Working Together Policy

1. Purpose

At Coodes we are committed to treating everyone with courtesy, professionalism and respect. However, this must be balanced with providing a safe working environment for our staff.

We recognise that because of the nature of the work we do, some clients may have reason to feel aggrieved, upset or distressed. However, whilst we accept that sometimes those in contact with us may feel angry, it is not acceptable that that anger is directed towards our staff who have the right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times. They should be able to do their jobs without being physically or verbally abused.

This policy sets out our approach to managing clients whose actions or behaviour are considered unacceptable and are either having a harmful impact on our staff or their ability to provide a consistent level of service to other clients.

2. Our responsibilities

To provide a fair, open, proportionate and accessible service
To treat everyone who contacts us with respect, empathy and dignity
To listen and understand
To make proactive decisions to protect the welfare and wellbeing of our staff

3. Your responsibilities

To treat employees of Coodes with respect and courtesy
To engage with us in a way that does not impact on our ability to carry out our work effectively and efficiently

4. What is unacceptable behaviour

This will often differ depending on the individuals involved and the circumstances but broadly falls into two categories:

A. Aggressive, abusive or threatening language or behaviour

Examples of this behaviour include, but are not limited to:

swearing and/or shouting
rudeness and/or abuse including derogatory remarks
being violent or threatening violence
inappropriate cultural, sexist, racial or religious references and/or behaviour
behaviour or language (written or spoken) that may cause staff to feel distressed, threatened or abused

B. General unreasonable behaviour

Examples of this behaviour include, but are not limited to:

demanding responses within an unreasonable timescale
excessive telephone calls, emails or letters
keep changing issues or raising unrelated ones
persistent refusal to accept explanations or a decision
repeatedly contacting or insisting on speaking to a particular member of staff who is not directly dealing with the matter to try and gain a different outcome
sending duplicate correspondence requiring a response from more than one member of staff

5. How we deal with unacceptable behaviour

We will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour in person, over the telephone or via email or letters, but we will exercise our right to restrict contact in an appropriate and proportionate manner.

Staff have the right to end the telephone call or refer unacceptable written communication to their line manager.

Usually before taking such action, a warning should be given that their behaviour is unacceptable to allow the opportunity for that behaviour to be moderated.

Examples of actions we may take include, but are not limited to:

blocking telephone calls and/or emails being received
arrange for a single, named member of staff to deal with all future calls or correspondence
limiting future contact to a particular form or frequency e.g. emails only
limiting the frequency that communications are reviewed e.g. once a week
confirming correspondence has been read to ensure no new issues have been raised but then filed without further acknowledgement
referring the matter to the police where a criminal offence has been threatened or committed
taking legal action such as an injunction or court order to prohibit contact/unacceptable behaviour

6. Immediate termination (refusal to act)

Coodes has a zero tolerance of threats of violence or intimidating behaviour towards its staff. If this behaviour is identified, we will immediately terminate our relationship with the client and refer the matter to the police.