kick-back

English translation: bonus

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Finnish term or phrase:	kick-back
English translation:	bonus
Entered by:	Arja Whiteside (X)

19:03 Nov 1, 2010

Finnish to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law: Contract(s)

Finnish term or phrase: kick-back

This term is referred to in a contract involving some well known firms in Finland. The context is "a kick-back will be granted for sales of over 400,000 euros per year." We all know that a kick-back is an illegal transfer of money under the table to enable a deal to be made, but is itg really possible that this idea would enter into a purchase contract? I assume the real meaning is something like additional rebate, but has anyone ever heard the term used in Finnish? Note: I initially used holdback as the closest term I could find but I don't think it really fits here (holdback is an additional amount of money given to a car dealer by the manufacturer to promote fast sales).

paul hacker KudoZ activity Questions: 100 (9 open) (3 without valid answers) (9 closed without grading) Answers: 9 United States
Local time: 23:21

bonus

Explanation:
additional payment made for a job well done. . korvaus, lisä, palkkio, vastike

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Note added at 13 hrs (2010-11-02 08:37:58 GMT)
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I think on this instance a “kick-back” refers to a commission .The rates are generally based upon the achievement of specific targets which have been agreed between management and the salesperson in question. This commission is often referred to as “bonus” or sometimes “provisio” in Finland

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Note added at 21 hrs (2010-11-02 16:48:59 GMT)
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kickback= pimeä maksu, lahjus, kynnysraha; takaisku
so in that case this could refer to "kynnysraha" but really not knowing the full context… anyway any words above are not exactly good business practise and to include this into contract well.. I do not know

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Note added at 1 day10 mins (2010-11-02 19:13:19 GMT)
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In my opinion the word kick-back is a commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchasing agent in order to induce the agent to enter into the transaction.

http://www.dorsey.com/files/upload/Corruption_Digest_October...

Selected response from:

Arja Whiteside (X)
Local time: 06:21

Grading comment

see my further comments
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

bonus

Arja Whiteside (X)

Discussion entries: 3

paul hacker

United States

ASKER

20:59 Nov 5, 2010

Well, here is the upshot. When the CEO of the company involved got my explanation about the implications, he agreed immediately to avoid all use of the term kick-back in both Finnish and English. I don't know whether they went with my suggestion of "target rebate" but at least it's less likely they will be accused of doing something they didn't do. My Finnish-born wife tells me this is one of several examples of foreignisms that are used in Finnish in a way they shouldn't be (who would have known that "mennä metsän puolelle" was intended to derive from "gå åt skogen"?

Arja Whiteside (X)

Thank you for sharing this question.

06:10 Nov 3, 2010

I have also done some research on the issue and it appears that this could open up a whole can of worms indeed. It does seem that in some cases the word kickback is misrepresented in Finland but also elsewhere. This opens up other issues which are not so much language related but rather a political issue. When is a rebate a kickback? There are cases that have risen a lot of questions.

Arja Whiteside (X)

KICKBACK:

06:08 Nov 3, 2010

An offer to pay a third party to win a client's business.
Example: A lender pays $1 to an agent in exchange for the agent referring the buyer to the lender. Is it legal? A kickback is viewed as increasing the costs to consumers without providing anything of value. In certain circumstances, such as those covered under the Real Estate Settlement Protection Act, a kickback may be illegal.
REBATE: An offer to return part of a payment to a client to induce the client to use the firm's services. Example: A real estate firm offers to give back $1 of its commission to a client in exchange for the client using the firm's services to purchase a property.
Is it legal? The offering of a rebate is generally viewed as a legal and ethical part of negotiating compensation. State and Federal regulators have taken the position that such rebates ultimately reduce the cost to consumers. Any attempt to prohibit, restrict or discourage the negotiation of commission is considered an illegal restraint of trade under established antitrust law. Since I am not a lawyer it is difficult for me to judge the legitimacy aspect but truly I cannot fathom anyone knowingly to craft an illegal contract

Answers

10 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

bonus

Bonukset palkitsevat sitoutumisesta.
Kirjallisissa työsopimuksissa on sovittu, että palkka muodostuu tietyn euromäärän suuruisesta kiinteästä kuukausipalkasta ja vuosittain erikseen yhtiön yksiköittäin tarkistettavan palkkausjärjestelmän mukaisesta bonuksesta.

Reference: http://www.pellervo.fi/pdf/jasenen_kasikirja_verkkoversio6_0...
Reference: http://www.edilex.fi/oikeuskaytanto/tn/1395.html

Arja Whiteside (X)
Local time: 06:21
Native speaker of:

Finnish,

English
PRO pts in category: 3

Grading comment

see my further comments

Notes to answerer

Asker: This is one type of translation problem when a term is borrowed from English without regard to its possible implication. This is a bit tricky and I have done some more research on the term. The problem is that the most frequent usage is an illegal bribe that is prohibited and punished by law, as in "anti kickback statute." At the same time, there are cases where kickback is used to refer to an additional bonus, and not necessarily in an illegal context. Note that this term was used in the original Finnish document, and that the term does not exist in Finnish and has to refer back to an original English term. In EuroLex, kickback is translated INTO Finnish as keskittämisalennukset or roughly concentration discounts. It is also grouped together with the term for "target discounts." In other words, you meet the target, you get the discount. I thought of holdback, which is typically used in car sales in the US. as an extra manufacturer to dealer incentive, but probably it wouldn't register with most people. I thought that using the term as kickback would open up the parties involved to the question (accusation?) that they are dealing in some illegal activity. Indeed, the use of the term referred to in Eurolex was a case against Virgin Atlantic Airlines, in which a complaint was registered against their use of kickback discounts, and the context was other than an obviously illegal under the table practice.

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English translation: bonus

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