Employers must be prepared to deal with the Bribery Act as it stands despite the government’s commitment to review the legislation, according to John Hayes, a partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell.

 Hayes told Recruiter: “The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the coalition government will review the Bribery Act as part of a focused drive to lessen the burden on businesses created by red tape.

“The Act itself was passed in April 2010 and has received criticism in legal circles and the press that it was hastily constructed and overly draconian. Intended to replace outdated anti-bribery laws, the Act is due to come into force in April this year and introduces a significant burden on businesses to ensure they prevent any bribery within their organisations or associated third parties.

“The Act covers actions by sales agents or employees in other countries as well as those where the employer is based and prohibits anything that could be construed as: an act of bribery of another, being bribed, failure to prevent bribery or bribing a public official.

“The government is due to publish guidance on the new Act in the early part of this year in a bid to make it easier for businesses to understand their duties and the consequences a breach could have for them.

“However, a coalition government review run jointly by the Treasury and Department for Business is now going to see if the Act can be amended in any way to make it easier for businesses to cope with the changes as part of a general attempt to reduce the burden of regulation.”

Business crime lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, Kevin Robinson, says: “As the legislation is already on the statute books, any alteration would require further legislation — meaning there is simply no way that can happen quickly. In addition, the Bribery Act is part of a worldwide move to eradicate corruption and the government wants the UK to be recognised as a world leader. While it was enacted by the previous government, it had total cross-party support and it is doubtful the coalition government would go back on its support.

“Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the government is committed by international treaty — the OECD convention on bribery of foreign government officials — to harmonise our domestic legislation with treaty obligations.”

Hayes continues: “This means that employers must be ready to deal with the Act as it currently stands in order to ensure that they are not caught out and do not fall foul of the substantial penalties that can be imposed for committing an offence.

“The corporate offence of failing to prevent an act of bribery is likely to be the one that most employers will be affected by. Any UK registered business or a business that carries out activities within the UK is caught by the Act and can be accused of failing to prevent an employee or an associated person from bribing another or being bribed with the intention of creating a business advantage.

“A defence to this offence is to show that the business had adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.

“It is still expected that the Ministry of Justice will publish guidance later this month on practical procedures for commercial entities to put in place to help them prevent bribery.”