether and which measures are necessary to correct or prevent the reported breach. The reporter is subsequently informed of the planned and the measures taken in follow-up to the report.

If a report submitted to the internal reporting channel does not lead to an appropriate follow-up in the vision of a reporter, the whistleblower can also submit a report to an external reporting channel. For universities and colleges, the College of Government Commissioners acts as the external reporting channel.

If you report unwanted conduct in good faith and you fall within the material and personal scope of the whistleblower policy, UHasselt undertakes to protect the reporter against reprisals or retaliation, as provided for by the Decree. This applies to:

• staff members
• persons who confidentially assist the reporter
• external parties who, in the context of their work, possess information about breaches
• witnesses

Reports about possible breaches that do not fall within the scope of the whistleblower policy do not enjoy whistleblower protection.

The identity of a reporter who makes a report under this policy is protected. That means all information from which the reporter’s identity (or any other named individual’s) could be deduced is handled with appropriate care and circumspection. This protection covers all persons named in the report.

The persons who receive and investigate the report always guarantee a neutral and independent follow-up of the reports. They will always conduct themselves in a professional and upright manner, whereby the report will be handled with the necessary discretion. Internal and/or external experts may be called upon, but even then the identity of the reporter will at all times be protected.

Processing of personal data under this whistleblowing policy complies with applicable laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For further details, consult UHasselt’s privacy policy.

In addition to the internal whistleblowing channel, UHasselt operates several other internal reporting mechanisms on integrity issues:

• transgressive behavior contact point
• reporting channel for scientific integrity

Facts that give rise to a disciplinary measure, as described in the applicable disciplinary regulations, may be reported directly to the rector by any member of the university community, accompanied by a clear description and the supporting evidence.

If UHasselt’s internal reporting channel receives a report that does not fall within the scope of the whistleblower policy, the reporter will be informed thereof and, where applicable, the more appropriate reporting channels will be indicated, so that the reporter may choose whether to submit a report through those channels.