must I go to the confidential advisor or to the reporting channel with my complaint

Confidential counselor for conduct, reporting channel for misconduct

The confidential counselor is in most cases the first point of contact for personal matters: bullying, harassment, discrimination or other unwanted conduct that directly affects an employee. The reporting channel, by contrast, is for reports of misconduct within the organization — matters of broader concern, such as fraud, health hazards, or violations of laws and regulations. A complaint about a bullying manager therefore belongs more with the confidential counselor, whereas a suspicion of, for example, financial fraud more appropriately goes to the reporting channel. In practice, these two sometimes overlap: unwanted conduct can, if it is structural and affects the organization's policies, also be regarded as misconduct. If you are uncertain, you can turn to either — the confidential counselor and the reporting channel typically refer you on if the matter is better suited to the other.

For an employee wondering where to turn, the distinction is primarily practical: is it about how someone feels treated, or about something that concerns the organization as a whole. Where can an employee report undesired conduct? goes deeper into that first route, and anyone specifically dealing with bullying or harassment will find additional information via a colleague is being bullied or harassed, where can he report that. Both channels can exist alongside each other within a single organization, each with its own procedure and background.

Two separate legal frameworks

This distinction stems from two different regulations that operate independently. Article 3 of the Working Conditions Act requires employers to have policies against psychosocial strain at work, including unwanted conduct — the confidential counselor is a commonly used instrument for this, and the legislative proposal 35592 before the First Chamber concerns making this function a legal requirement. More about its status can be found in Is a confidential advisor mandatory?. The reporting channel for misconduct, by contrast, derives from the Whistleblower Protection Act, which establishes its own rules for procedure, timelines and protection of the reporter. These are therefore two separate legal frameworks, each with its own purpose and scope.