Legal
The issue ultimately is to choose the invitees with care...
Gifts from suppliers and customers – could these fall foul of the Bribery Act?
The Serious Fraud Office has been reported as warning that more prosecutions are on the way against companies and individuals who breach the Bribery Act 2012. In essence, the Act makes it unlawful to receive or give a bribe. At Christmas it is common for gifts to be exchanged. Anything from boxes of chocolates, through to bottles of wine, hampers and tickets to the theatre or sporting events. Can these be considered a bribe? In short the answer is yes, it can be a
bribe if it induces or is intended to persuade the other party to do business with you. A general thank you for past loyalty or where gifts are not unreasonable might fall outside the Act.
The best way to protect yourself is
to make sure you follow the Act and establish adequate safeguards to prevent bribery. Depending on the size of your organisation this could entail training staff or even imposing a blanket prohibition on acceptance of any gifts. Ultimately, make sure you have something in place, and sooner rather than later…
Oh Tannenbaum - why you need to be careful with pricing
Throughout Europe, as in the UK, anti- competition laws are strictly enforced to prevent price fixing and encourage competitive pricing for consumers. A Danish organisation for producers
of Christmas trees was heavily fined for breach of a Danish law which operates in a similar manner to UK legislation. The organisation had effectively given price recommendations to members through the illegal exchange of information. It supplied price statistics and price calculation models to its members, in such a way that members were told how to set prices and which minimum prices should be applied. This of course discourages healthy competition and could mean consumers paying more for their Christmas trees. In 2009, the organisation was fined
the equivalent of approximately EUR 26,700, with the managing director of the organisation fined personally as well for his conduct. In summer 2010, an appeal was heard and the fine was raised to approximately EUR 67,000. Despite mitigating factors, the appellate
court may have thought that price fixing of Christmas trees wasn’t really acting in the Christmas spirit.
And finally…
Forgotten Christmas presents – why can’t you buy them on Christmas Day? In short, the reason is The Christmas
Day (Trading) Act 2004 which was hurriedly enacted in December 2004 to make sure it was in place for Christmas of that year. The Act prohibits large shops (defined by reference to square footage) from opening on Christmas Day, regardless of the day of the week Christmas Day falls on. Prior to the Act, large shops could open
on Christmas Day unless it fell on a Sunday. Woolworths was one of a number of large retailers who started opening stores on Christmas Day in the late 1990’s, giving rise to pressure from religious groups and unions for the government to introduce legislation. The result was the Act, meaning only a
handful of shops can open on Christmas Day. So, the moral of the story is: don’t wait until the last minute to buy your Christmas presents….
Happy Christmas shopping... •
Claudia Gerrard is a legal consultant at Excello Law. You can call her on 07447 985647 or email her at:
cgerrard@excellolaw.co.uk
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