Non-technical, lunch with port officials

[abih]

This is NOT a technical question, so I assumed it might be OK to ask my geotechnical colleagues here...

Is there a rule that prohibits a private sub/contractor from paying a lunch for a port authority staff member? We do not have any ongoing sub/contract between us at this moment. I knew that there could be a $25 cap for some town officials/staff members during a lunch meeting. I just do not want to run into an embarrassment. Thanks.

 

[IRstuff]

That's really dependent on the jurisdiction. Most government employees and officials have something like a $5 gift limit, which is inclusive of lunches.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[cvg]

some local agencies have a zero tolerance, no gifting rule. other agencies and countries, gifts are required to do business

 

[IRstuff]

Note that your own company's rules may preclude you from offering gifts as well.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[JedClampett]

for Ethics questions, this thread is better:

http://www.eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=765

But this is very dependent on region, local custom and recent issues. For instance, in Florida, you can't hardly buy a box of donuts for a meeting. Other clients can be convinced go to lunch.
What I like to do is explain to them that if I go to lunch on their project, it's billable to the project. But if I take them out, it's BD, and it comes out of that budget. So it's actually cheaper for them if I take them out.