Gifts and hospitality: where the line is, and how to tell

Most people in yachting have been offered something by a supplier: a lunch, a bottle, a trip to a producer, a bag of branded kit, a "thank you" at the end of the season. Most of it is meant kindly. Some of it is not. The difficulty is that the same gesture can be harmless in one situation and a serious problem in another. This guide gives you a way to tell.

The principle

A gift or hospitality becomes a problem when it could influence, or look as if it influences, how you spend someone else's money. The question is never only "how much is it?". It is "why is it being offered, to whom, and does the person whose money it is know?"

Five tests

Run any offer through these. If it fails one, decline it, or ask your captain or manager before you accept.

1. The disclosure test. Would you be comfortable if the owner, the charterer and your captain all saw it, today, next to the invoice? If not, you already know.
2. The timing test. Is a quote, order, tender, renewal or decision pending, or just completed, with the person offering? If yes, it is almost never acceptable.
3. The value and frequency test. Is it modest, occasional and in line with ordinary business courtesy? Lavish, repeated or escalating offers are a warning sign, however small each one looks.
4. The recipient test. Is it for the team, as a team, or for you personally? A personal benefit to the person who places the order is the highest-risk kind.
5. The form test. Is it cash, a voucher, a transfer, a "personal discount" or anything that can be turned into money? That is a red line. So is anything you would not want written in the register.

Green, amber and red

	Examples	What to do
Green: usually fine	A coffee or a modest meal at a genuine business meeting, within your employer's limit. A tasting open to the whole team. Branded items of trivial value handed to the team, such as pens or calendars. A seasonal card.	Accept if your employer's policy allows. Log it if above the logging limit.
Amber: ask first	Event or show invitations. A supplier's dinner or party. A visit to a producer. A gift for the crew mess at the end of a charter. A hamper at Christmas. Training offered by a supplier.	Do not accept on your own. Ask your captain or compliance lead. Decide in writing. Log it either way.
Red: decline	Cash, vouchers, transfers. "Commission" or a "referral fee". Personal discounts. Free product for personal use. Holidays or travel. Anything offered while an order is pending. Anything you are asked to keep quiet. Anything for a relative.	Decline politely. Record it. Report it if it was an attempt to influence an order.

The situations that catch people out

The case of wine "for the crew mess". A supplier sends a case to the boat after a large order. It feels like a courtesy. It is a benefit connected to an order, offered to the people who place it. Decline it, or ask your captain to agree it in writing, declare it to the owner and give it to the crew as a team and not to individuals.

The dinner at the show. A supplier invites you to a dinner during a charter show. Show dinners are where relationships are made, and where many lines are crossed. If you go, go as a team with your captain's knowledge, within the limit, and never when a decision is pending. If the dinner is only for you, or on a yacht, in a restaurant or at a venue you could not justify to the owner, say no.

The "thank you" after a big order. A gift offered once an order has gone through is still connected to that order. It is also a way of setting up the next one.

The producer visit. A trip to a vineyard or a factory can have a genuine professional purpose. If it does, your employer should agree it, and pay for it, or agree in writing that the supplier will. A trip paid for by the supplier for you, to a place you want to go, at a time that suits you, is a holiday.

The personal discount. "Take 20% off whatever you buy for yourself." This is a benefit given to you because of your position. Treat it as a gift.

Tips. A supplier who tips a deckhand who helped unload is being polite. A supplier who "looks after" a chief stewardess or a captain every season is not.

The friend. A long-standing supplier becomes a friend. You can be a friend and still keep the rules. If it gets complicated, tell your captain, and let someone else make the buying decisions.

If you are the one offering

The same tests apply to you. Giving a benefit to the person who places your order is the offence in most countries, whatever your intention. A supplier who wants to be generous should do it openly: a price discount on the invoice, a tasting for the team, a modest meal at a business meeting. Everything else is risk. See the vendor policy template and its gift limits.

If you have already accepted something

Do not panic, and do not hide it. Stop. Write down what, when and from whom. Tell your captain or manager. If it was an attempt to influence an order, talk to us privately or to a lawyer about what to do next. Hiding it makes it worse. Telling someone promptly almost always helps.

Why it matters even if "everyone does it"

Because the person who accepts small benefits is the person who is asked, later, for something larger. Because a benefit you did not report is a hold someone has over you. And because every accepted favour makes it harder for the next person to say no. See Why you must report.

General information, not legal advice. See the disclaimer.