The reason that tips and gifts should not be given to, or accepted by,
employees as individuals fall into the following categories:
1) Customary practices. Museums are not restaurants or taxicabs and
employees do not provide an individual service in expectation of a tip.
2) There can be serious ethical questions raised by accepting gifts that are
related to the museum's collection. Thomas Hoving relates one experience
where a bribe was solicited by a foreign museum head in the form of a
"gift."
3) Personnel morale. Folks who are not in a position to benefit will in very
short order criticize folks, who are in a position to receive tips. For
example, a curator, guard, or docent may be offered a tip but seldom will
the janitor or exhibit builder be so rewarded. My experience is that folks
love to count benefits others receive, that they don't, and then resent the
recipients. We had an example of this posted on this list. A question was
raised about gifts to curators and directors. The people who do not receive
a benefit also have the tendency to exaggerate the value of the benefit that
they don't receive. In museums I have headed, just as there were strict
prohibitions for receiving tips, so all gifts given to employees as part of
their job function, or position at the museum, became the property of the
museum. The only exemption to this were trivial gifts such as decals,
postcards, brochures, or tee shirts. Books, catalogs, reproductions etc.
always belonged to the museum. Additionally, by not allowing personnel to
accept individual gifts we helped them from feeling obligated to give gifts
in return, and the museum does not have to develop a gift fund for
reciprocating these courtesies.
4) Simplicity. A policy that is pretty much an absolute prohibition is easy
to understand and difficult to evade. If a policy is instituted that calls
for interpretation, it is a guarantor that some unforeseen gross violation
will occur at some point. Then an argument will ensue with all sorts of
intellectual trickery and rationalizations and bad feelings, in the end, on
both sides.  When people know: no tips and no gifts, life is simplified in
this area immeasurably. Enforcement of discipline is also simplified, in
most instances.
The reason that I was particularly careful and adamant in this area when I
headed a maritime museum is that the Coast Guard interprets the receipt of
even one cigarette as "payment." So if anyone accepted a gift in our museum
and then were given a ride on our ship they would, according to the
Coasties, become "fare paying passengers" undermining our Coast Guard
classification and inviting legal sanctions at worst, and insurance problems
at the least. I can't adequately describe the joy of spending one
blistering-hot August afternoon in a cabin of a 17th century vessel arguing
with a Coast Guard Commodore about a party of dignitaries that we were
scheduled to take an orientation cruise on our vessel. Trust me, a policy of
no gifts or tips makes life much simpler for everyone.
Cheers, -Nicholas

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Katherine H. Child
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 4:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: tips given to security guards and other staff

Talk about gifts! We recently had our Japanese Friendship Doll restored by
the Japanese company that originally made most of the dolls (late 1920s).
When the doll was returned to us, she came along with two "sister" dolls
(made in honor of our doll's "visit" home) that were specifically for me and
our Director of Education. Neither of us felt comfortable about accepting
the dolls, so they are currently in our collections storage along with the
Friendship Doll accessories. We don't really know what to do with them.
These dolls are worth several hundred dollars apiece.

Katherine Child Jonelis
Curator
Phoenix Museum of History
105 N. 5th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602-253-2734 ext. 228
Fax: 602-253-2348
[log in to unmask]

For more information about the Phoenix Museum of History and its programs,
please click here:
              www.pmoh.org

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