Bribery Act: a ‘thank you’ – or an illegal incentive?

The Bribery Act 2010 prohibits paying bribes, receiving bribes and failing to prevent bribery. The latter offence applies only to commercial organisations, but the others relate equally to public- and private-sector organisations. It is the offence of failing to prevent bribery that is likely to have the most impact on HR professionals because an organisation’s only defence will be to show it had “adequate procedures” in place to prevent bribery. Any company convicted of failing to prevent bribery could receive an unlimited fine – and both a company and its directors could be subject to criminal penalties.