Karomia wants problems to come out early, so we can fix them. This policy explains how anyone can report a suspected breach safely, what we do with a report, and how we protect the people involved.
Karomia has fewer than 50 employees and is not legally required to run an internal reporting channel. We chose to set one up anyway and to follow the standards of the EU Whistleblower Directive (2019/1937) and the Belgian Act of 28 November 2022 as a matter of company policy.
Anyone who learns about a possible breach through their work with Karomia, including:
Suspected breaches, past, ongoing or likely to happen, in these areas:
You do not need proof. A reasonable suspicion, based on facts you know, is enough.
Not covered by this channel:
Choose the channel that suits you:
If your report concerns Jens Verhiest, report to Luc Machiels (CEO), luc.machiels@karomia.eu. If it concerns both founders, report to Ruth Janssens (board member), ruth.janssens@imecistartfuturefund.com. The person concerned is then excluded from handling the report.
Anonymous reports are accepted and followed up. Without any way to reach you we cannot confirm receipt or ask questions, so consider creating a separate email address for this.
| Role | Person | Handles |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting manager | Jens Verhiest, COO | All reports, unless they concern him |
| Alternate | Luc Machiels, CEO | Reports about Jens, or when Jens is absent or conflicted |
| Escalation | Ruth Janssens (board member) | Reports about both founders |
The handler acts independently and has no conflict of interest in the report. Anyone with a possible conflict steps aside. For complex or sensitive matters the handler may involve an external lawyer, who is bound by professional secrecy.
Your identity, and anything that could identify you, is only known to the handler. It is not shared with anyone else without your explicit consent, unless the law requires it (for example in judicial proceedings). In that case we inform you first, unless that would harm the investigation.
The identity of people named in a report is protected in the same way.
Reports are kept in a restricted mailbox folder and register that only the handlers can access. In a small team it can be hard to stay fully anonymous, so describe the facts without details that point to you if you want to stay unknown.
Karomia does not tolerate retaliation against anyone who reports in good faith, or against people who help them, such as colleagues or family members. Retaliation includes dismissal, demotion, a negative evaluation, loss of a bonus or warrants, a change of duties, intimidation and exclusion, and also the threat of any of these.
Anyone who retaliates, or tries to stop someone from reporting, faces disciplinary action up to dismissal. If you believe you are being retaliated against, report it through the same channels.
Reporting in good faith means you had reasonable grounds to believe the information was true when you reported it, even if it later proves wrong. Knowingly false reports are not protected and may lead to disciplinary action.
You can always report directly to the authorities, without reporting internally first. The Federal Ombudsman is the federal coordinator for whistleblower reports in the private sector: federaalombudsman.be. Depending on the subject, other authorities can be competent, such as the Data Protection Authority, the FSMA or the tax and social inspection services. We encourage internal reporting first so we can act quickly, but the choice is yours.