The Procedure on Helpline and safeguards against retaliation forms an integral part of SOCAR's compliance control system, including the system on combating corruption, money laundering, crime financing and tax evasion and integral part of the mechanism on the implementation of SOCAR’s Code of Business Ethics and Conduct requirements.
“Helpline” means SOCAR’s dedicated email address (ethics@socar.az) and reporting channel allocated on the relevant webpage of SOCAR's corporate web portal (Platform – https://ethicsline.socar.az) managed by SOCAR’s in-house professional teams in the Republic of Azerbaijan, dedicated to ethics & compliance related concerns arising out of SOCAR’s Code of Business Ethics and Conduct and/or any other policies or procedures referenced in this Code.
"Retaliation and other harmful measures (conduct)" means prohibited by SOCAR conduct (action or an omission) which is applied against an employee or a person associated with the employee (her/his relative, friend or other person in a close relationship), for: a) her/his reporting to SOCAR or a SOCAR Group Entity by using the Helpline or another reporting channel or to public authorities disclosable information on any violation (incompatibility, deficiency, weakness); or b) her/his cooperation with the investigation staff; or c) her/his refusing to participate in an unlawful act; committed with the purpose of 1) intimidating, 2) punishing or 3) retaliating against her/him, 4) creating obstacles for her/him or 5) discouraging her/him to report or continue to report information or 6) to cooperate otherwise with the investigation staff, what entails i) material, ii) physical or iii) moral harm to the employee or the person associated with the employee.
SOCAR’s relevant departments act as the accountable structural units for reviewing, investigating of and responding to reports on topics of the Helpline.
The responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Procedure lies not only with the management of SOCAR but also with all SOCAR employees.
Breaching the Procedure may be a ground for disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. In certain circumstances, a violation of the requirements of the Procedure may be considered a breach of the relevant legislation and may result in civil, administrative or criminal liability.
As a rule, reports submitted to the Helpline and discovered to be on grievances and disagreements related to interpersonal conflicts affecting only a User shall not be reviewed and investigated.
"User" means a natural person who uses the reporting channels of the Helpline.
Reports received under the Procedure but not corresponding to the topics specified in the Platform will be referred to related structural units beyond those responsible for Helpline and reviewed in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.
Reports submitted under the available topics shall be assigned to the "Non-compliant" topic heading if they include information of advertising nature, with abusive language, insults or similar content. Reports assigned to "Non-compliant" topic heading shall not be reviewed, investigated, forwarded to relevant parties or included in relevant periodic statistics reports of the Helpline.
A User shall have the option of providing information without disclosing her/his identity – anonymously or by disclosing her/his identity – confidentially while taking advantage of the privacy of her/his identity safeguard.
A User shall not be obliged to evaluate or determine the degree of significance of the information she/he intends to report before transmitting the information.
A User shall not have any duty to prove the occurrence of any breach, the information on which she/he intends to report or to ensure that the information meets any proof criteria or requirements, as well as to seek and collect evidence of the breach after submitting the report.
It is recommended to a User that the data to be reported should be as specific as possible and contain at least the following details to be supportive for the efficient and successful investigation of a report submitted:
type and scope of violation (inconsistency, weakness, deficiency);
when, where and how an alleged violation occurred;
to which persons the reported information is related and which persons may be aware, including directly and personally informed of the reported issues;
whether the submitted information has previously been reported through any reporting channels or to the manager. If reported, in what scope, when and to whom it has been reported, what measures have been taken as remediation, the impact of the measures taken to a User and the organization in which she/he works according a User's point of view;
any role of management in the violation and whether management is aware of the violation, any existing risks in relation to a User herself/himself or other persons;
whether there has been an action or omission by any person to hide or cover up the reported information, to prevent a User from reporting information.
Protection from retaliation and other harmful measures (conduct) shall be ensured in relation to all Protected persons.
"Protected persons" means exposed or likely to be exposed to retaliation and other harmful measures (conduct), a User or a person related to a User (relative or other person in a close relationship) as well as natural persons who have witnessed the violation or who have cooperated with the investigation or who have refused to participate in illegal conduct or who have appealed not for reporting information but for obtaining advice. Protected persons may include (but are not limited to) the following persons:
a) SOCAR employees, Contracted staff, employees of third parties seconded to SOCAR, Third-party service providers cooperating with SOCAR and SOCAR Group Entities, Business partners, as well as persons working under their supervision;
b) Former employees of SOCAR, persons who are represented in the supervisory boards, public boards and executive (management) boards of, who own shares or other participating interest in SOCAR and SOCAR Group Entities, employees of SOCAR who work remotely from home, interns, volunteers, persons applying for and participating in recruitment and procurement procedures arranged by SOCAR and SOCAR Group Entities.
A Protected person is fully protected from retaliation and other harmful measures (conduct), provided that at the time of reporting, she or he had reasonable belief in the accuracy of the matters reported. The purpose of such a requirement is to prevent the reporting of harmful, frivolous, unwarranted, abusive or offensive information, and to ensure that persons who deliberately submit false or misleading information at the time of reporting are not covered by the relevant protection. At the same time, such a requirement does not eliminate the ability to enjoy the relevant protection by a person who negligently reports inaccurate information on any violation.
Sanctions applied to a person who intentionally provides untrue information must be relevant and proportionate in the environment (country, context, legislation) in which her/his employing entity operates, provided that the severity of those sanctions shall not be a deterrent to a such a person's future reporting of other information or her/his otherwise cooperation, or to reporting or otherwise cooperation by another potential Protected person.