Respectful behaviour policy

1. Introduction

The National Archives is committed to providing excellent customer service to everyone who contacts us. Everyone is entitled to be treated respectfully, courteously and in a polite manner. When a user raises a complaint or enquiry with us, they have a right to expect to be dealt with fairly and impartially, and to receive a response which fully addresses their concerns or questions in a timely manner.

The purpose of this policy is to provide a tool for The National Archives when considering whether people are displaying unreasonable behaviour, and to explain the appropriate actions that The National Archives will take in this instance.

The National Archives handles thousands of enquiries a year. While it will only be in exceptional cases that people’s behaviour goes beyond what we can accept, it is desirable for robust audit purposes to have established guidance in this area.

No person should be sanctioned under this policy without prior agreement from the Quality Manager and responsible Director/s. Implementing a single point of contact as an initial protective step can be implemented at the discretion of the Quality Manager (see section 5.1).

This policy helps us make sure we have a safe and respectful environment for people who work for us, work with us, or use our service.

2. Who does this policy apply to?

2.1 This policy applies to all people who contact us.

2.2 The term ‘people’ is employed in its widest sense within this policy to encompass people or organisations who use any of our services, whether writing, emailing, telephoning or accessing The National Archives' Live Chat service. Contact via social networks and digital platforms are also covered by this policy.

2.3 This policy does not apply to requests which are being considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Requests which may be vexatious will be considered using guidance on vexatious or repeated requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This policy also excludes requests arising under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, and Data Subject Access requests made under the Data Protection Act 2018.

3. Our zero-tolerance approach

We have a zero-tolerance approach to any threats of harm or harassment towards our colleagues. Harassment is a course of conduct that causes alarm or distress to another person. It can include actions such as repeated unwanted communication, threats, stalking or any behaviour that makes someone feel scared, distressed or threatened. It is an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. If this behaviour happens, we are likely to stop all direct contact without warning. It will be escalated to a manager and will likely be reported to the police.

4. Determining unacceptable behaviour

4.1 Deciding whether a person’s behaviour is unacceptable requires judgment, taking into account all the circumstances of the case. There is no standard definition of unreasonably persistent, however the Information Commissioner’s Office have produced guidance for the similar circumstances of 'vexatious requests', when considering requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This guidance provides a useful framework that can aid the consideration process, and has been adapted to meet the needs of this policy:

• Could the enquiries fairly be seen as excessive or the accusations unfounded?
• Is the person harassing the organisation or causing distress to staff?
• Does complying with the persons’ requests impose a significant burden in terms of expense and distraction (e.g., frequent, overlapping requests; no obvious intent to obtain information; futile or frivolous requests; scattergun approach)?
• Is the contact designed to cause disruption or annoyance?
• Does the enquiry lack any serious purpose or value?

4.2 An individual enquiry may not be unreasonable in isolation but in context it may form part of a wider pattern of unreasonably persistent behaviour, e.g. a wider dispute or the latest in a lengthy series of overlapping requests or other correspondence. In order to determine whether a person is unreasonably persistent, it is necessary to look at both the context and the history of the communications between The National Archives and the person, as well as the particular enquiry or contact that has triggered consideration of invoking this policy. This may include correspondence the person has had with other business areas, including requests for information handled by the Freedom of Information Centre. It is likely that a pattern of behaviour over a period of time may trigger an assessment as much as a particular enquiry.

4.3 People may act out of character when frustrated or unhappy with our service. There may have been upsetting or distressing circumstances leading up to contact with The National Archives. We do not consider behaviour that is forceful or emotional to necessarily be unacceptable.

However, the actions of people who are angry, demanding or persistent may result in unreasonable demands on The National Archives or unacceptable behaviour towards staff. It is these actions that we may consider unacceptable and aim to manage under this policy. The key question for The National Archives must be whether continued correspondence or transactions with the person is likely to cause disproportionate or unjustified distress or disruption to either staff or the organisation. There are three main actions that could be deemed unacceptable:

4.3.1 Aggressive or abusive behaviour

Unacceptable behaviour is not limited to acts of aggression. It also includes behaviour or language (whether oral or written), the impact of which is to cause staff to feel fearful, threatened or abused.

