Man, I’ve seen so many people fired for taking bribes and kickbacks from vendors. Not even large amounts, just more than the limit and then not disclosing it to the ethics and compliance board.
Such a stupid way to sabotage your own career.
E: sorry Steve but we pride ourselves on only taking a little bit of bribery, and your level this year was ‘moderate’. We can’t have people going around here like that, we have to stay on the down-low.
Kind of, yeah. Like a vendor can buy you lunch as long as the total amount per annum is less than a certain amount and if it goes over that you just have to disclose it so E&C can make sure that this doesn’t impact decision-making. There is an allowance for a certain level of glad-handing so I don’t get fired because Cisco came by and gave me a branded t-shirt.
We even had limits like this when I was a postman.
If someone gave me a card at Xmas with some lottery scratch tickets or a gift card it was fine as long as the value was under $50. A coworker got in trouble at my facility about it because a nice old guy on his run gave him a thrashed and neglected early 90s dirtbike missing a bunch of parts because he wanted it gone and couldnt be bothered selling it and they had talked bikes before. The guy told his son he gave it to the postman and the son got it in his head that the postman must have pressured him into it but because he didnt declare it the postman got into a bunch of shit. The process exists to protect everyone involved.
The limit is relatively low so that you don’t have to flood HR with reports because a supplier gave you a branded pen or a contractor paid for a burger while you were out fixing stuff.
They’re probably referring to minor gifts random people might offer you out of gratitude sometime, say if you do customer service and went out of your way for them. A bottle of normal priced wine, some chocolates perhaps, a gift card for a lunch at xyz. Some giveaway merch they have tons of.
Even then, it’d need to be a token wedding gift or something similarly eventful. A birthday isn’t enough. For those things, even within the limits, I’d want pretty justifiable context. At least if you’re working for/in US government.
A $15 box of chocolates from my new contractor who just won the bid just isn’t worth dealing with as an issue.
I know that for FDA or BSI we can’t offer anything at all. We can’t even let them use our building water to drink, they must bring there own water.
One time we worked with the FDA to help expose some new auditors to a real audit(we were not really being audited but told to treat it like a real audit). One of the new auditors didn’t bring anything to drink, assuming there would be water provided. Nope, the senior auditor made them sit there all morning being thirsty and when we broke for lunch the new auditor went across the street to CVS and bought a bottle of water. I felt kind of bad for them. But every other day they arrived with a big bottle of water :-D
Man, I’ve seen so many people fired for taking bribes and kickbacks from vendors. Not even large amounts, just more than the limit and then not disclosing it to the ethics and compliance board. Such a stupid way to sabotage your own career.
Uhh… whut
E: sorry Steve but we pride ourselves on only taking a little bit of bribery, and your level this year was ‘moderate’. We can’t have people going around here like that, we have to stay on the down-low.
Kind of, yeah. Like a vendor can buy you lunch as long as the total amount per annum is less than a certain amount and if it goes over that you just have to disclose it so E&C can make sure that this doesn’t impact decision-making. There is an allowance for a certain level of glad-handing so I don’t get fired because Cisco came by and gave me a branded t-shirt.
TIL, thanks!
We even had limits like this when I was a postman.
If someone gave me a card at Xmas with some lottery scratch tickets or a gift card it was fine as long as the value was under $50. A coworker got in trouble at my facility about it because a nice old guy on his run gave him a thrashed and neglected early 90s dirtbike missing a bunch of parts because he wanted it gone and couldnt be bothered selling it and they had talked bikes before. The guy told his son he gave it to the postman and the son got it in his head that the postman must have pressured him into it but because he didnt declare it the postman got into a bunch of shit. The process exists to protect everyone involved.
I think of it like:
It’s okay to have a little bribery. As a treat.
The limit is relatively low so that you don’t have to flood HR with reports because a supplier gave you a branded pen or a contractor paid for a burger while you were out fixing stuff.
Of course! This is America!
:P
They’re probably referring to minor gifts random people might offer you out of gratitude sometime, say if you do customer service and went out of your way for them. A bottle of normal priced wine, some chocolates perhaps, a gift card for a lunch at xyz. Some giveaway merch they have tons of.
These are all pretty sus and might be things I’d report.
These policy limits are intended to allow things like swag at a convention or if you’re in a meeting and they have lunch catered.
I meant more like, either of these not all. Nothing worth more than 5-10 bucks combined
Even then, it’d need to be a token wedding gift or something similarly eventful. A birthday isn’t enough. For those things, even within the limits, I’d want pretty justifiable context. At least if you’re working for/in US government.
A $15 box of chocolates from my new contractor who just won the bid just isn’t worth dealing with as an issue.
I know that for FDA or BSI we can’t offer anything at all. We can’t even let them use our building water to drink, they must bring there own water.
One time we worked with the FDA to help expose some new auditors to a real audit(we were not really being audited but told to treat it like a real audit). One of the new auditors didn’t bring anything to drink, assuming there would be water provided. Nope, the senior auditor made them sit there all morning being thirsty and when we broke for lunch the new auditor went across the street to CVS and bought a bottle of water. I felt kind of bad for them. But every other day they arrived with a big bottle of water :-D