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Unacceptable Behaviour Policy

The majority of individuals who contact this Firm communicate with us in a polite and courteous manner. This policy is aimed at how we manage the relatively few individuals whose actions we consider unreasonable.

We understand that times of stress can cause people to act out of character and that people who are interacting with us are often dealing with extremely sensitive or stressful situations. However, we believe the rights of our staff to work in a safe and non-threatening environment are important.

We do not consider behaviour to be unacceptable simply because it is forceful or assertive. However, conduct is considered to be unacceptable if it becomes aggressive or abusive behaviour, expresses unreasonable demands or calls for unreasonable levels of contact or is considered by the recipient to be harassment.

THP Solicitors is committed to doing everything possible to protect staff and clients from unacceptable behaviour and there will be zero tolerance of incidents causing hurt, alarm, damage or distress. While our staff and the Firm have a duty of care to our clients, this does not include accepting abusive behaviour.

Any abusive or aggressive behaviour could result in a client’s retainer with this Firm being terminated.

This policy sets out our approach to dealing with situations where clients’ or other third party’s actions or behaviours are considered unacceptable and are having (or may have the potential to have) a harmful impact on our people and/or our ability to provide a consistent level of service to other clients.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is:

  • To define the behaviours that are not acceptable to THP Solicitors;
  • To ensure that the ability of THP Solicitors and its staff are not adversely affected by those few individuals or behave in an unreasonable manner;
  • To ensure our staff have a safe working environment and are not exposed to unnecessary stress; and
  • To empower THP Solicitors to deal confidently and effectively with unreasonable behaviour.

Scope

This policy covers all areas of work undertaken by THP Solicitors and our staff. It covers all interactions between staff, clients, opposing sides, third parties and service providers.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities of THP Solicitors:

  • Provide a fair, open, proportionate, and accessible service;
  • Treat everyone who contacts us with respect, empathy, and dignity;
  • Meet our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023; and
  • Take proactive decisions and actions to protect the welfare and wellbeing of our people including taking a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour in line with our internal policies.

Clients, opposing sides, third parties and service providers responsibilities

  • Treat THP Solicitors staff with respect and courtesy; and
  • Engage with us in a way that does not impact our ability to carry out our work effectively and efficiently for you and others who are using and interacting with THP Solicitors.

Defining unacceptable behaviour

We will take a case-by-case approach to deciding whether a client, service provider or other third party’s behaviour is unacceptable, and examples provided within this policy are not exhaustive. However generally, examples of behaviour that we won’t tolerate are grouped under two broad headings:

  • Behaviour that is unacceptable because it is aggressive or abusive, including the use of offensive language; and
  • Behaviour that is unacceptable because of the unreasonable nature of a client’s engagement with us.

Aggressive, abusive, or offensive language or behaviour

Our people have the right to a safe work environment and not to be subjected to aggressive, abusive or offensive language or behaviour, regardless of the circumstances. This includes behaviour relating to any protected characteristic they may have, as defined by the Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation).

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

  • Threats of physical violence;
  • Swearing;
  • Inappropriate cultural, sexist, racial or religious references; and
  • Rudeness, including derogatory remarks.

Violence is not restricted to acts of aggression that may result in physical harm. It also includes behaviour or language (written or spoken) that may cause (or may have the potential to cause) staff to feel distressed, threatened or abused.

Unreasonable demands

A demand is considered unreasonable if complying will result in excessive time and work, and potentially impact on our standards of service.

Whether a demand is considered to be unreasonable will vary depending on the nature of the matter involved. Some examples are:

  • Repeatedly requesting responses within an unreasonable timescale;
  • Contacting several staff members on the same topic;
  • Demanding on seeing or speaking to a particular member of staff when it is not possible or necessary;
  • Insisting that the matter is dealt with in ways that are unprofessional and incompatible with regulatory codes of conduct;
  • In the absence of new information and/or evidence, repeatedly posing a question when a response has already been given; and
  • Refusal to reasonably communicate with a member of our team.

Unreasonable levels of contact

Sometimes the volume and duration of contact made to our office can cause problems. This can happen over a short period of time or for the duration of a matter. We consider the level of contact unreasonable if the amount of time responding to an individual hinders our ability to deal with the matter, affects our ability to conduct the matter within the time and costs budget estimated at the outset or impacts on other client matters.

Harassment

Harassment is unwanted conduct that is intimidating, hostile, degrading or creates an offensive environment or violates a person’s dignity.

Harassment can take many forms – occurring in face-to-face settings, by telephone, or in written or electronic communications. Some examples of behaviour that can amount to harassment are:

  • Unwelcome physical contact including uninvited, unreciprocated and unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature, which is offensive to the person involved and causes that person to feel threatened, humiliated or embarrassed;
  • Unwanted verbal conduct – including lewd comments and offensive jokes, verbal abuse, offensive remarks about a person’s personal characteristics;
  • Intrusive questioning; and
  • Unwelcome written or visual communications.

