Examples of how we deal with other categories of unreasonable behaviour We have to take action when unreasonable behaviour impairs the functioning of our organisation. We aim to do this in a way that allows a complaint to progress through our process. We will try to ensure that any action we take is the minimum required to solve the problem, taking into account relevant personal circumstances including the seriousness of the complaint and the needs of the individual. Actions we may take include: Where a complainant repeatedly phones, visits the College, raises repeated issues, or sends large numbers of documents where their relevance isn’t clear, we may decide to: Limit contact to telephone calls from the complainant at set times on set days. Restrict contact to a nominated member of staff who will deal with future calls or correspondence from the complainant. See the complainant by appointment only. Restrict contact from the complainant to writing only. Return any documents to the complainant or, in extreme cases, advise the complainant that further irrelevant documents will be destroyed. Take any other action that we consider appropriate. Where we consider continued correspondence on a wide range of issues to be excessive, we may tell the complainant that only a certain number of issues will be considered in a given period and we ask them to limit or focus their requests accordingly. In exceptional cases, we reserve the right to refuse to consider a complaint or future complaints from an individual. We will take into account the impact on the individual and also whether there would be a broader public interest in considering the complaint further. We will always tell the complainant what action we are taking and why. The process we follow to make decisions unreasonable behaviour Any member of staff who directly experiences aggressive or abusive behaviour from a complainant has the authority to deal immediately with that behaviour in a manner they consider appropriate to the situation and in line with this Policy. With the exception of such immediate decisions taken at the time of an incident, decisions to restrict contact with Edinburgh College are only taken after careful consideration of the situation by a more senior member of staff. Wherever possible, we will give a complainant the opportunity to change their behaviour or action before a decision is taken. How we let people know we have made this decision When an Edinburgh College employee makes an immediate decision in response to aggressive or abusive behaviour, the complainant is advised at the time of the incident. When a decision has been made by senior management, a complainant will always be told in writing why a decision has
Examples of how we deal with other categories of unreasonable behaviour We have to take action when unreasonable behaviour impairs the functioning of our organisation. We aim to do this in a way that allows a complaint to progress through our process. We will try to ensure that any action we take is the minimum required to solve the problem, taking into account relevant personal circumstances including the seriousness of the complaint and the needs of the individual. Actions we may take include: Where a complainant repeatedly phones, visits the College, raises repeated issues, or sends large numbers of documents where their relevance isn’t clear, we may decide to: Limit contact to telephone calls from the complainant at set times on set days. Restrict contact to a nominated member of staff who will deal with future calls or correspondence from the complainant. See the complainant by appointment only. Restrict contact from the complainant to writing only. Return any documents to the complainant or, in extreme cases, advise the complainant that further irrelevant documents will be destroyed. Take any other action that we consider appropriate. Where we consider continued correspondence on a wide range of issues to be excessive, we may tell the complainant that only a certain number of issues will be considered in a given period and we ask them to limit or focus their requests accordingly. In exceptional cases, we reserve the right to refuse to consider a complaint or future complaints from an individual. We will take into account the impact on the individual and also whether there would be a broader public interest in considering the complaint further. We will always tell the complainant what action we are taking and why. The process we follow to make decisions unreasonable behaviour Any member of staff who directly experiences aggressive or abusive behaviour from a complainant has the authority to deal immediately with that behaviour in a manner they consider appropriate to the situation and in line with this Policy. With the exception of such immediate decisions taken at the time of an incident, decisions to restrict contact with Edinburgh College are only taken after careful consideration of the situation by a more senior member of staff. Wherever possible, we will give a complainant the opportunity to change their behaviour or action before a decision is taken. How we let people know we have made this decision When an Edinburgh College employee makes an immediate decision in response to aggressive or abusive behaviour, the complainant is advised at the time of the incident. When a decision has been made by senior management, a complainant will always be told in writing why a decision has
Edinburgh%20College%20Complaints%20Handling%20Procedure.docx