1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
3F International works for human development under a general “do no harm” guiding principle.
Our policies on ethics have been developed to prevent negative impacts on individuals and to ensure compliance with human rights, international conventions and the sound administration of entrusted financial resources.
If we receive substantiated complaints directly or through our Complaints Scheme, we will work for remediation and put emphasis on learning. When misconduct occurs, our preventive measures have not been strong enough and we will do our utmost to improve them and reduce the risk of doing harm again as much as possible.
All the people we get in contact with – our staff, voluntaries, partners and suppliers who work with us, and the beneficiaries of our support, should work for mitigating the risk of doing harm and ensure that we draw lessons from all simple errors and conscious misconduct committed.
We encourage all of them to inform us about their observations, grievances and to make complaints if they observe things that actually or potentially have done or will do harm to the ethical principles we build on.
We consider them as complaints if the grievances and observations are within the scope of 3F Internationals activities and support, if it something we may be held responsible or liable for, directly or indirectly, and if they are about non-compliance with our policies or the obligations we have as development agents and administrators of public development support.
In order to ensure that there is always an option to report breaches of our ethical guidelines, policies, conventions, etc., 3F International wishes to make available a channel through which reports may be made concerning offensive behavior/violations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ and 3F International’s guidelines and policies for 3F International’s work, 3F International’s partner contracts, as well as the UN’s and the ILO’s international conventions.
The Complaints Scheme regarding 3F International (hereafter “the Complaint Scheme” or “the Scheme”) is administered by an external partner.
Our Scheme for handling external complaints can improve the quality of our work, enhance the trust and confidence of our stakeholders, identify areas of our work which need to be improved and ensure that 3F International learns from the feedback provided through this process. 3F International therefore welcomes feedback and will react constructively to complaints from the people we work with in one way or the other.
2. WHAT INCIDENTS AND SITUATIONS CAN BE REPORTED?
The Complaints Scheme is limited to reports concerning conduct that has actually or potentially caused, or may cause, harm to the ethical principles on which 3F International bases its work.
The Scheme covers complaints directed against one of 3F International’s employees, partners, beneficiary groups and local communities concerning violations/breaches of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ and 3F International’s guidelines and policies for International’s work, 3F International’s partner contracts, as well as the UN’s and the ILO’s international conventions.
The following matters are generally not covered by this Complaints Scheme and are handled through 3F’s internal channels:
- 3F’s decisions regarding financial grants and transfers to partners
- Management and management priorities
- The content of 3F’s policies and political disagreements with 3F
- Interpretation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ guidelines
- Issues relating to breaches of local laws in countries outside Denmark
3. WHO CAN SUBMIT A REPORT?
3F International’s locally employed staff, partners, beneficiary groups and local communities in areas where 3F provides its development aid, who experience violations/breaches of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ and 3F International’s guidelines and policies for 3F International’s work, 3F International’s partner contracts, as well as the UN’s and the ILO’s international conventions, may submit a report to the Complaints Scheme.
Employees employed by 3F in Denmark are referred to use 3F’s existing whistleblowing scheme for employees.
Employees employed at 3F’s offices in other countries (other than Denmark) may, however, use this external Complaints Scheme.
This Complaints Scheme is not an appeal body for complaints that have already been handled and decided under other formal processes, unless the matter concerns a breach of the above-mentioned policies, guidelines and rules.
4. HOW IS A REPORT SUBMITTED AND TO WHOM?
Reports to the Complaints Scheme are filed electronically via https://3f-international.legalsys.dk/complaint-scheme/.
The Complaints Scheme is handled and administered by SIRIUS advokater as follows:
- Attorney Helle Nøhr Larsen (tel.) +45 88 88 85 85
- Attorney Laura Fedders Christensen (tel.) +45 88 88 85 85
A report may be submitted in Danish or English, and the following information will be useful to SIRIUS advokater to have in connection with the assessment of a report:
· Name, department and contact details of the person concerned by the report,
· a description of the factual circumstances giving rise to the report,
· the country in which the matters reported occurred, as well as the connection to 3F’s International work, and
· any documentation or evidence supporting the report.
The Complaints Scheme shall neither replace nor take the place of existing management and communication channels. Complaints may be addressed to any 3F International’s staff member in the field, the head of the regional office or the headquarters in Copenhagen, where the inquiry will be taken seriously, investigated and handled in accordance with current practice.
The Complaints Scheme is a channel that may be used in special cases where an incident is not suitable for handling through existing communication channels, or where the reporter wishes to be ensured full anonymity.
