Acceptable Behaviour Policy

I recognise that there may have been upsetting or distressing circumstances leading up to a constituent approaching my office.

However, behaviours and actions which threaten or intimidate me or my staff are unacceptable, as are excessive demands that prevent them or me from carrying out our duties effectively. It is these behaviours and actions that I aim to manage under this Policy.

Aggressive or abusive behaviour

Any violence or abuse towards my team will not be tolerated.

Violence or abuse is not restricted to acts of aggression that may result in physical harm. It also includes behaviour or language (whether verbal or written) that may cause staff to feel offended, afraid, threatened or abused.

Unacceptable language is that which:

  • is offensive, derogatory or threatening,
  • is discriminatory in any way, including racist, sexist, homophobic comments; or
  • makes serious allegations that individuals have committed criminal, corrupt or perverse conduct without any evidence.
 

I may decide that comments aimed not at my team but at third parties are unacceptable because of the effect that listening or reading them may have on my team.

Examples include rudeness, offensive comments, derogatory or disrespectful remarks, making inflammatory statements, or raising unsubstantiated allegations made towards these third parties.

All threats against either myself or my team will be taken extremely seriously and if my team feel scared or threatened at any point during a conversation with a constituent, the interaction may be ended at any time and the Police may be contacted.

Unreasonable demands

A demand becomes unacceptable when it impacts substantially on the work my staff carry out on my behalf.

Examples of this behaviour include:

  • repeatedly demanding a response within an unreasonable timescale,
  • insisting on seeing or speaking to a particular member of staff, when that is not possible,
  • repeatedly changing the substance of a complaint or raising unrelated concerns

 

An example of such impact would be that the demand takes up an excessive amount of time and in doing so disadvantages other constituents and prevents their own case from being dealt with quickly.

Unreasonable levels of contact

Sometimes the volume, frequency and duration of contact made to my office by an
individual causes problems. This can occur over a short period, for example, a number
of calls in one day or hour, or frequent and persistent emails on a vast range of issues
which take up a disproportionate amount of staff time.

It may occur over the life-span of a complaint when a constituent repeatedly makes long telephone calls to us or inundates us with copies of information that has been sent already or that is irrelevant to the complaint.

I consider that the level of contact has become unacceptable when the amount of time spent talking to a constituent on the telephone, or responding to, reviewing and filing emails or written correspondence impacts on my office’s ability to deal with that complaint, or has a detrimental impact on our ability to deal with other constituents’ cases.

Harassment

My team has the right to carry out their duties free from harassment or threats of harassment. I ask everyone to respect that my team are delivering a service on my behalf and therefore this may not reflect their own views or preferences.

Examples of behaviours I consider to be harassment against my office include:

  • recording telephone discussions and publishing the information online such as through YouTube, Vimeo or Twitter;
  • contacting staff using their personal details or social media presence such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn;
  • publishing personal, sensitive or private information about staff online or other public domains such as noticeboards or newsletters

Actions I may take

When my office experiences behaviour or demands which are unacceptable, I may consider taking more formal action. The actions I will consider may include the following:

  • Warning the constituent about their behaviour and requesting that the constituent modifies their behaviour in future contact with us.
  • Appointing a specific point of contact for the constituent
  • Communicating only in writing or via a representative
  • Deciding not to investigate a complaint on the basis that it has been pursued in a way that is unacceptable.
  • Restricting or limiting contact
  • Stop all communication with a constituent
  • Your telephone number and email may be automatically blocked from our systems.
  • Reporting an individual to the Police.

Where it is decided that formal action must be taken a note may be placed on our records to this effect.