Professional Boundaries Policy
Any professional who is involved in work with the public may, at times, find themselves in ambiguous situations which require a degree of judgement to determine an appropriate course of action. Sometimes the right thing to do is not always clear cut.
This policy and guidance provide information about how to avoid unnecessary and unwanted allegations, how to react in given situations and some advice about what may or may not be appropriate.
Relationships with learners and clients
Can a sexual relationship with a client/learner be allowed?
- It is considered that a sexual relationship with any client/learner is unprofessional and could, in certain circumstances, lead to dismissal. This is described within the company’s disciplinary procedure.
A sexual relationship with a young person under 16 is illegal and the Police would be informed. A relationship of this nature is gross misconduct and will lead to dismissal.
A sexual relationship with a young person aged 16 to 19 that you are currently working with (or 25 if the young person has Learning Difficulties or Disabilities) is also unacceptable. Although the age of the young person means that they are over the legal age of consent for sex, if a member of staff were to have a relationship with a client/learner this may be regarded as professional abuse (due to issues of power and control). This also constitutes gross misconduct.
If you have any query about the appropriateness of a relationship you are involved in, or understand a colleague to be involved in, it is your responsibility to inform your line manager.
Can I form a close personal relationship or friendship with a client/learner who I have met through work?
- If under 16 – no – it’s illegal (see above). If the client/learner is under 18 or an ‘at risk’ (vulnerable) adult, it is not considered appropriate (due to issues of power and control used in a professional capacity).
If a member of staff already has a relationship with a client/learner prior to accessing our services, it is their responsibility to inform their line manager. The line manager is responsible for ensuring that the client/learner is referred to another member of staff to avoid compromising professional boundaries.
It’s natural for a member of staff to feel that they have a bond with a client/learner, particularly if they have been working closely with them over an extended period. However, there is a risk that the client/learner could interpret this as a friendship (or more) – staff need to ensure that the professional boundaries are not compromised.
These are examples of behaviours which may indicate that professional boundaries are being crossed. Where such behaviours have been exhibited by staff or client/learner, it is important to address the issue with a manager immediately.
- Giving or receiving gifts
- Arranging meetings outside of work time
- Calling to the learner’s/client’s home for a reason not related to work or without following home visiting procedures
- Arranging work time meetings at inappropriate venues e.g., bars; cinema; swimming baths
- Sharing political views
- Sharing religious views
- Expressing views on moral issues
- Buying alcohol, cigarettes, drugs etc for/from young people
- Sending personal e-mails, text or social networking messages or letters
- Taking photographs without consent
What about physical contact with a client/learner?
- Avoid it! Other than shaking hands at the beginning or end of an intervention, physical contact with a client/learner is not appropriate.
- An exception might be where a learning activity such as a health and safety or practical demonstration involves some form of physical contact, for example. In such instances, the member of staff must explain to the learner what is involved, why and gain permission. This is important to avoid any ambiguity.
Intimate physical contact with a client/learner such as kissing, even on the cheek, is certainly outside the boundaries of acceptable physical contact and may be dealt with through the disciplinary procedure if it comes to light.
Occasionally a client/learner might instigate physical contact with you e.g., they give a hug at the end of an intervention. Be careful that you are not placing yourself in a comprising situation! If this is a regular occurrence, then discuss appropriate future actions with your line manager.
Any form of physical contact might be misinterpreted by a client/learner which may result in the person feeling uncomfortable, threatened, or even confused about the nature of the professional relationship which you have with them.
Be aware of the need for personal space that people have. It is not appropriate to sit too close to a client/learner – invading their personal space.
The way that you look at a client/learner can impact on their perception of personal space. If a client/learner feels that you are ‘eyeing them up’ or being leery in any kind of way this will make the person feel uncomfortable and could impact on their willingness to engage with our services.
Can I give medication to a client/learner?
- No. If a client/learner suffers an adverse reaction a member of staff could be deemed to be personally liable if he or she were proved to be negligent. We are not contractually obliged to give medication to or supervise a client/learner taking it.
Personal information
What personal information can I share with a client/learner?
- None – it is not appropriate to share personal information about yourself with a client/learner. This can lead to compromising and difficult situations such as unwanted calls/messages, stalking etc.
Never give your:
- home address details
- personal e-mail address
- home telephone number
- personal mobile phone number
- social networking user names
Contact with clients/learners outside of planned sessions or meetings should be through business communication channels only e.g., business mobile, work email etc. If a client/learner abuses the system e.g., verbal abuse, over-familiarity, inappropriate messages, you should not respond but, instead, inform your line manager.
All interactions with a client/learner should be within professional boundaries and designed to help and assist that person. It is not necessary or appropriate to disclose personal details about yourself.
Personal disclosures may not only be unhelpful to the work that you are doing with the client/learner, but they may place you in danger or difficulties should the client/learner seek to abuse the knowledge that they have of you.
What life experiences can I share with a client/learner?
- It can be helpful to share some life experiences with a client/learner to help illustrate an issue or demonstrate that issues can be resolved. Good judgement is needed to determine what is and what is not appropriate to share with a client/learner. Information shared should be relevant to the context and not compromise your position as a professional.