Examples of behaviours grouped under this heading include threats, personal verbal abuse (including the use of sexually explicit language) and derogatory remarks. We also consider that inflammatory statements and unsubstantiated allegations can be abusive behaviour. Where the behaviour is extreme or it threatens the immediate safety and welfare of staff, we will consider other options, for example reporting the matter to the Police or taking legal action. In such cases, we may not give the person prior warning of that action.

4.3.2 Unreasonable demands

People may make what we consider to be unreasonable demands on The National Archives through the amount of information they seek, the nature and scale of service they expect or the number of approaches they make. What constitutes an unreasonable demand will depend on the circumstances, the seriousness of the issues raised and the impact on individual members of staff and/or the functioning of The National Archives.

Examples of actions grouped under this heading include: demanding responses within an unreasonable time-scale, insisting on speaking to a particular member of staff, continual phone calls or letters, repeatedly changing the substance of a request or enquiry, or raising unrelated concerns.

4.3.3 Unreasonable persistence

We recognise that some people will not or cannot accept that The National Archives is unable to assist them further in their enquiry. They may persist in disagreeing with the action or decision taken in relation to their enquiry or contacting The National Archives persistently about the same or similar issue(s).

Persistent actions will be considered unacceptable when they take up what a Director regards as being a disproportionate amount of time and/or resources.

4.3.4 Other

See Appendix A for Types and examples of unacceptable behaviour.

5. Managing unacceptable behaviour

5.1 There are relatively few people whose actions would be considered unacceptable. How we aim to manage these actions depends on their nature and extent. In most cases the Customer Service and Complaints team will act as a single point of contact and may insist that only certain channels are used. This would be the first step in managing any interactions that have been flagged as potentially being covered by this policy, or where a person is using multiple or inappropriate contact channels, causing disruption to The National Archives. If it is found that we need to consider enacting this policy in full then the person will be alerted to this policy.

5.2 Alerting people to this policy

It will be the responsibility of the relevant service manager to bring to the attention of the Quality Manager situations where a person might be identified as displaying unacceptable behaviours, against the criteria set out in Appendix A.

It will normally be appropriate for a service manager, or the Complaints team, to draw a persons’ attention to the existence of this policy before any decision is made. They will inform the person in writing that their continued correspondence or interactions with The National Archives on a particular subject matter may lead to them being sanctioned under this policy.

The National Archives will try to resolve matters before invoking this procedure and/ or the sanctions detailed within it. If The National Archives is to continue dealing with the person, it may be appropriate to draw up a signed agreement which establishes a code of behaviour for the parties involved. If this agreement is breached, consideration should be given to implementing other actions.

5.3 If it adversely affects our ability to do our work and provide a service to others, we may need to restrict a persons’ contact with The National Archives in order to manage the unreasonable action. Wherever possible we aim to do this in a way that still allows the person to receive appropriate information and assistance. We may restrict contact by telephone, letter or by electronic means, or by any combination of these, although we will try to maintain at least one form of contact if it is appropriate to do so. If it is appropriate, not all contact will be ceased.

5.4 We do not engage with written or verbal contact that is aggressive, abusive or offensive to staff. When this happens, we will inform the person that we consider their language offensive and state that we will not respond to their correspondence if they do not moderate their use of language. We may require future contact to be through a third party.

5.5 We will always explain what action we are taking and why. Where people continue to correspond on a wide range of issues, and this action is considered excessive (see 4.3.3 Unreasonable Persistence), then they will be told that only a certain number of issues will be considered in a given period and asked to limit or focus their enquiries accordingly.

6. Equality and diversity considerations

We will look at reasonable adjustments we can make to reduce or remove barriers for disabled people, as defined by the Equality Act 2010. Where appropriate, we may adapt this policy and how we apply it to make reasonable adjustments.

