DOB Quiz Question # 5
You regularly visit the Department of Buildings to conduct routine filings for an architectural firm. Very often, the same customer service representative assists you by answering your complicated questions. You and our employee are now on a first-name basis. You have told your employers about the efficient customer service you receive. Because your bosses know…
You regularly visit the Department of Buildings to conduct routine filings for an architectural firm. Very often, the same customer service representative assists you by answering your complicated questions. You and our employee are now on a first-name basis. You have told your employers about the efficient customer service you receive. Because your bosses know that it’s illegal to give a Buildings Department
employee a tip, they provided you with a travel mug with your company’s name on it as a token of thanks for the Department’s customer service representative during the holidays. Since you had the same mug and it broke, you know it’s very cheaply made. May you give this mug to your customer service representative from your bosses?
Nobody wants a travel mug, and if the gifts policy is zero, a travel mug with your firm’s name on it is possibly the worst thing you could ever give them. Like giving a priest a nambla t-shirt.
sorry but no self-respecting architecture firm would have travel mugs made up and distributed in this manner. Leave that to the contractor!
no self-respecting architecture firm would EVER have travel mugs made up and distributed like this. otoh, probably the contractor
Here’s what the City Conflicts of Interest Board says about the DoB gift policy:
Whatever your position at DOB, remember that the gift policy is $0, when talking
about what you can accept from someone doing business with DOB. Whether you’re
an inspector working on a site, a person working at the window in a borough office
and dealing all day with expediters, or a contract officer working with vendors, no
gifts are allowed. Check the DOB employee code of conduct for more info. Also remember: if someone
offers you something to look the other way, or otherwise alter your professional work, it’s not a gift, it’s a
bribe, and MUST be reported to DOI