There are some life experiences which should not be shared with a client/learner regardless of the situation. Such experiences include:
- Sexual experiences
- Experience of drug, alcohol or other substance use
- Being a victim of physical, emotional or sexual abuse
- Experience of domestic abuse
- Having a history of criminal convictions
There may be rare exceptions to this, for example, where a member of staff is specifically employed to share their experiences to help clients/learners move forward.
The inappropriate disclosure of information to a client/learner could, ultimately, lead to your work activities being investigated under the disciplinary or capability procedures.
It is very important that you think carefully about what you choose to share with a client/learner.
If you have any doubt what should or should not tell young people you should speak with your line manager about it.
If you are in doubt about sharing an experience with a client/learner, it is always better not to share the information.
What information can I give out about colleagues, learners or customers to external callers?
- It is not appropriate to share information about a colleague, learner or customer with people who contact any of our centres/venues and who are not members of staff. This includes personal information about them and also their specific whereabouts and activities on a particular day.
If a colleague is not available you should say “Sorry, s/he is not available until …. I can take a message and ask them to contact you on their return”.
If the matter needs to be dealt with prior to your colleague’s return to the office you should ask the caller about the nature of their query and refer the matter to an appropriate colleague or line manager.
It is important to be conscious of the information being sought by callers as disclosure can have serious implications for a colleague, learner or customer.
Here are some reasons why caution should be exercised when someone tries to gain information about a colleague, learner or customer:
- An Advisor was being stalked by a customer. The customer called the centre to ask to speak to her and was told she was on leave that day. The customer had already found out where she lived and now knew she was likely to be at home.
- A customer was in a protected housing shelter for victims of domestic violence. She was tracked down by her husband following a casual comment from a colleague.
- Debt collection agencies will often telephone an individual’s work place to ascertain information about them.
- Disclosing a colleague’s home address or phone details may constitute a contravention of the Data Protection Act.
Data Protection
Can I leave my work mobile phone switched on during the evening or at weekends in case a client/learner wants to contact me?
- Not recommended! In some instances, clients/learners may want to contact their assessor or advisor- this may be acceptable practice. Caution should be taken to ensure that nature of any such contact is purely professional and related to work and at reasonable times. Explain that they can leave a message.
It’s important to ensure that the boundary between working time and your own private life is a clear one. Clients/learners should not have the expectation that they can contact you 24 hours per day. If you receive an out of hours call, you may decide not to answer and allow the caller to leave a message.
If, however, you answer the phone outside of work hours, you may not be able to provide immediate help to the client/learner in these circumstances. Be polite, explain that you cannot help at the moment and commit to contacting them on the next working day.
If the client/learner is in danger take the details of where they are and contact the police and/or children’s or social services out of hours service. Under no circumstances should you go to meet the client/learner.
A client/learner is persistently calling me or texting me on my work mobile phone. What should I do?
- This may be a sign that the client/learner is becoming overly dependent on you or is hoping to form more of a relationship with you or is even stalking you. This can amount to harassment.
If a client/learner calls or texts you more often than you would normally expect then you should raise this issue with your line manager and agree an appropriate course of action to deal with the issue.
In terms of ‘How often is too often?’ you should alert your manager if a client/learner contacts you significantly more frequently than other clients/learners on your caseload.
I have received a text message(s) from a client/learner on my caseload which are offensive or abusive. What should I do?
- You should not reply to these messages. Keep them stored on the telephone (do not delete them) and show them to your line manager at the next opportunity.
The manager will then decide on appropriate action to be taken to safeguard you e.g., contacting the Police and/or withdrawing the client/learner from our service.
It is very important that records of the text messages are kept because if the messages were to become very abusive or threatening it may be necessary to involve the Police who will require evidence. A Safeguarding Officer must always be informed in such instances.
Should I allow a client/learner to use my work mobile phone?
Yes, you can – but only in an emergency such as a call for medical or Police assistance. The client/learner might need to speak with someone urgently to resolve an issue or speak to someone in connection with the service we are providing. You should, however, ensure that you are in the company of the client/learner when they are making the call so that it is not used inappropriately or stolen.
Is it appropriate to communicate personally with clients/learners using social networking internet sites?
- No! It is not appropriate to contact or befriend clients/learners via social networking internet sites on a personal basis, such as Facebook or LinkedIn or to use instant messaging services or chat-lines. These sites by their nature can compromise professional boundaries. There is no way of ‘policing’ or monitoring these types of messaging services and may compromise the professional relationship with clients/learners through misunderstandings or even allegations.
If a client/learner attempts to contact you through this method then you should not respond and let your Line Manager know. It is important to ensure that the boundary between working time and your own private life is a clear one. If you use social networking sites personally, you should always set your privacy settings at the maximum so that personal information cannot be viewed universally.
What about language?
Swearing and inappropriate language and discriminatory remarks are totally unacceptable! Where clients/learners use offensive or inappropriate language, this should be challenged. Discrimination of any kind should always be challenged (as per our Equality and Diversity policy and guidance).