Our response to responding to microaggressions

Microaggressions are subtle or unintentional actions that communicate hostility or insults towards socially marginalised groups.

We expect clients and all other individuals engaging with THP Solicitors to engage respectfully and will address any microaggressions that occur during interactions in a professional manner. If a microaggression is experienced or witnessed, staff members are encouraged to address it and request that it stop.

Safeguarding and disclosure

If in the course of our work an individual expresses threats of harm to themselves or others, we will consider disclosure to relevant authorities. We may also contact the police or other relevant authorities if there is a threat of harm to others or where there is any other potential criminal activity. Decisions to contact the police or any other authority will be taken on a case-by-case basis.

How we will deal with unacceptable actions

Where a customer continues to communicate in an unacceptable manner, or where the conduct is of a particularly serious nature, THP Solicitors will exercise its right to restrict contact. The precise nature and action will be appropriate and proportionate to the nature of the unacceptable behaviour and the circumstances of our staff and the customer.

When deciding to restrict contact, we will consider any special requirements of those affected by our decision. For example, where someone cannot read, we are unlikely to limit communications to writing only unless we are satisfied there are reasonable adjustments in place to enable the customer to read our response, such as a representative.

We may decide to, amongst other considerations:

  • If the individual is our client, to terminate acting for them in the matter;
  • If the individual is a complainant, terminate all contact, and this may mean we discontinue an investigation into the complaint;
  • If the individual is a lawyer, report their behaviour to the appropriate regulator as a potential example of professional misconduct;
  • Refer the matter to the police or other relevant authority where a criminal offence has been threatened or committed;
  • Take legal action, such as applying for an injunction or court order to prohibit contact/poor behaviour or to otherwise remedy matters.

Telephone calls

If a member of staff experiences unacceptable behaviour over the telephone, they are entitled to place the caller on hold or terminate the call. The caller will be informed how their behaviour is considered to be unacceptable and that the call will be ended if the behaviour persists.

In the event that a caller’s behaviour is considered to be extreme or highly offensive our staff are permitted to end the call without warning. In certain circumstances, we may report incidents to the police.

If there are multiple instances of unacceptable behaviour we may impose more permanent restrictions.

In the event that we deem the nature of a person’s conduct poses an immediate threat to a member of staff’s wellbeing (whether mental or physical) we will not hesitate in contacting the police.

We may decide to arrange for a single, named member of staff to deal with all future calls or correspondence from the customer. If a client or other third party consistently behaves in an unacceptable way on the phone, a more permanent restriction may be considered, for example ‘call barring’ their phone number for inbound calls.

Emails and letters

In all circumstances of unacceptable communication, including letter, email and social media, we will contact the individual to explain why the behaviour is considered unacceptable and that the behaviour must change for contact to continue. If the behaviour does not change, we will consider permanent restrictions which may include terminating our retainer or restricting communication with a third party.

If our people don’t feel comfortable responding to abusive emails and letters themselves, they will refer the matter to their Head of Department who may take matters forward on their behalf.

Social media and other online platforms

THP Solicitors maintains a presence on major social media platforms. The principles in this policy, and definitions of unacceptable behaviour apply to contact received on social media. If clients or third parties contact us on social media, we will direct them to someone at THP Solicitors who can help them. However, if a client or third party’s engagement with us on these platforms is unacceptable, we may choose not to respond, and/or to hide or delete their posts.

Actions we may take

If we consider a person’s action or behaviour to be unacceptable, we may:

  • Limit future contact to a particular form or advise how often we may be contacted;
  • Allow contact to a specified staff member only;
  • Require that contact is made through a representative;
  • Terminate our instructions and cease acting in a matter;
  • Take any other action we believe to be appropriate, including reporting matters to the police.

Communicating our decisions

When we end contact immediately, due to aggressive or abusive behaviour, the person will be told at the time of the incident.

If we have decided to impose restrictions or cease acting, we will always inform the person of the decision in writing and the reasons for the decision including their right to appeal. Any appeals should be made to the Complaints Partner for the Firm within 10 working days of the date of the notification to restrict/terminate contact. A written letter of appeal should clearly set out why the appellant feels the decision to be unreasonable.

The appellant will be notified in writing of the outcome of the appeal within 10 working days of receipt of the letter of appeal.

Recording unreasonable actions

All incidents of unreasonable actions are recorded. When we decide to restrict contact, a note is made on the relevant file and in our centralised computer records.

Subsequent instructions

If we have restricted contact and contact is made in the future regarding new instructions, we reserve the right to consider our original decision and the circumstances involved before making a decision as to acting on future instructions.

Equality & diversity

In some cases, individuals may have mental health issues and/or disabilities where it may be difficult for them to communicate clearly and appropriately. If there is evidence of this we will consider the individual’s needs and our staff before deciding on how best to manage the situation. We will always consider making reasonable adjustments for the individual if we are asked to do so but we may still need to manage contact if necessary.