Business Compliance
FAIR COMPETITION
The avoidance of corruption and anti-competitive behaviour has become an important management responsibility in recent years. The potential damage that a company may incur because of corrupt or anti-competitive behaviour on the part of individual employees can at times reach drastic proportions.
Even if STRABAG generates much of its revenue in countries with a low risk of corruption, in places like Germany, Austria and Poland, the international nature of its business means that some activities are also performed in countries with a higher corruption risk as measured, for example, by the Corruption Perceptions Index¹. Transparent behaviour to minimise risk is required in all regions, especially during contract award or in negotiations with partner companies and subcontractors.
STRABAG acted in 2008 by implementing a Compliance Management System (CMS) and has been continuously developing it ever since. The purpose of the CMS is to prevent violations of the law and any resulting material and immaterial damage, and to maintain the company’s good reputation as a business partner, contractor and employer.
Projects and initiatives
- A broad compliance awareness campaign was implemented at the beginning of 2021 in preparation for and in support of the rollout of the new business compliance training. As part of the so-called mirror campaign, several short statements designed to encourage people to reflect on the topic of compliance were sent to around 450 corporate locations and applied to the mirrors in the washrooms.
- The certification by Austrian Standards in July 2019 confirmed that STRABAG AG Austria has implemented an effective compliance management system to prevent antitrust and competition violations.
- In August 2020, STRABAG AG Austria was awarded ISO 37001 certification for the first time, confirming the implementation of an effective anti-corruption management system.
Objectives and indicators
The overriding objective of the STRABAG Compliance Management System is the complete avoidance of non-compliant behaviour.
Identification of corruption risks
As a result of the Management Business Compliance Reporting, which became mandatory for all divisions, central divisions and central staff divisions for the first time in 2021 and must subsequently be carried out annually, the assessment of corruption risks is to be updated annually and continuously improved. The risks identified in the course of the investigation were taken into account accordingly in the design of the new STRABAG BCMS.
Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures
STRABAG implemented a comprehensive training concept to communicate to employees the guidelines and procedures for combating corruption and anti-competitive behaviour.
Training rate has been slightly increased:
- Training course “Anti-Corruption and BCMS”: 81 %
- Training course “Cartel Law”: 90 %
- Refresher course “Business Compliance”: 19 %
Confirmed incidents of corruption and action taken
- Total number and nature of confirmed incidents of corruption: 1 - In the 2021 reporting year, there was one confirmed incident of corruption. The incident is related to business relationships with subcontractors or suppliers and is classified as embezzlement. There were no incidents of corruption in relation to clients in the reporting period.
- Total number of confirmed incidents in which employees were dismissed or disciplined for corruption: 3 - The above-stated incident led to three terminations.
More information on fair competition is available here.