It’s that time of year when you may be invited to a customer’s Christmas party, or receive a business gift from a supplier, but please beware of being compromised professionally..
RICS have mandatory rules for firms and members, but are useful for all professionals
This extract from The Bribery Act 2010 is reflected by RICS Rules of Conduct for Members (Version 4)
3. Members shall at all times act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest and avoid any actions or situations that are inconsistent with their professional obligations.
and mirrored by RICS Rules of Conduct for Firms (Version 4)
3. A Firm shall at all times act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest and avoid any actions or situations that are inconsistent with its professional obligations.
Please, if you are in a position to receive Christmas gifts, please just think what could happen. I was told that a surveyor received a bottle whisky wrapped in Christmas paper, but around the actual bottle, inside the wrapping paper, were £50. What if that was to happen, what do you do? The surveyor in this occasion happened to returned the “gift” ASAP to the director of the firm donating and reported to his firm’s senior partner.
To protect yourself the best way is to decline gifts, but would this offend the giver? You could look at setting up an office policy for receiving gifts so the process is transparent and if something is deemed inappropriate takes place, the correct reporting mechanism takes place.
The Bribery Act 2010 does not really complicate things as the guidance at
says
So you can continue to provide tickets to sporting events, take clients to dinner, offer gifts to clients as a reflection of your good relations, or pay for reasonable travel expenses in order to demonstrate your goods or services to clients if that is reasonable and proportionate for your business.
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