Zero tolerance Policy

Introduction

We understand that buying a house can be one of the most stressful periods in a person’s life. That’s why we make every effort to ensure this process is as smooth as possible. We expect during this process that our staff are always respectful and courteous to our customers.

We appreciate that sometimes along the way issues arise which customers feel the need to express their feelings. Our staff are here to support you and receive this feedback. We do expect however customers to convey this in a respectful manner when interacting with our staff.

This policy is in place to manage unacceptable customer behaviour consistently and fairly. It sets out clearly what we consider to be unacceptable and the steps we may take to deal with such behaviour.

Key principles

We won’t tolerate aggressive or abusive behaviour directed towards our staff during any form of interaction, i.e., face to face, online, over the phone, on social media or any other form of communication. This includes:

• Any form of physical, hostile, or abusive behaviour
• Use of inappropriate language, verbal or written, which may cause a member of staff to feel scared, abused, intimidated, threatened, or offended. This could be creating a hostile, degrading or offensive interaction.
  • using a bullying tone or language
  • inappropriate religious, cultural, or racial comments or insults; including racial stereotypes and judgements based on accent
  • bi-phobic, homophobic, or transphobic comments
  • sexist or other derogatory remarks
  • discrimination against any other protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010
  • Congregating in the building and/or obstructing thoroughfares and emergency routes and access points and otherwise hindering the day-to-day business of Sky House, its employees, customers and/or visitors

The policy in action

Should a customer behave in a manner detailed above, towards a member of our staff, our staff will politely and respectfully ask our customers to refrain from using this kind of language or behaviour, in line with this policy.  If the behaviour continues, our staff can stop the conversation or remove themselves from the situation.

We want our staff to serve all our customers in the knowledge they are fully protected against abusive, threatening, or violent behaviour. The vast majority of our customers are extremely respectful of our hard-working staff.

We may refer specific cases or repeat offenders to the authorities, if appropriate. Any physical attack or violence will not be tolerated and will always be reported.

Who this applies to

This policy applies to all Sky House staff, our customers, any members of the public who engage with our staff and those external parties or contractors working on our behalf.

Responsibilities

• All customers are responsible for treating our staff with respect and courtesy.
• All colleagues are responsible for handling and reporting unacceptable customer behaviour in line with this policy.
• Management is responsible for making sure this policy is applied fairly and consistently.