A person who submits a report may choose either to remain anonymous, partially anonymous (where only SIRIUS advokater knows the reporter’s identity), or fully identifiable.
5. THE POST-REPORTING PROCESS
SIRIUS advokater registers and documents all reports, and the reporter will receive an acknowledgement of receipt of the report within 5 working days. On the basis of the report, SIRIUS advokater will make its recommendation regarding further steps and investigation to the Complaint Responsible. Depending on the content or the report, the Complaint Responsible will inform 3F’s management about the report. Subject to acceptance by the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management, SIRIUS advokater will then carry out the necessary investigations of the matters described and— in order to ensure professional and objective handling—will always ensure the due involvement of the affected parties.
SIRIUS advokater will to the extent possible carry out the legal assessment and case handling of the reports received in relation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ and 3F International’s guidelines and policies, 3F International’s partner contracts, as well as the UN’s and the ILO’s international conventions and applicable data protection rules, including preparing reports with recommendations to the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management where a report has given rise to follow-up. SIRIUS advokater will further assist the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management in assessing which consequences should follow from a report. Any decision on follow-up to the investigation, including any decision on potential consequences, is made by 3F’s management.
All reports are handled confidentially. However, in some cases it may be necessary to obtain further information about the matter, for example by contacting others who may have observed offensive behavior or breaches of 3F International’s guidelines and policies, etc.
If a report is assessed to fall within the scope of the Complaints Scheme, the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management management (depending of the content of the case) must be informed of the report without delay, and they must be granted access to the report or an extract of the report. A report submitted under the Complaints Scheme is deemed to constitute the reporter’s consent for the report to be disclosed to the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management (unless the report concerns matters related to the Complaint Responsible or the relevant managers).
If SIRIUS advokater finds it necessary to obtain further information, the practical handling will be agreed in more detail with the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management and/or 3F International’s management, and with due notification of the reporter.
If SIRIUS advokater assesses that a report does not fall within the scope of the Complaints Scheme, the reporter will be informed accordingly and will at the same time be guided to address the matter, for example, to the local department.
Cost-effective case handling of the inquiries is ensured, adapted to the nature of each individual report.
The Reporter will receive a follow up communication from SIRIUS advokater within 30 days after the report was received. Also, the reporter will receive information when the case has been closed.
6. FALSE REPORTS
If a false allegation is reported deliberately or in bad faith, SIRIUS advokater will, in cooperation with the Complaint Responsible and 3F’s management consider possible consequences, including reporting the matter to the police for making a false allegation, depending on the seriousness of the allegation.
7. CONFIDENTIALITY
All reports submitted under the Complaints Scheme are handled in strict confidence by SIRIUS advokater, who administers the Scheme, and SIRIUS advokater will not disclose the reporter’s personal data to either the person complained about or 3F International without the reporter’s prior explicit consent.
8. DATA PROTECTION
8.1 Data controllers and data processors
SIRIUS advokater is responsible for ensuring adequate security in relation to the personal data and the reports received by SIRIUS advokater, and SIRIUS advokater, as data controller, warrants that the processing complies with the requirement of independence and confidentiality as well as with the requirements of the data protection rules.
SIRIUS advokater’s processing of personal data is solely for the purpose of making a legal assessment and providing advisory assistance in connection with reports received through the Complaints Scheme. SIRIUS advokater also makes its own decisions regarding which personal data is to be deleted, disclosed, etc. The processing of data in connection with the advisory services is not carried out on the instructions of or subject to the approval of 3F.
3F is also an independent data controller for the processing of information carried out by 3F itself in connection with reports received through the Complaints Scheme.
The system-based processing of personal data is carried out by Legalsys on behalf of 3F, and, in accordance with the data protection rules, a data processing agreement has been entered into between 3F and Legalsys.
SIRIUS advokater, as data controller, has a duty to ensure that SIRIUS advokater’s processing of personal data complies with data protection legislation, including:
· ensuring a lawful legal basis for processing,
· ensuring appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risks, of varying likelihood and severity, to the rights and freedoms of data subjects,
· informing data subjects that personal data is being processed, unless this may be omitted under the applicable rules (for example due to an ongoing investigation),
· granting data subjects the right of access to the processing of personal data relating to them, unless this may be omitted under the applicable rules (cf. above regarding an ongoing investigation), and
· reporting personal data breaches and, where necessary, notifying the data subjects thereof.
