An anti-bribery and corruption policy is a critical document for any organisation, ensuring compliance with legal requirements and helping to foster a culture of integrity and transparency that builds trust.
Here we talk about what to consider including in an anti-bribery policy. By addressing these key areas, you can mitigate the risks of bribery and corruption, safeguarding your organisation’s reputation and long-term success.
Compliance with the Bribery Act 2010
Your anti-bribery and corruption policy may open with a firm declaration of your organisation’s commitment to compliance with the Bribery Act 2010.
Summarise the key provisions of the Bribery Act 2010, highlighting offences such as bribing another person, being bribed, bribing foreign public officials, and the failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery. State the penalties for bribery and corruption for individuals and organisations under the Act.
Clearly articulate your organisation’s zero-tolerance stance towards bribery and corruption. This should be a clear, prominent statement with no room for ambiguity.
Governance of anti-bribery
State the job title of the person in your organisation who has overall responsibility for ensuring senior management, employees, suppliers and partner organisations are aware of their responsibilities for preventing bribery and corruption.
Scope of the anti-bribery and corruption policy
Specify that this anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy applies to all employees, directors, officers, agents, contractors, consultants, and third-party representatives. This ensures that everyone associated with your organisation is subject to the same rules and standards. You might explain the legal definition of ‘third party’ to avoid ambiguity.
Clearly state that no individual or group within your organisation is exempt from the policy, reinforcing the principle of equal accountability.
Definition of bribery
Provide a definition of ‘bribery’ under the Bribery Act 2010 as the ‘offering, promising, giving, requesting, agreeing to receive, or accepting of a financial or other advantage with the intention of inducing or rewarding improper performance of a relevant function or activity’.
The Act covers both the person giving a bribe and the person receiving a bribe.
Under the Act, a bribe might be in the form of:
- Financial advantages. This can include money, gifts, loans, fees, hospitality, services, discounts, the award of a contract, or any other advantage or benefit.
- Improper performance. This refers to the performance of a function or activity in a way that breaches an expectation of good faith, impartiality, or trust.
You might also provide a definition of ‘corruption’, which the Oxford Dictionary defines as the ‘dishonest or fraudulent conduct of those in power, typically involving bribery’.
Examples of bribes
Give examples of bribes, particularly focussing on examples that are relevant to your organisation.
For instance:
Cash payments
Direct payments to an official or business partner to secure a contract.
Gifts and hospitality
Offering extravagant gifts, meals, or entertainment in exchange for favourable treatment.
Kickbacks
Giving a portion of the contract value to the decision-maker as a reward for awarding the contract.
Political contributions
Donations made to political parties or candidates in return for business favours.
Charitable donations
Donations to a charity linked to the decision-maker in return for favourable decisions.
Employment opportunities
Offering employment to relatives of the decision-maker to influence decisions.
Favourable terms
Providing loans or favourable terms not available to others as a means of securing business.
Organisation’s responsibilities
The anti-bribery and corruption policy should explain your organisation’s responsibility to prevent bribery under the Bribery Act 2010, and how this responsibility is met by taking proactive measures to deter, detect and address bribery and corruption within your organisation and in dealings with external parties.
Under Section 7 of the Act, organisations must have ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent bribery. This serves as a potential defence if an associated person commits a bribery offence. These procedures should be proportionate to the bribery risks faced by your organisation and the nature, scale, and complexity of business activities.
Your policy might outline the principles behind your organisation’s procedures such as:
- Top-level commitment. Your organisation’s leadership demonstrates a clear and unequivocal commitment to preventing bribery.
- Risk assessment. Regular, comprehensive risk assessments are carried out to identify and evaluate the potential for bribery within the organisation.
- Your organisation’s procedures for preventing, detecting and addressing bribery, such as:
- Carrying out due diligence
- Sharing guidelines about acceptable and unacceptable practices regarding gifts.
- The explicit prohibition of facilitation payments.
- Training and communication. That regular anti-bribery training is provided to employees and relevant stakeholders, and your organisation’s anti-bribery policy and procedures are shared to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities.
- Monitoring and review. The ongoing monitoring and review processes that takes place to ensure anti-bribery measures are continuously effective.
Employees’ responsibilities
Your anti-bribery and corruption policy should explain the key responsibilities of employees to:
- Understand and adhere to your organisation’s anti-bribery and corruption policy and the Bribery Act 2010. This includes being aware of what constitutes bribery and the legal and organisational consequences of engaging in such activities.
- Report suspicions and incidents. Employees have a duty to report any suspicions or evidence of bribery or corruption. This includes reporting any behaviour or transactions that seem suspicious or violate your organisation’s anti-bribery policy.
- Participate in anti-bribery training provided by your organisation. At Praxis42, we offer comprehensive Anti-Bribery Training to ensure employees can recognise bribery risks, understand their responsibilities, and know how to act appropriately if they witness an incident or suspect bribery or corruption.
- Stay informed about updates to anti-bribery laws and organisational policies, participating in refresher training as necessary.
The policy must be clear that an employee must never:
- Accept any gift or hospitality from business partners if there is any suggestion or belief that a return favour will be expected or implied.
- Offer or give any gift or hospitality which could be regarded as illegal or improper in any way.
The policy should direct employees who are in any doubt to seek guidance from their manager or director.
Reporting
This section should communicate your organisation’s commitment to maintaining a culture of transparency and integrity by encouraging all employees, contractors, and stakeholders to report any suspicions or evidence of bribery or corruption.
The policy should be clear about the procedure to follow to report incidents and suspicions. It should also state that matters will be treated in complete confidence and there will be no detriment to the employee’s position in the organisation.
Monitoring and review
The final section of the policy should communicate:
- The name and job title of the board member or member of the senior management team who owns the anti-bribery policy.
- The name and job title of the person responsible for reviewing the anti-bribery policy.
- How often the anti-bribery policy will be reviewed (for example, annually).
- That any improvements required to the policy and associated procedures will be implemented as soon as possible. Improvements might reflect organisational changes, operational experiences or legislative updates.
Employees could be invited to comment on the anti-bribery and corruption policy or contribute to it. Involving employees in the development and refinement of your policy helps to create a more comprehensive, practical, and widely accepted framework to prevent bribery and corruption.
Praxis42 anti-bribery training
At Praxis42 we offer anti-bribery training for employees. The course helps to ensure employees understand the importance of following an organisation’s anti-bribery and corruption policy.
Training raises awareness of the legal and ethical standards that help prevent bribery and corruption and supports legal compliance.
Find out more about online anti-bribery training on our website, or contact us today on 0203 011 4242/info@praxis42.com
Tom Paxman
Managing Director (Digital)
