Catalogue of reportable breaches
The catalogue of reportable breaches under the German HinSchG defines conclusively in Section 2 which legal violations may be reported and thus trigger whistleblower protection.
The so-called catalogue of reportable breaches refers to the material scope of application set out in Section 2 of the German Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz, HinSchG). It conclusively determines which violations a person may report without having to fear reprisals. Covered are in particular criminal offences, regulatory offences subject to fines insofar as the breached provision serves to protect life, limb or health or the rights of employees and their representative bodies, as well as numerous breaches of regulatory areas shaped by Union law.
The Union-law part of the catalogue includes, among others, breaches of provisions on environmental protection, food and feed safety, product safety, consumer protection, data protection, the security of information systems, anti-money-laundering, public procurement and the financial interests of the European Union. What matters is that the reported facts fall within one of the case groups listed in Section 2 HinSchG; only then do the statutory safeguards such as the confidentiality requirement and the prohibition of reprisals apply in full.
For companies and their internal reporting offices, precise knowledge of the catalogue is decisive, because for every incoming report they must first assess whether the reported facts are covered by the material scope. Mere breaches of internal policies, disputes under the employment contract or trivial matters without any legal violation do not fall under the catalogue. In practice, however, a broad understanding is advisable, since reports outside the catalogue may also be received and processed, and a premature rejection would undermine trust in the whistleblowing system.
Legal Basis
Section 2 HinSchG
Practical Example
The internal reporting office of a medium-sized manufacturing company receives an anonymous tip-off stating that legally required safety precautions are being systematically circumvented in a production hall, exposing employees to health hazards. The responsible officer checks against Section 2 HinSchG whether a reportable breach exists and concludes that the protection of employees' life and health is affected. The matter is therefore covered by the catalogue of reportable breaches, the whistleblower enjoys full protection, and the reporting office initiates appropriate follow-up measures within the statutory deadlines.