...for bottles of booze, fresh turkeys, and so forth. Yes, I remember my days as a project engineer and the piles of booty that would show up in the mill engineering department this time of year. In a mill I worked in long ago, our fearless leader was the worst. We used to joke that if he fell on the way to his car at the end of some days this time of year, he might bleed to death from the glass cuts, but it was highly unlikely he would get an infection, for all the alcohol would assure the germs were killed.

Don't do it. Don't take the stuff. It has nothing to do with your company's policy on accepting gifts--it has to do with your personal standards of professionalism. Do you think they give you this stuff because they personally like you? I have news for you--if you leave your current employer and go somewhere else, I can assure you not one supplier lathering on the goodies will search you down next year and make sure you get your bottle of Jack Daniels.

So, it is not about you, it is about the position. And what does the position have? The position hands out contracts. So, no matter what they say, it is a quid pro quo, even if it is a small one.  

Yet, the small ones lead to the big ones. There is a mill I have anonymously mentioned before in our publications that has a terrible graft problem. Headquarters keeps sending in good, honest professionals and in two or three years they fire them for excessive graft. What doesn't change in this scenario? The local vendors. And they do the same thing over and over again. They start with donuts and end up with bass boats, or shotguns, or whatever... Careers are ruined, stockholders are cheated, and the cycle continues.  

Donuts lead to Jack Daniels, leads to bass boats, leads to termination (if you are lucky and don't go to jail).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!