German automotive major Daimler AG (DDAIF.PK) has reduced the number of employee regulations to 1000 from the previous 1,800, according to the Financial Times Deutschland on Monday. The company is reportedly in the process of further cutting the regulations governing its employees in order to simplify decision making procedures.
Daimler has appointed last week a former German supreme court judge Winfried Hassemer as an independent neutral intermediary or ombudsman, whom employees and external persons can approach on serious breaches of rules and regulations. Hassemer's appointment is effective February 1, 2012.
Hassemer is currently a defense lawyer at German law firm HammPartner. He was a judge at Germany's Federal Constitutional Court from 1996 to 2008, and was commissioner for data protection in the German state of Hesse from 1991 to 1996.
"With the neutral intermediary we are expanding the possibilities for external and internal whistleblowers to contact us confidentially and if desired also anonymously, and to report any breaches of rules and regulations," Daimler executive board member Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt reportedly said in a statement.
The current move to cut employee regulations is an additional measure and a supplement to the existing whistleblower system, which was set up in 2003. Whistleblower systems are a recognized instrument for identifying violations of regulations. Daimler has been steadily developing its compliance program since 2006.
DDAIF.PK closed Monday's regular trading session at $59.65, down $0.33 or 0.55% on a volume of 0.11 million shares.
In Frankfurt's XETRA exchange, the company's shares closed at 45.47 euros, up 0.01 euros or 0.03% on a volume of 4.40 million shares.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com