We understand that disability can affect how someone is able to communicate with us. Where this might be a factor, we will consider the needs and circumstances of the person and how we (or other sources of support) can help them to access our service.

This does not mean we will put in place unreasonable adjustments or accept behaviours that are harmful to our colleagues or our ability to delivering our service.

We will always consider whether disabled people could be affected unfairly by how we deliver our service and we will take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise this. We will get specialist advice on this where helpful, and always if we are thinking of declining an adjustment someone has requested.

This should not be taken to mean that the existence of a disability per se would prevent the application of the policy to a person who meets the unacceptable behaviour criteria set out at section 4.

For the avoidance of doubt; nor should it be taken to mean that information held by The National Archives should automatically be exempt from disclosure under section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act because it would be likely to endanger the physical or mental health of any individual. There is a public interest test for this exemption that must be applied. Therefore, any physical or mental impairment must be weighed against the public interest in making this information availabl

7. Deciding to restrict contact

7.1 Once it is clear that the person meets any two or more (or are in serious breach of one) of the criteria set in section 4 or Appendix A, the responsible Director will review the evidence and decide, against the criteria, whether the person should be identified as displaying unacceptable behaviour.

7.2 When this decision is made, the responsible Director will notify the person in writing, within 10 working days of the decision of the reasons why the person has been classified as displaying unacceptable behaviour and of the actions taken. The different options for dealing with unreasonable behaviours are detailed in Appendix B. Wherever possible, we will give the person the opportunity to modify their behaviour or action before such a decision is taken.

8. Record keeping

All contact that causes concern must be recorded and kept as evidence to support further action, escalation and allow for any review to be carried out. This information will be stored and managed in line with our privacy notice.

9. Withdrawing Restriction

9.1 Restrictions will stay in place for six months after the last instance of unacceptable behaviour (this may mean the end date is extended if the same or similar behaviour continues, repeats or is attempted during the restriction). At this point restrictions will expire, but we will keep them on record in line with our record retention policy.

9.2 If the same or similar behaviour happens again within six months of the restriction ending, we may put a restriction in place again without further warning.

Decisions to apply restrictions are final and there is no right of appeal.

10. Closed enquiries

If written contact relates to a closed enquiry and we have already explained that we will not respond further about that matter, we may log the contact but not read or respond to it.

Appendix A: Types and examples of unacceptable behaviour

This list does not cover everything, but it explains some of the behaviours we will not accept.

Unacceptable demands

Demands may be unacceptable because of the nature or scale of service expected.

Examples include:

• asking for responses in an unreasonable amount of time
• demanding to speak with senior colleagues or contacting senior colleaguesto try to get a different answer or outcome
• persistent or too much complaining that is not in proportion to the issues raised
• raising the same issues repeatedly without giving us new information
• unfair or vexatious (intended to cause annoyance, frustration, or worry) requests for information
• repeatedly changing the details of a complaint or raising unrelated issues
• refusing to accept that we have explained our decision.

Unacceptable levels of contact

Communication may be unacceptable because of the volume or frequency of it.

Examples include:

• contacting us repeatedly or too much while we are looking at the issue or complaint (for example, multiple calls or emails in one day or too much contact over a short period of time)
• repeatedly sharing copies of information that has already been sent
• changing the way the issue or complaint is set out in a way that makes it hard to do our job effectively (for example, multiple emails or phone calls giving different information or angles each time).

Refusing to work with us

We may need to ask people to work with us so we can make progress on an issue or complaint. Sometimes they may refuse to do this.

Examples include:

• refusing to give us information or evidence we have asked for (including personal details we need to do our job effectively)
• not giving us a summary of concerns or refusing to give us information
• not giving us comments or responses in a reasonable amount of time
• not agreeing to a complaint scope (an agreement about which parts of your complaint we will look at) in a reasonable amount of time
• going over the same issues repeatedly or not keeping to an agreed agenda or timeframe for a conversation.

