1. Managing Unreasonable Behaviour – The Legal Ombudsman Journey

2. What is Unreasonable Behaviour?
At LeO our ‘Managing unacceptable behaviour policy’ defines unreasonable behaviour under two categories:
Aggressive, abusive or offensive language or behaviour
General unreasonable behaviour 1

3. Aggressive, abusive or offensive language or behaviour
Threats of physical violence
Swearing
Inappropriate cultural, racial or religious references
Rudeness, including derogatory remarks 1

4. General unreasonable behaviour
Examples of this behaviour include
Demanding responses within an unreasonable time-scale
Repeatedly contacting or insisting on speaking to a particular member of staff who is not directly dealing with the matter;
Excessive telephone calls, s or letters
Sending duplicate correspondence requiring a response to more than one member of staff
Persistent refusal to accept a decision or explanations
Continuing to contact without presenting new and relevant information. 1

5. The impact of unreasonable behaviour
Operational efficiency
Fair Investigation / resolution
Staff 1

6. Considerations when managing unreasonable behaviour
Our Policy says
“The Legal Ombudsman recognises that in some circumstances, customers may have a mental health problem and/or other disabilities where it may be difficult for them to express themselves or communicate clearly and or appropriately. Where unacceptable behaviour is evidenced under these circumstances, [we] will consider the individual needs and circumstances of the customer and our staff before deciding on how best to manage the situation.” 1

7. A need for change
Staff Feedback
Staff wanted a more definitive framework which would provide the tools and empower all staff to play a part in the management of unreasonable behaviour
Operational Inefficiencies
Inconsistencies in how unreasonable behaviour was managed had a resulting operational impact
New Case Management system
Introduction of new case management system (CMS) has given the organisation new capabilities and tools to manage unreasonable behaviour more effectively 1

8. What we did next
Working group set up to look at our current policies to develop training, policy and procedure using existing and new material
Looked for ‘best practice’ from other organisations and considered material from ‘New South Wales Ombudsman’
Use of external bodies (Queen Margaret University) to help develop a real time tool for all staff 1

9. A clearer approach
Reviewed and updated the ‘Managing unacceptable behaviour policy’
Developed a process guide and our case management system
Enhanced our online tool kit for staff 1

10. Process Guide Informal Warning – by staff member
Clear three stage process of responsibilities:
All clearly documented on the contact record of the case management system
Informal Warning – by staff member
Formal Restriction – By Team leader authorised by Operations Manager
Restriction review – Team Leader 1

11. Contact Alerts
We use ‘contact records’ to link cases to customers. These record useful information about the customer that will then be shown on all cases that contact has.
Information on the contact record drives a number of ‘Contact Alerts’ such as Reasonable Adjustments in place, (RA) and Active Complaint (C) and recently updated contact information (U) 1

12. Types of restriction
Blocking phone access to part or all of the business
Blocking an address
Allowing the customer to speak to only one main contact
Restricting any further communication around a specific complaint that LeO has already dealt with
Restricting how long telephones calls will last for or the times of day they are made
Placing letters or s on file but not issuing any further response 1

13. Online tool support
Developed a Challenging Behaviour Application for use in real time to supplement our existing suite of support information
Covers three main sections
Why people are unreasonable and how to prepare for contact
An interactive real time tool for all staff
A reflective piece for staff support – feedback, learning and debriefing.
Includes section on ‘post management; which includes supportive strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour. 1

14. Review and reflection
The full suite of changes will go live in June / July 2015
Continuous improvement - review six months later 1