Legal Department

The Complaints Office in accordance with Section 13 of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) ensures that cases of discrimination are dealt with appropriately and that measures are taken to prevent and combat discrimination.

The complaints office covers cases of discrimination based on characteristics such as gender, race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity in the context of work, service and employment relationships. This includes, in particular, cases of harassment, discrimination or unequal treatment.

The complaints office can be contacted due to discrimination or disadvantage in an area such as employment, training or access to goods and services.
Complaints under the AGG relate to specific circumstances in connection with the employment or service relationship or its initiation, i.e. employees in administration and teaching (not students or lecturers) are eligible.

Typical complaints are

1. Non-invitation of severely disabled persons to job interviews
2. Unequal treatment
3. Discrimination based on origin, group membership, sexual identity, sexual harassment, age; bullying

The Complaints Office processes incoming complaints according to a defined process with the necessary involvement of internal departments.

Submission of the complaint

• Affected parties can submit their complaint in writing or verbally. Within certain limits, anonymous complaints will also be investigated.

Examination of the complaint

• The complaint is carefully examined and all relevant information is collected.

Investigation

• If necessary, further investigations are carried out to clarify the facts.

The complaints office will make an appropriate decision and, if necessary, recommend measures (e.g. to the Rectorate) to end discrimination and prevent it from recurring.

The complaints office will inform those affected about the progress and outcome of the complaint.

The complaints office aims to process complaints within a reasonable timeframe. The exact deadlines will be determined depending on the complexity of the case, but the aim is to process the complaint promptly in order to protect the interests of all parties involved.

• see contact details of the legal department

The Whistleblower Protection Act regulates the handling of reports from persons with insider knowledge of legal violations and other irregularities in public authorities and companies, as well as information on the lack of constitutional compliance of employees in the public sector, even if no specific crimes have been committed. The Bundestag resolution contains provisions on the establishment of internal and external reporting offices, on procedures and confidentiality of reports and on measures to protect whistleblowers from reprisals - but also on liability, compensation and fines in the event of deliberately false information.

You can contact the internal reporting office of the HfMT Cologne if you have discovered violations of the law in connection with your professional activities or have obtained information about violations, e.g:

• Violations subject to fines (administrative offenses) if the violated norm serves, for example, to protect health or the rights of employees or their representative bodies (e.g. occupational health and safety, staff representation rights)
• Violations of legal provisions adopted to implement certain European regulations, as well as violations of directly applicable EU legislation, e.g: Money laundering and terrorist financing, consumer protection, data protection, data security, public procurement law, competition law
• Statements made by employees that constitute a breach of the duty to comply with the constitution

If information is received (possibly also anonymously) that does not fall under the HinSchG, but indicates other aspects of misconduct relevant to the HfMT Cologne (e.g. violations of internal regulations), the information will be forwarded to the responsible office within the HfMT and the person making the report will be informed (provided there is no anonymity).

The HfMT Cologne is legally obliged to set up an internal reporting office. To use the HfMT internal reporting office, contact must be made by letter. A report can be sent by post to the internal reporting office:

Postal address:
Cologne University of Music and Dance,
Postfach 055 "Interne Meldestelle vertraulicher Hinweisgeberschutz"
Unter Krahnenbäumen 87
50668 Köln

A "Confidential" note on the sealed envelope is recommended.
The university is particularly concerned to treat the identity of the person making the report, the persons incriminated by the report and any other persons named in the report as confidential.
Please note that anonymous reports will only be investigated on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature and seriousness of the allegation. It is important for the university that the person providing the information is willing to be available in the event of further inquiries.
The university currently has no possibility of providing an anonymous whistleblower with procedurally relevant information such as confirmations of receipt, queries, decisions concluding proceedings, etc.
As an alternative to the internal reporting office, an external reporting office can be used, e.g. the Federal Office of Justice.

The reports are processed by the legal department and treated in strict confidence. The law stipulates extensive documentation obligations and follow-up measures to be taken, which must be completed by the reporting office within defined deadlines. The internal reporting office works impartially, independently and free from third-party interests. It reports exclusively directly to the Chancellor or the deputy in office in compliance with the confidentiality requirement.

The following link provides an overview of other HfMT Cologne counseling centers:

• Overview of other counseling centers of the HfMT Cologne