Reference is made to SIRIUS advokater’s general terms and conditions and privacy policy on SIRIUS advokater’s website: www.siriusadvokater.com. In addition, reference is also made to the Danish Bar and Law Society’s (Advokatsamfundet) guidelines of April 2018 on the lawyer’s processing of personal data.
For 3F’s processing of personal data, reference is made to their website: www.3f.dk/om-3f/privatlivspolitikker/privatlivspolitik-fagforening.
8.2 The lawful basis for the processing of personal data
General personal data
General personal data is processed on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), pursuant to which personal data may be processed where such processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the organization in processing the information set out in a report, and those interests are considered to override the data subjects’ interests in not being subject to the processing or their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Sensitive personal data
Regarding reports that contain — and/or subsequently require the processing of — sensitive personal data, including data concerning a person’s sex life, trade union membership, health data, religion etc. the processing of such data is, as a general rule, prohibited under Article 9(1) of the GDPR. However, processing may take place where it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims, cf. Article 9(2)(f).
Data relating to criminal offences
Reports that contain — and/or subsequently require the processing of — data relating to criminal offences are processed pursuant to section 8(3), second sentence, of the Danish Data Protection Act, under which private bodies may process data relating to criminal offences where this is necessary for the pursuit of a legitimate interest and that interest clearly outweighs the consideration for the data subject.
8.3 Data security and retention
SIRIUS advokater has implemented technical and organizational security measures necessary to safeguard all personal data processed as part of the Complaints Scheme. In addition, SIRIUS advokater uses only data processors that ensure at least the same level of security in the processing of personal data as SIRIUS advokater itself.
Personal data provided or associated with a report will be kept for as long as this is deemed necessary for the purpose of which the data is collected and the specific retention period will depend on the content of the report.
There is no fixed time limit for how long reports may be retained. However, it will not be necessary to retain reports that prove to be manifestly unfounded. If a report proves to be unfounded, SIRIUS advokater will therefore ensure that all data associated with it is deleted immediately after such determination.
Similarly, data associated with a report that falls outside the Scheme will be deleted immediately after the reporter has been notified that the report is not covered by the Scheme, unless there is reason to believe that the reported matter, when viewed together with likely subsequent reports concerning the same matter, will meet the criteria for being covered by the Scheme.
If the report falls within the Scheme, the report and the personal data contained in the report will be retained in a case file established by SIRIUS advokater for the purpose of investigating the matter further, and the case file will thereafter be retained in accordance with SIRIUS advokater’s data protection policy.
The respective retention periods applied by SIRIUS advokater and 3F International for personal data contained in a report will thereafter depend on the nature of the report and will therefore be subject to a case-by-case assessment.
8.4 Notification of the person reported
As a general rule, and in accordance with Article 14 of the GDPR, the person who is the subject of a report to the Scheme will, at the time the report is received, be informed of the processing of personal data relating to that person.
However, this does not apply where, in the circumstances, notification to the reported person must be deferred in the interests of the investigation (including any criminal investigation) or in order to protect a significant and legitimate interest of 3F International or of the reporter which, in the specific circumstances, is assessed to override the interests of the person concerned.
If no such considerations apply, the reported person will receive a notice meeting the requirements set out in the GDPR, including, inter alia, that information has been reported about him/her and who will have access to the information, as well as the purpose of the processing and the legitimate interests justifying it. In addition, the person concerned will be informed of any recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, for example where the report gives rise to a police report.
8.5 Rights of data subjects
All data subjects whose personal data is processed under the Scheme (i.e. both those who submit reports, those who are the subject of reports, as well as any other persons who may be included in the factual description of a report) have a number of rights under the GDPR.
If a data subject wishes to exercise these rights, he or she may contact SIRIUS advokater regarding the right of access, rectification, restriction of processing, erasure, or other changes to personal data relating to him or her.
SIRIUS advokater will assess whether, and if so to what extent, any requests for access, rectification, restriction of processing, or erasure can and must be complied with under the applicable rules.
The data subject has the right to complain about the personal data processing within the context of the Complaints Scheme. Such a complain can be submitted to Datatilsynet (the Danish Data Protection Agency), Borgergade 28, 1300 Copenhagen K, Tel. +45 33193200, or by e-mail: dt@datatilsynet.dk.
9. QUESTIONS
Questions regarding this complaints scheme may be addressed to SIRIUS advokater, Attorney Helle Nøhr Larsen (tel.) +45 88 88 85 85, or Laura Fedders Christensen (tel.) +45 88 88 85 85.