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conflict of interest?
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| colonelcrisp |
so a contractor on one of my highway construction projects calls me today and offers me their company box for the up comming montreal vs ottawa hockey game tommrow.....
it!, im a huge habs fan, and its hockey so im going with my friends.......
thoughts?
and no im not telling my boss or co workers.... cause then they will want in... or tell me not to go.... |
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| Moral Hazard |
| quote: | Originally posted by colonelcrisp
so a contractor on one of my highway construction projects calls me today and offers me their company box for the up comming montreal vs ottawa hockey game tommrow.....
it!, im a huge habs fan, and its hockey so im going with my friends.......
thoughts?
and no im not telling my boss or co workers.... cause then they will want in... or tell me not to go.... |
Are you in a position to directly provide them with business?
Are they presently bidding on a project you are involved with?
If you answered no to both of the above I would say that this is marketing rather then graft. |
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| colonelcrisp |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
Are you in a position to directly provide them with business?
Are they presently bidding on a project you are involved with?
If you answered no to both of the above I would say that this is marketing rather then graft. |
as a consultant, i recomend the ideal contractor for the bid acceptance, but usually that is a factor of low price and contractor fleet size and capability to do specific work. so there is no oppourtunity here for picking favorites for jobs. the numbers have to match up.
in this particular case i prepare and process the progress payment certification for a contract valued at 3.5 million, which in the world of highway construction is all. On top of that i process the payment based on daily quantity of work tabulation compiled by my site inspectors so the numbers have to match up there. there is no oppourtunity for me to give said contractor any kickbacks whatsoever, nor would i give them any |
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| glass |
| I'd say that you kinda have to tell your boss. That could really bite you in the ass. A skybox isn't worth your job. |
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| gehzumteufel |
just tell everyone but your boss. lol j/k
seriously this could be considered a kick back. i dunno really how it works in the construction world (even though i now work for a civil engineering company that does TONS of road here) but in the mortgage world EVERYTHING can be considered a kick back if it has a usable value to it. |
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| Moral Hazard |
| quote: | Originally posted by colonelcrisp
as a consultant, i recomend the ideal contractor for the bid acceptance, but usually that is a factor of low price and contractor fleet size and capability to do specific work. so there is no oppourtunity here for picking favorites for jobs. the numbers have to match up.
in this particular case i prepare and process the progress payment certification for a contract valued at 3.5 million, which in the world of highway construction is all. On top of that i process the payment based on daily quantity of work tabulation compiled by my site inspectors so the numbers have to match up there. there is no oppourtunity for me to give said contractor any kickbacks whatsoever, nor would i give them any |
There is a fine line between a vendor trying to foster a friendly business relationship and one attempting to gain favour. I have no problem with my employees taking advantage of marketing the ilk of which you describe provided that the vendor is someone we already do business with and are likely to continue doing business with. Stuff like this is pretty common place. That said, I would check with your supervisor/manager/insertauthorityfiguretitlehere to ensure this does not break any policy of the firm. Additionally, since you're working as a consultant on a highway project I presume your firm is working for the province or the regional municipality... it is possible that your contract with your clients precludes you from accepting gifts (not uncommon for governmental bodies)... if you fail to heed that and your firm gets axed from government contracts because of it you'll be the next to get axed. Check with the powers that be before accepting. |
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| colonelcrisp |
| as it stands our client is a regional municipality and it wont prove to be a conflict as the public works manager from said county is going to be at the game as well. we have a very close working relationship with the contractor so i really dont see it as a kick back at all. |
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| phuzzyfish12 |
its a kick back!!!
wouldn't do just in case not worth your job! |
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| nchs09 |
| ask your boss i guess is the reasonable thing to do. id ing do it though :D |
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| inconspicuous |
if it's not an issue, it won't matter if you tell your boss. if it is an issue and he finds out later, you're in trouble. if it is an issue and the contractor invites your boss, too, your boss will wonder why you didn't mention it (even if it's ok). in other words, tell your boss.
this stuff used to be HUGE in the pharmaceutical industry, when reps would give doctors comps on top of comps. there's a limit on what they can legally give now, though. I think it's $150 or something (over a given time frame). they still get pens & stationary, but no more opera tickets, vacations, & TVs. do you know if there's a similar regulation in your field? |
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| colonelcrisp |
| quote: | Originally posted by inconspicuous
if it's not an issue, it won't matter if you tell your boss. if it is an issue and he finds out later, you're in trouble. if it is an issue and the contractor invites your boss, too, your boss will wonder why you didn't mention it (even if it's ok). in other words, tell your boss.
this stuff used to be HUGE in the pharmaceutical industry, when reps would give doctors comps on top of comps. there's a limit on what they can legally give now, though. I think it's $150 or something (over a given time frame). they still get pens & stationary, but no more opera tickets, vacations, & TVs. do you know if there's a similar regulation in your field? |
well as my profession is self regulated, unless specified in client / consultant contracts, its up to the discression of the individual.
in my case, i dont feel that im out of line at all, and im going to thoughroughly enjoy the game tommorow. Its pretty common practice for contractors to put on these types of gratuities to project engineers from time to time as part of fostering a good client company relationship. in my industry i work with one of about 4 contractors on every project. as such i get alot of free hats, golf shirts, facility tours, lunches / dinners etc..... while this is the first hockey game i have been offered, ive gotten free rounds of golf etc numerous times, the only time im not allowed any of the perks is when we are working on city of ottawa projects, ever since that douchebag councillor got spotted by the cbc in the private box at a hockey game during the stanley cup finals last year. (this councillor in question was chair of the environmental commitee, and the box was owned by waste management ltd who currently had an application in for approval of a landfill expansion (tripple of the current size) so it was a significant conflict of interest) |
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| Xevious |
| that's not fair I wanna go!! |
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