Is Tipping Considered Bribery?
It’s Friday, your vibe is off the chart and you’re feeling generous. After a delightful dinner at your favourite restaurant, you went to pay your bill and you decided to tip the waiter.
But wait, you’ve already paid for the meal and for the services rendered by the restaurant. Wouldn’t tipping the waiter be extra cash as a reward for doing his job which he is being paid a salary?
Would this be a bribe or corruption? Nope.
According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the definition [1] of corruption is broken down as follows:
- the act of soliciting or giving or receiving;
- any gratification or reward corruptly;
- for performing a task, or refraining from performing a task in relation to his/her job description.
According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, gratification (bribe) is defined [2] widely to be money, gift, agreement to give employment, any discharge from liability, valuable consideration, forbearance to demand money or valuables, any favour or service and any offer, undertaking or promise of any gratification.
In a tipping situation, the act of giving a reward for the waiter in performing his/her task is not done with a corrupt intention or with quid pro quo element — an expectation that the receiver will abuse their entrusted position.
A waiter giving an excellent service as part of their normal duties is not exercising discretionary power nor making an official decision. You’re rewarding performance, not inducing misuse of position – hence why it would not be an offence.
Corruption covers both offering and receiving gratification [3].
Here are a few examples:
1. A sold his car to B. The change of name is being processed and registered by the JPJ but there is a long queue. A knows someone who works at JPJ and offered RM100.00 to skip the queue and speed up the process.
2. “If you turn a blind eye and let me go, I will offer you a job at my company so you can leave this miserable job.”
3. You’ve been found guilty of misconduct and on the brink of being terminated. As an exchange of being retained, you offered to share your previous company’s trade secrets, who is a rival of your current company.
4. “I’m donating to your department to improve your infrastructure. Here’s a cheque of RM50,000. But just do me a favour, let my goods pass without checking it.”
So, be careful what you ask a favour for or when someone asks you a favour relating to your work, because it might just turn out to be illegal. In every exchange with anyone, think about whether it is with the corrupt intention of influencing the other person’s decision in doing or refraining from doing something.
On top of that, should you be offered a gratification by someone, you are under a legal obligation to report it. Otherwise, you may be criminally penalized for failing to do so [4].
It is understandable that it may be scary to report because you may be thinking that your identity will be exposed. However, you are protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010. To ensure the report can be done without any hiccups, here’s a tip – you may consult an experienced lawyer on how to do so.
[1] What is Corruption?
https://www.sprm.gov.my/index.php?page_id=75&articleid=478&language=en#:~:text=Soliciting/Receiving%20Gratification%20(Bribe),any%20party%20under%20any%20circumstances.
[2] Section 2 of MACC Act 2009
[3] Section 16, 17(a) and 17(b) of MACC Act 2009
[4] Section 25 of MACC Act 2009
About the Author
Afiq Iskandar is a Senior Associate of XK Law. He graduated from MARA University of Technology, Malaysia. Afiq has multiple interests in life beyond reading law viz. sports, film, music and poetry. He believes that art, in whatever form they may be, is a necessity of life.
