No gift policy

[subaqua]

nope. not allowed. its in the Code of Conduct policy and covered in detail in the Bribery Act training which we all repeat often.

so no more bottles of booze at Christmas from subbies, ( site guys never had the input into contractor choice and the bottles were gratefully accepted as it made Xmas a bit more affordable) . no more sporting events ( even golf days) , limited to what what we can accept, without prior approval in hospitality (i.e. being taken out for a decent evening meal) from suppliers on factory visits etc. we can exceed this but at each step change , which is quite a jump at each one you need approval from higher up the company .Most now fall under the approval required figure.

no more visits to the booby bars on factory tests and having the supplier cough out for , well you know.... with the cost being worked into the final account ...

generally its all for the better , but not all contractors in this industry play fair and most has been driven "underground" and hidden away.

company i work for doesn't tolerate deviation from it at all and is strict in the application of the rules and procedures. you will face disciplinary if you break it.

I offered a meal to a governing body inspector as we were out for the day and he declined for similar reasons , with the commebt f " it annoys me that they think i would have put my job on the line for a free lunch"

 

[tyred]

I get a small diary every year from one of our suppliers. Why do I not get cars or TVs?

 

[martint235]

Civil servant. Not allowed to receive anything. I worked with big pharma buying vaccines from them for 3 years. I wasn't even allowed the paperweights that doctors get.

 

[srw]

We have a sensible policy, and there's annual training and testing to make sure everyone gets the message. We're allowed to give or accept (or decline) low-value gifts, business lunches, dinners etc, but anything higher-value (over about £40) needs to be logged and approved by line managers. Anything where travel or accommodation is paid for needs to be logged and approved at a senior level. As far as I can tell most of our business partners have a very similar policy; the only people we have to be very careful with are our regulators. I did check with them last year that they were OK to accept a sandwich lunch when we had a long meeting with them!

 

[jonny jeez]

Does your company have a no gift policy?

A previous company I worked had such a policy but it seemed to not apply at the people near the top. One guy received a yacht. Another guy received a large house. Yet when it comes to gifts for lower end people, a TV, a car, a holiday...not allowed!

What gives?

I know someone else who's company also has such a policy yet he walks out with multpile gifts.

It's about perspective.

If you start, own, grow and control a succesful company, why should you not enjoy the benifits that this brings, as long as they are ethical and legal (houses, yaughts etc could have been part of a bonus/contract deal)

Why should an employee who has only joined the firm...as a job...gain additional benifits from the work, risk and investment of another. Edit, especially if that gift is not in the best interests of the business.

Not happy? Well, you could always start up your own business and take as many yaughts as you want.

 

[Markymark]

My staff are, every day, showered in the gifts of knowledge and guidance from their inspiring boss. The wages I pay them are worthless in comparison to the 'salary of wisdom' they receive from me.

 

[Profpointy]

an amusing one the other day. We had a visit to IBM's site, not really a sales pitch to us per se, but more a demonstrator of their interesting stuff raising their profile and so on. Had a reasonably nice buffet lunch - superior sandwiches, nibbles, cake etc - so rather nicer than our staff canteen, but not exactly Heston Blumenthal, and they commented that when civil servants visited they had to declare the cost of the lunch. It was too expensive for their acceptability policy so IBM had to order in specially some rather inferior sandwiches so that it became acceptable..

 

[BrumJim]

Many years ago, when I had just started work, (1994), I proclaimed that a supplier had offered me a gift of a new car if they won an order for a small part - total contract value of ~£2-3000. Not long after, the company rules changed, and all gifts from suppliers, including calendars and diaries, had to be handed in and distributed evenly. My theory is that my arid sense of humour had not been fully appreciated in the office, and had caused a stir that went right up to the top.

Many years later, with the restriction still not removed (although fallen into disrepute), the stationary budget had been busted for the year and the cupboard doors had been closed until April, so engineers would ask suppliers to bring pens with them so we had something to write with.

Company I am with now has a sensible gifts policy, and an annual integrity training session so that we understand the limits, and know what to do if they are approached.

 

[martint235]

My staff are, every day, showered in the gifts of knowledge and guidance from their inspiring boss. The wages I pay them are worthless in comparison to the 'salary of wisdom' they receive from me.

Poor saps.

 

[mustang1]

Did you work for the Kremlin?

People that accept gifts of that value are no longer working for the company they provides their P60, they are working for the people that give them the gifts. I'm really surprised that people were openly receiving gifts of such value. It's customary to try to hide bribes.

Well he probably tried wrapping his yacht up with wrapping paper but people kinda made out the shape.

I was baffled for a few minutes though.

 

[mustang1]

It's about perspective.

If you start, own, grow and control a succesful company, why should you not enjoy the benifits that this brings, as long as they are ethical and legal (houses, yaughts etc could have been part of a bonus/contract deal)

Why should an employee who has only joined the firm...as a job...gain additional benifits from the work, risk and investment of another. Edit, especially if that gift is not in the best interests of the business.

Not happy? Well, you could always start up your own business and take as many yaughts as you want.

It wasn't the company owner who received these gifts, it was the guy a few levels down. They are employees too.

 

[Markymark]

Do you let them clean the screen of your i-phone as well?

Which one?

 

[Markymark]

The spare one, obvs.

...again, which one?

 

[jonny jeez]

It wasn't the company owner who received these gifts, it was the guy a few levels down. They are employees too.

In which case, yep, that sounds wrong...apologies I thought you were talking about the guys at the top if the tree.

 

[Markymark]

Well, out of all the spare ones, the one that you wouldn't be toooooo upset if they scratched the screen slightly but isn't too embarrassing to admit still owning.

Ah, that would be the iPhone 4 I had before upgrading them. Awesome at the time but a disgusting piece of kit now (as has been outdated). I'd let them polish the glass case that protects it if I think they're worthy.