Accepting gifts and entertainment can cause a conflict of interest, or the appearance
of a conflict between personal interests and professional responsibility. The Walmart
culture is to never accept gifts or entertainment from any supplier, potential supplier,
government, or any person the associate has reason to believe may be seeking to
influence business decisions or transactions. Associates also may not accept a gift
or gratuity from a customer for work performed by the associate in a store or club,
except as required by local or national policy.
We may not accept items donated to Walmart by suppliers for the purpose of raising
funds for charities or non-profit organizations. Also, we should not accept or approve
of them making donations on behalf of Walmart.
Our policy of declining all gifts and entertainment stems from our value of maintaining
Every Day Low Costs. Since such gifts and entertainment increase the cost of doing
business, we help our suppliers to give us low costs on products by not expecting
the gifts and entertainment they may have to spend on other customers. We recognize,
as a global company, we may encounter situations where local practices will come
into play. The Global Ethics Office will review these situations on a case-by-case
basis.
When you are establishing a new business relationship, make sure all parties are
aware of our policy regarding gifts and entertainment. In some countries where gift
giving is a custom or tradition, you should politely explain this policy to your
customers and suppliers, especially prior to holiday gift-giving periods, in order
to establish expectations. Also, be aware of what policies your suppliers or other
business partners may have in place about this issue and take them into consideration.
Occasionally, there may be times when returning a gift would be impractical or embarrassing.
In those rare instances, accept the gift on behalf of the company, report it to
your manager, and give the gift to the in-country Ethics Committee or the Walmart
Foundation. If either of those options are not possible, find a fair way to distribute
the gift equally among the members of your department. You should immediately tell
your manager or the Global Ethics Office about any gift you’ve been offered or received
if you feel that gift might be a violation of our company’s policy. If you have
any questions about gifts and entertainment, you should seek assistance from your
manager, the in-country Ethics Committee, or the Global Ethics Office.
You should always be aware of how the act of accepting a gift or gratuity might
be perceived by the public, by other suppliers, or by other associates. When dealing
with external businesses, you should ask yourself, “Would this business be offering
me this gift or gratuity if I wasn’t employed by Walmart?” If the answer is “no”
or is unclear, you should not enter into the transaction.