Anti-bribery policy

A business is guilty of an offence if a person associated with it bribes someone to win or keep business, unless it can show that it had adequate procedures to prevent bribery, and the policy is the centre of those procedures: the rules on gifts and hospitality, the prohibition on facilitation payments, the care taken with public officials and overseas dealings, the due diligence on agents and intermediaries, and the reporting, training and records that prove the policy is applied. I draft the policy for the employer as part of the handbook and core policies for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Businesses in England and Wales that deal with suppliers, customers, agents, public bodies or overseas markets, and businesses whose customers' contracts require an anti-bribery policy.

What matters in an anti-bribery policy

The offences and the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery

The Bribery Act 2010 makes it an offence to offer, promise or give a financial or other advantage intending to induce improper performance (section 1), to request or accept one (section 2), and to bribe a foreign public official (section 6), with individuals and companies liable and directors who consent or connive liable personally; section 7 makes a commercial organisation guilty of an offence if a person associated with it (an employee, an agent, a subsidiary, a contractor) bribes another person intending to obtain or retain business or an advantage for the organisation, unless the organisation proves it had adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery; the policy should explain the offences in terms staff recognise, with examples from the business's own dealings.

Adequate procedures and the six principles

The Ministry of Justice guidance under section 9 of the Bribery Act 2010 sets six principles for adequate procedures: proportionate procedures, top-level commitment, risk assessment, due diligence, communication and training, and monitoring and review; the policy should record the business's risk assessment (the sectors, markets, transactions and relationships that carry bribery risk), the board's commitment stated in its own words, the procedures proportionate to the risk, and the review cycle, because the defence under section 7 is evidenced by the procedures as a whole and the policy is the document that describes them.

Gifts, hospitality and the register

The policy should set the rules on giving and receiving gifts and hospitality: reasonable and proportionate hospitality for a business purpose is permitted, with limits (a value above which approval is required, a value above which it is prohibited), a register in which gifts and hospitality given and received above a stated value are recorded, prohibitions (cash and cash equivalents, anything during a tender or negotiation, anything to or from a public official without approval, anything that could be seen as influencing a decision), and the approval process; the register is the record the business produces when a payment is questioned.

Facilitation payments, public officials and overseas dealings

The policy should prohibit facilitation payments (small payments to secure or speed up a routine action by an official), which are bribes under the Act whatever the local custom, should set the heightened rules for dealings with public officials in the United Kingdom and abroad (no hospitality beyond modest and approved, no payments through intermediaries, no political or charitable donations connected to business), and should say what an employee should do when a payment is demanded (refuse, except where safety is at risk, and report immediately); businesses operating in markets where facilitation payments are customary need the policy to say in terms that the business does not make them.

Third parties, agents and the due diligence on them

The business is liable for bribery by persons associated with it, so the policy should set the due diligence carried out on agents, distributors, intermediaries, joint venture partners and significant suppliers before engagement (ownership, reputation, the basis of remuneration, connections to officials), the anti-bribery terms their contracts must contain (compliance with the policy, audit rights, termination for breach), the approval of commission and success fees, and the monitoring of the relationship; an agent paid a commission to win a contract abroad is the risk the corporate offence was written for.

Reporting, training and the records that make the defence

The policy should set the reporting route for suspected bribery (a named person, the whistleblowing procedure, the protection for those who report), the obligation on every employee to report, the training all staff receive on induction and at intervals (with more for those in higher-risk roles), the records kept (the risk assessment, the register, the due diligence files, the training records, the reports and their handling), and the statement that breaches are gross misconduct and may be reported to the authorities; the Serious Fraud Office looks for the records, and the policy should make sure they exist.

What it costs

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

We are a small business. Do we need an anti-bribery policy?

If the business deals with suppliers, customers or public bodies, the corporate offence applies and adequate procedures are the defence. For a small business the procedures are proportionate, but a policy, a register and training are the core of them.

Can we take a client to a football match?

Reasonable and proportionate hospitality for a business purpose is permitted, within the limits and the register the policy sets, and not during a tender or to a public official without approval. The policy says where the line is.

Our agent abroad says a small payment to customs is normal. Is it allowed?

It is not. Facilitation payments are bribes under the Act whatever the local custom, and the policy prohibits them and requires the demand to be reported.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Expenses policy
• Whistleblowing policy

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.