IPIS’ day-to-day activities, procedures and overall operation are guided by IPIS’ Integrity Policy that provides an overview of the values supported by IPIS and serves as a compass for IPIS employees, consultants and partners. The Integrity Policy establishes the ethical vision underpinning the mission, mandate and work of IPIS.
Read our Integrity Policy.
You have witnessed or been the victim of a breach of the integrity policy?
IPIS attaches a lot of importance to the respect of its values and therefore developed a complaint mechanism to allow the reporting and monitoring of any form of integrity beach.
The procedure applies to 3 types of breaches of the Integrity Policy:
- Corruption
- Fraud
- Inappropriate behaviours
The key person in the complaint handling mechanism is IPIS’ Confidential Advisor.
The role of Confidential Advisor is held by IPIS’ Office manager. He/She is the only person allowed to access the integrity@ipisresearch.be mailbox. The Confidential Advisor is responsible for registering complaints, collecting additional information and launching IPIS’ integrity complaint handling mechanism. He/She verifies that the complaint is complete (sufficient information, credibility). He/She anonymises all documents to ensure that complaints are handled with strict confidentiality. He/She then keeps the whistle-blower(s) or victim(s) informed of each step of the procedure.
How can I report a breach of the integrity policy?
Through a person
If a person witnessed or is victim of suspicious practices or inappropriate behaviours that may amount to a breach of the Integrity Policy, he/she can report this to the intermediary of his/her choice within IPIS.
Any employee receiving a formal complaint must inform IPIS’ Confidential Advisor. The intermediary will, with a strict respect to confidentiality, share all details with the Confidential advisor (integrity@ipisrearch.be) who will closely follow up the matter.
Via the integrity complaint online form
In order to report a complaint, any whistle-blower or victim can fill in this online form:
Please note: The information submitted through this form is sent to the email address integrity@ipisresearch.be
Via e-mail
Whistle-blower(s) and/or victim(s) can also send an e-mail describing a breach of the Integrity Policy directly to: integrity@ipisresearch.be
- The identity and details of the whistle-blower or the wish to report the breach anonymously
- A clear description of the breach of the Integrity Policy: what happened, where, when, the persons involved (victims, presumed author, witnesses), evidence, etc.
- Additional information: who might be aware of the breach of the Integrity Policy, was the victim provided with any support, etc.
Any whistle-blower or victim willing to remain anonymous will need to create a randomised email address (e.g.: xxxx@gmail.com) and keep the latter active until the end of the complaint handling procedure. To ensure an appropriate monitoring of the complaint, IPIS needs to be able to contact the whistle-blower or victim to ask additional information and to inform them of the procedure’s progress.
How does IPIS address complaints?
Confidentiality
IPIS will handle any breach of the integrity policy with the highest level of confidentiality regarding the whistle-blowers and/ or the victims’ identity. IPIS ensures the protection of all personal data and commits to strictly limit the number of people involved in all procedures. All documents will be anonymised by IPIS’ Confidential Advisor and will only be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis.
Admissibility of the complaint
Once the complaint has been registered, the Confidential Advisor checks 3 criteria:
- The complaint concerns an event or a person for which IPIS is competent.
- The allegation is related to a violation of IPIS’ Integrity Policy
- The complaint is legible, understandable and the information is credible.
The complaint is considered as complete and admissible when the three above-mentioned conditions are met.
Complaint handling procedure
Once the admissibility of the complaint is established, the Confidential Advisor convenes the Integrity Committee. The latter analyses the information provided by the Confidential Advisor and is in charge of providing appropriate responses in accordance with the organisation’s values and policies. The Committee can also take interim precautionary measures and conduct additional researches.
The Integrity Committee must justify its decisions in an objective report supported by clear descriptions of the facts and proofs available.
The Integrity Committee alone shall be responsible for assessing the gravity of the facts and deciding on the appropriate response or sanctions within its competence. This may include referral of the case to a court of justice.
Please note: The permanent members of the Integrity Committee are: IPIS’ Director, the Confidential Advisor, the Coordination Manager and the Logistic Officer. The Confidential Advisor has the right to exclude one of the permanent members if he or she is suspected to be directly involved in a breach of the Integrity Policy or if a conflict of interest could arise.
The Confidential Advisor will keep the whistle-blower(s) and victim(s) informed throughout all the procedure. IPIS commits to provide assistance and psychological support to victims throughout the complaint handling process.
If you would like more information on IPIS’ complaint handling mechanism, please address a request by email at integrity@ipisresearch.be
