Compliance Officers of the TU Wien
As of June 1, 2021, TU Wien established the Compliance Department and appointed two Compliance Officers (CO): Elke Sagmeister is responsible for the central area and Verena Dolovai for the research agenda. Compliance is a complex topic that affects all areas and requires compliance with many laws and regulations. COs are responsible for the legal and regulatory compliance of all processes and procedures within an organization. The specific tasks and competencies assigned to the CO are decided by the respective organization on a case-by-case basis. Without COs to drive compliance management, organizations run a greater risk of violating applicable laws and guidelines, policies and standards, and thus expose themselves to a high risk of image damage and fines. It is now the task of COs to implement a compliance management system including a reporting system for whistleblowers in accordance with the requirements of the EU Whistleblower Directive and anti-corruption regulations.
Tasks
In principle, the Compliance Officers are responsible for determining, defining and controlling measures for the implementation and continuous maintenance of the Legal Compliance Policy of the TU Wien in order to prevent, avoid or counteract damages in the TU Wien. In addition to professional qualifications, the requirements for Compliance Officers are a high degree of integrity and sense of responsibility as well as good knowledge of the organization and its operating environment. They also need an excellent understanding of the law and jurisdiction, the ability to understand complex issues and interrelationships, and a solution-oriented approach and decision-making skills. Finally, they have an advisory and supportive role in driving change and improvement within the organization. Based on their work, compliance officers analyze and identify potential risks, develop proposals for dealing with and avoiding compliance risks, and initiate the optimization of existing processes and procedures. Their tasks include:
- Close cooperation with the university management and departments
- Consulting of management bodies and employees
- Training and education of management bodies and employees
- Maintenance of the compliance-relevant internal information flow
- Establishment of a compliance management system
- Maintaining the flow of information with administrators and persons authorized to make reports
- Documentation and archiving of reports
- Receipt, coordination and processing of reports
- Maintenance and administration of compliance regulations and the reporting system (reporting channels)
- Identification of risk areas and risk assessment for the future
- Training & consulting
- Evaluation, optimization, reengineering of processes
- Support in the implementation and further development of internal control systems
- Written fixation of regulations and processes
- Reporting
The compliance officers have a direct reporting obligation to the rectorate or the rector. Periodic reporting takes place once a month or, in urgent cases, by individual agreement. At the end of the year, an annual compliance report is prepared.
Research compliance
In a globalized and digitalized world, researchers are also increasingly required to comply with extensive rights and obligations when conducting their research and strive to avoid legal risks. The CO Research has the task of translating the multitude of complex regulations in the research sector into practicable working structures, bundling them and supporting researchers in conducting research in compliance with the law. The CO Research acts as an interface to all research-relevant areas at TU Wien, such as colleagues in research support, labor law, finance, data protection or information security. At the same time, it supports the university management and the employees of the TU Wien in complying with the applicable law and internal university regulations in the field of research. The compliance culture is to be strengthened through targeted consulting, training and awareness measures in the research area and a structured reporting system to the university management.
Organisation
The compliance organization of the TU Wien consists of the establishment of the compliance rules and regulations and the reporting system.
Reporting office
At TU Wien, the reporting office is established in the form of the Compliance Department under the direction of the Rector (E609 Services Rector_in), in which the “Compliance Officer Central Area” (COZ) and “Compliance Officer Research” (COF) are active.
Reporting System: Transparent and Diverse
As a public corporation, the TU Wien is obliged under the EU Whistleblower Directive to set up an internal reporting system for the submission of voluntary reports. This is intended to establish an early warning system that will uncover wrongdoing in high-risk areas or, if possible, prevent it. The compliance officers are also in exchange with other universities with regard to internal implementation. The overarching goal is to improve enforcement of Union law and policy in areas such as public procurement, environmental law, and state aid law by establishing common minimum standards that ensure a high level of protection for persons reporting violations of Union law. The establishment of an internal reporting system to report reportable incidents is essential for the success of compliance. Accordingly, the TU Wien is planning a web-based reporting system for the reporting of grievances and breaches of rules in accordance with the topics in the EU Whistleblower Directive for persons with a professional connection to the TU Wien. All existing contact points and reporting channels (e.g. data protection) will remain in place and will be managed by the respective responsible employees of the TU Wien.
Compliance Board
The TU Wien has established a Compliance Board, which meets monthly to exchange information and to evaluate and further develop the compliance organization. The Compliance Board is consulted in an advisory capacity and includes the following persons:
- Compliance Officer Central Area (COZ)
- Compliance Officer Research (COF)
- Head of Labor Law Department
- Head of Internal Audit
- Head of Finance Department
