Area 6
Compliance and Ethics Management
- Compliance a key priority at HOCHTIEF
- Many workforce training and awareness programs
- Numerous sources of transparent information
Compliance at HOCHTIEF means full observance of prevailing law, company rules and our guiding principles. Compliance is a priority throughout the Group. HOCHTIEF established a dedicated compliance system in 2008.
HOCHTIEF compliance system
We augmented our corporate governance arrangements at the end of 2007 with a new compliance system to furnish all HOCHTIEF employees with training, advice and other support in avoiding breaches of the law and related risks. In cooperation with corporate centers in the HOCHTIEF holding company, the compliance system also delivers regular analysis of Group organizational structures and workflows to spot weaknesses, decide any need for action and reduce risk potential. In this way, compliance activities help protect HOCHTIEF’s good reputation. The HOCHTIEF holding company compliance team—the Chief Compliance Officer and the Corporate Compliance Counsel—is counterparted by a general compliance manager (GCM) in each division. The competence center for occupational safety, health and environmental protection (OSHEP) also puts up a compliance officer for each of the three areas it covers. We additionally have an in-house data protection system.
To underscore the high priority of compliance and ensure issues are followed through regardless of hierarchies, our compliance system reports directly to the Executive Board, which is kept regularly informed of all related developments.
Our American subsidiaries Turner and Flatiron each have a compliance program of their own, with internal compliance committees in place since 2008. Implementing the compliance program is the responsibility of compliance officers.
Compliance measures
Our compliance system embraces various means of making sure prevailing law and company rules are observed. A specially developed e-learning program on fighting corruption, for example, gives clear guidance on the law and on the kinds of tough choices that arise in working life. The program is available to the entire workforce on the corporate intranet and all managerial staff in Germany had to take the course in 2008 and 2009. Classroom-based instruction is also provided, for instance, at inductions, in training and at departmental consultations. To publicize the ethical requirements and application of the in-house rules, these are often made the subject of in-house communications activities: Articles in HOCHTIEF employee newsletters, interviews and a compliance section on the intranet help each member of the workforce navigate and understand the complex subject matter.
The HOCHTIEF compliance system