Overbearing, disrespectful or controlling behaviour

Examples include:

• talking over people or repeatedly interrupting
• recording people or taking screenshots without their knowledge or permission (or sharing these)
• manipulative behaviour such as lying, passive-aggression, ‘gaslighting’ (psychologically manipulating someone into questioning their own sanity, memory, or powers of reasoning), criticising, withholding, blaming, making someone uncomfortable to try gaining an advantage, or deliberately causing doubt and confusion
• threats of self-harm to try influencing us (we will signpost to other agencies better qualified or skilled to support people with this).

Aggressive or abusive behaviour

This includes any behaviour, language or images, in any format, that:

• makes our colleagues feel intimidated, uncomfortable, threatened or abused
• makes someone feel concerned that a colleague may be harmed by the communication or behaviour. It may include behaviour about any protected characteristic defined in the Equality Act 2010 (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation).

Examples include:

• verbal abuse of any kind
• degrading, patronising, defamatory, offensive, discriminatory or derogatory language or behaviour
• rudeness
• being increasingly agitated or intimidating
• making allegations that are not true
• comments or actions that subtly, and sometimes unconsciously, express prejudice towards or about someone from a marginalised group (often called microaggressions). This can take many forms, for example:
  • asking someone they see as ‘foreign’ where they are ‘really from’
  • assuming someone speaks for everyone who shares their characteristics

These kinds of comments assume that one person's opinion or experience can represent an entire gender or age group, which is unfair and inaccurate.

Zero tolerance: stalking, harassment and threats of harm

Stalking and harassment are offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Even one instance of threatening behaviour is likely to be treated in line with our zero-tolerance approach to protect our colleagues. This means we are likely to stop all direct contact without warning and report the person to the police.

Examples include:

• threats (including implied) or harm to people or property
• sexual harassment (including sexual comments, jokes and name calling)
• ‘doxing’ (sharing private or identifying information online about a person or group without their consent, usually with harmful intent)
• cyber stalking (using the internet to harass someone)
• unwanted gifts or repeated unwanted contact
• looking for or approaching our colleagues outside of The National Archives channels, including online
• identity theft (including signing people up to services in their name without their consent)

Appendix B: Options for dealing with unacceptable behaviours

1.1 When a person has been identified as displaying unacceptable behaviours, in accordance with the above criteria, a Director will review the evidence and decide what action to take.

1.2 The Director will implement such action and notify the person within 10 working days of a decision and in writing, of the reasons why the policy has been enacted and the actions to be taken.

1.3 The Director may authorise one of the following actions:

• a) Restrict further contact between The National Archives and the person to a single channel of our choosing (either by telephone, letter or electronically - or any combination of these) whilst ensuring that one form of contact is maintained (if appropriate). Alternatively, further contact could be restricted to liaison through a third party);
• b) Notify the person in writing that The National Archives has responded fully to the points raised and has tried to resolve the issue but there is nothing more to add and continuing contact on the matter will serve no useful purpose. The person should be notified that correspondence is at an end and that further communications will be acknowledged but not answered;
• c) Temporarily suspend all contact with the person, or handling of an enquiry/case, whilst seeking legal advice or guidance from senior managers, or other relevant colleagues.

1.4 If this policy is to be implemented, it should be remembered and explained to the person that any course of action taken as a result only relates to contact with The National Archives over their specific enquiry(s). It does not, and is not intended to, have any impact on any other dealings between The National Archives and the person on other, unrelated issues. There may be occasions where it is not appropriate to maintain contact with a person, for example, if they have exhausted our processes and policies and continue to correspond. In these cases, all contact will be ceased.

1.5 An enquiry which may appear spurious or tedious to the organisation may have genuine value to the individual. Furthermore, an enquiry with a very serious purpose or value may be enough to prevent it being unreasonable, even if it imposes a significant burden and is harassing or distressing to staff. The serious and proper purpose must justify both the enquiry itself and the lengths to which the campaign or pattern of behaviour has been taken.