Answer:
I had once visited a client and he, unusually, offered me a complimentary tip. Somewhere at the back of my mind, it felt off. So I declined. He on the other hand persisted.
Because I wanted to round up the meeting, I eventually accepted and left.
The next day was our weekly in-house academy - a day of the week when we set aside about 2 hours for learning and re-learning.
At that meeting, the HR Executive did a reminder on the value of the organisation, as well as the ethics which guide our operations. There she mentioned categorically that it was prohibited by the company to accept any type of cash gifts from the client or from the insurance companies.
As, soon as the meeting was done, I reported myself to the HR Executive and she advised that I return it and I did immediately, thankfully, the exact note was still in my possession.
I wrote a letter to the client respectfully returning the gift on the grounds that company policy forbade it and that marked the end of that episode.
If I had the company blueprint on ethics at my fingertips, I would have insisted on my initial position not to take the gift.
Cheers
