Compliance

The Code of Conduct is a common set of guidelines for all employees in the Volkswagen Infotainment GmbH. It helps in complying with existing rules and regulations and offers guidance, advice and support in everyday work situations and decision-making. The focus is on the responsibility of each individual employee to comply with the rules of ethical conduct.

Download | Volkswagen Infotainment GmbH Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct for Business Partners makes clear which standards apply for business partners of the Volkswagen Infotainment GmbH.

Download | Code of Conduct for Business Partners

There is no place for corruption and bribery at Volkswagen Infotainment! This is firmly anchored in the company’s Code of Conduct. You can find further information in the Guideline Anti-Corruption below.

Download | Volkswagen Infotainment GmbH Guideline Anti-Corruption

Complying with judicial regulations and internal rules is paramount for Volkswagen Infotainment. Our company's succes is based on integrity and compliance. To meet these standards, it is important to have knowledge of employee misconduct and to take effective steps. Therefore, we have requested the central investigative office to operate an independent, impartial and confidential whistleblower system for us. This office's qualified and experienced staff will investigate every report in great detail and with diligence.

An important basis for our whistleblower system is our commitment to due process. It guarantees the largest possible degree of protection for whistleblowers, affected parties and employees involved in investigating the reported cases of misconduct. This includes options to report and communicate anonymously. We guarantee that we do not take any steps towards the identification of anonymous whistleblowers who do not abuse our whistleblower system. Disadvantaging whistleblowers or other individuals who contribute towards investigations at Volkswagen Infotainment will not be tolerated.  Affected persons are deemed innocent until proven otherwise. Any investigations are conducted with the greatest confidentiality. Any and all information is processed in a fair, quick and protected process. Further information regarding this can be found here.

How do we process your report?
The qualified and experienced colleagues at the Investigation Office examine every report for potential misconduct by a Volkswagen Group employee thoroughly and follow it up systematically. First, you will get a confirmation of receipt. The Investigation Office then assesses your report. This includes gathering facts particularly from the whistleblower. Only if this initial evaluation shows grounds for suspicion of a violation an investigation by a dedicated Investigating Unit will be started. Afterwards, the results of the investigation will be assessed by the Investigation Office and appropriate measures will be recommended. Information about the status* and the outcome of the procedure will be given to you without undue delay.

Potential violations of the Code of Conduct for Business Partners by suppliers, including serious risks and violations of human rights and environment by direct and indirect suppliers, can also be reported to the Investigation Office -as well as reports requiring otherwise immediate action. The Investigation Office will inform the responsible departments, who will process the issue accordingly. This particularly includes taking the necessary measures to minimize or end violations and/or risks.

* The processing time varies depending on the subject of thd procedure. Please refer to the following documentation for more information.

You have the option to get in touch with the appropriate office via an internet-based communication platform. There, you can also send documents and stay in touch via a proper mailing inbox. This allows for confidential and protected communication. Whistleblowers can decide for themselves whether to remain anonymous or not. If you have a confidential message for legal staff at the whistleblower office, please follow the link to to do so. 

Important: Should your preferred language not be available, you can always submit in another language. Furthermore, it is possible to contact the whistleblower office in any language via e-mail or mail.

You can get in touch with the central whistleblower office via: io@volkswagen.de

You can issue information around the clock via the following toll-free number: +800 444 46300*. Should your local operator not support the free-of-charge service, you can use the following number (not free of charge): +49 5361 946300.

*In some countries, not all operator support the free-of-charge international hotline. Please use the other hotline (not free of charge) or the country-specific hotline.

country-specific phone numbers:

Brazil: 0800-5912743 (Toll-Free Number), 021-23911381 (Local Number)

Mexico: 001-800-4610242 (Toll-Free Number), 0155-71000355 (Local Number)

Slovak Republic: 0800-002576 (Toll-Free Number), 02-33325602 (Local Number)

USA: 833-6571574 (Toll-Free Number), 908-2198092 (Local Number)

South Africa: 0800-99483 (Toll-Free Number), 021-1003533 (Local Number)

Malaysia: 1-800-819523 (Toll-Free Number), 0154-600099 (Local Number)

Argentina: 0800-6662992 (Toll-Free Number), 011-52528632 (Local Number)

Postal address:
Zentrales Aufklärungs-Office
Brieffach 1717
38436 Wolfsburg (Innenstadt)

In person:
Zentrales Aufklärungs-Office
Porschestraße 1
38440 Wolfsburg (Innenstadt)

Please book an appointment via io@volkswagen.de.

Apart from the legal staff at our central whistleblower office, two external lawyers (ombudspeople) act a neutral mediators. 'Ombudsman' is Swedish word and mean 'mandated person'. The Volkswagen Group has two external ombudspeople in their employ: Dr. Rainer Buchert and Thomas Rohrbach act as confidential lawyers and will accept information regarding serious breaches of rules and law. They will investigate whether the complaints are grounded and plausible. 

If necessary and if the whistleblower's identity is known, they will contact them. They will gather information and present it - as agreed with the whistleblower - to the investigative office for further processing. All information is treated confidentially and the whistleblowers can decide for themselves whether or not to disclose their identity to the Group or not. These contracted ombudspeople will make sure that any information given by whistleblowers that do not wish to be identified by the Group is anonymized when presented to the investigative office. 

For more information and all channels related to the ombudspeople, please refer to: http://ombudsleute-der-volkswagen-ag.de/

The German government has defined a designated authority, that also accepts reports on misconduct as external reporting channel. The external reporting channel is the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz) (BfJ - Hinweisgeberstelle (bundesjustizamt.de)).

To consult our data protection statement on the issuing of whistleblower information, please refer to:

Data Protection Statement on the Volkswagen Group's Whistleblower System

Questions on the whistleblower system can sent to compliance@volkswagen-infotainment.com at any time. If you have been interviewed in terms of an investigation, you have the possibility to give feedback to the Ombudsperson as independent body.