Look that gift horse in the mouth

Marketing brief

By Rae Nield, Auckland | Friday, 25 November 2011
Did you enjoy the Rugby World Cup? Even non-rugby heads like me did. I walked the fan trail and went to the Australia-Wales semi-final — the first live rugby game I had been to in years. I even impressed the four Welshmen in front by singing their national anthem in Welsh (amazing what you can do with an iPhone).

Now, how many of you were given tickets to a serious game by one of your suppliers? Or invited to a corporate box to be treated in style? That’s not unusual in the private sector. Companies invite key customers, show off their top staff, and generally everyone walks out with a sense of unity that might lead to increased sales. But just think about it: do you buy from the givers of hospitality or other corporate gifts because you like their products anyway, or do you favour them just because they gave you a good time or a great gift? Is your buying decision in the best interests of your company, or is it just in your personal best interest? Would you really know? Read on.

Corporate gifts are hazardous. At the worst end, the offering of significant personal gifts to influence a decision can be called bribery, a criminal offence, particularly where a government official is concerned. A bribe is not necessarily money: It can be any direct or indirect benefit. The State Services Commission has a strict code of conduct for government officials, which includes keeping a register of gifts and hospitality and requiring government officials to decline any gifts or benefits which place them under any obligation or perceived influence. That last point is important. It’s not whether there is actual influence — that is almost impossible to prove. It’s whether it looks as if the receiving of a gift influences the official’s decisions.

When journalists started to make Official Information Act requests for gift registers, Treasury put its 2010-2011 gift and hospitality register online. It’s pretty boring stuff — lunches, presentations, rugby tickets, pantomime tickets. But there are 18 pages of gifts over a six-month period, and you see the same (corporate and Treasury) names cropping up again and again. So you won’t be surprised to hear that the State Services Commission told all state sector employees that they should not accept gifts of Rugby World Cup tickets, and that Treasury in particular has strengthened its policies. Its two guiding principles are that staff should not accept gifts or hospitality unless there is a clear business benefit to the Treasury that exceeds any private benefit, and that Treasury staff must refuse all gifts or hospitality that could reasonably be seen or perceived as undermining the integrity of individual Treasury staff, the Treasury or the wider state sector, including gifts worth more than $50. All gifts (including offers of gifts which are refused) must be recorded in the register.

I have clients with company policies along similar lines, and I respect them. Everyone knows where they are, and decisions can be made objectively in the best interests of the company, without the fear of staff being influenced by personal gain. If you are squirming in your chair by now, thinking about your free tickets to the final: well, it’s too late to give them back, but you could follow Treasury’s example and show how you intend to act in your company’s interests by adopting a strict gift policy for the future.

Rae Nield is a solicitor specialising in marketing law. This article is intended for general information, and should not be relied on as specific legal advice. You should consult a lawyer for advice relating to your own specific legal problems. Rae Nield can be contacted at raenield@marketinglaw.co.nz.