Where a client/learner uses, terms of endearment, over familiar, disrespectful language or offensive language they should be made aware that this is not acceptable. The ‘workplace culture’ of swearing is no excuse for using offensive language and should not be encouraged.
When use by staff is regarded as a disciplinary matter. Care needs to be taken in using appropriate language with clients/learners and colleagues. Avoid over familiar language or terms of endearment such as love, sweetie etc. This might be misinterpreted by a client/learner and may result in the person feeling uncomfortable, patronised, or even confused about the nature of the professional relationship you have with them. It might also be considered offensive to some clients/learners and colleagues.
Can I take photographs of clients/learners?
Not without their permission and for learners under 16, you must obtain parents or carers. Consent must also be gained for the photographs or video recordings to be used for publicity or display purposes. Never take photographs or videos of clients/learners on your mobile phone.
Staying Safe
What should I do if clients/learners are fighting in the centre?
- Though your natural instinct may be to physically break up the fight, your primary action should be to tell the learner(s)/client(s) to stop fighting or you will call the Police. If the fight continues – call the police (using the emergency 999 number). You should alert colleagues and a manager to indicate there is a problem. This should bring support.
Remember that physical intervention/restraint is the absolute last resort in managing conflict. Other methods of de-escalating the situation should be attempted prior to any physical intervention.
It is not unlawful for any individual to effect physical restraint/intervention on their own as no law prohibits it. If you choose to intervene in the situation every effort should be made to secure the presence of another member of staff to ensure that any action taken is both safe and successful. It would be an error of judgement if a member of staff tried to restrain/hold someone without proper assistance and in so doing caused injury to himself/herself or the assailant because the intervention was handled ineptly.
Please be aware that whatever action is taken must be reasonable and justified and consistent with the concept of reasonable force. If the intervention is inappropriate, it shall be classed as an assault.
As physical restraint is an activity that carries with it a degree of operational risk it must be suitably and sufficiently assessed for risk.
How should I dress when working with clients/learners?
- The short answer to this question is that you should always dress professionally in a manner that is appropriate to the environment in which you are working and comply with any dress code policy that applies in your area of work.
This does not mean that formal clothing such as a suit or shirt and tie are required to be worn, unless this is the norm in the environment that you will be working.
It may be that casual dress is more appropriate to the situation, for example in a community centre, workshop, and this form of dress can help to put clients/learners at ease. However, whatever the environment you are working in and whatever mode of dress you are wearing, clothing should always be clean and smart, even if casual.
It is never appropriate to wear clothing that is revealing, sexually suggestive or potentially offensive. This is not only unprofessional, but it can send the wrong messages to the client/learner with whom you are working, and it may even endanger your safety.
A common-sense approach to this issue is advocated. However, if your line manager feels the need to query your standard of dress it is essential that their opinion is respected and that instructions to change the type of clothing that you are wearing are followed.
Can I give a lift to a client/learner?
- No. Where a client/learner requires transport to one place to another e.g., attending a job interview, you must speak to your line manager to ensure appropriate arrangements are made.
What should I do if a client/learner wants to meet me about a work-related issue outside of normal working hours?
- All late working or weekend work must be authorised by your line manager and the appropriate risk assessments must be undertaken. If there is no good reason for meeting the client/learner outside normal working hours your line manager should not authorise this meeting.
What should I do if a client/learner is in crisis and it is necessary to work late into the evening/night to resolve the issue?
- As mentioned above, all arrangements regarding late working or weekend work must be authorised by your line manager. When requested, you must keep your line manager informed of your whereabouts and your personal safety by arranging times at which you will contact them. It may be necessary to obtain your manager’s mobile phone number to do this. It is essential that you keep your manager informed of progress with the client/learner. If you do not contact your manager to let them know that you are safe, your manager could contact the police to report you missing. It is, therefore, extremely important that you do not forget to let your manager know where and how you are.
What should I do if I am working alone?
- There are specific instances where lone working is necessary e.g., in outreach venues. In such cases, managers are responsible for ensuring that the appropriate Health and Safety risk assessment for lone working is undertaken. This might lead to special arrangements being required such as the issue of a personal security device.
You should also take precautions to ensure your own personal safety, for example:
- be familiar with car parking security at the venue especially if you are leaving or entering the vehicle in darkness
- be vigilant when leaving your vehicle, especially if transporting equipment – consider parking outside the venue to unload equipment, if this is an option
- make sure your vehicle is locked securely and that no valuable items are left in it
- this also applies to client/learner personal information whether in hard copy or stored electronically on laptops, removable disks, CDs, USB memory sticks, PDAs and media card formats
- make yourself aware of safety and security procedures at the venue, including any security alert systems
- keep your mobile phone with you and switched on at all times
- ensure that activities which involve a lone client/learner take place in a room/area which can be easily observed by others, or the doors should be left open and position yourself nearest the exit
- keep your line manager informed of your whereabouts and your personal safety by arranging times at which you will contact them
- visits to clients/learners at home or places outside of work should be avoided
Where a home visit is necessary, it should firstly be approved by your line manager and two members of staff should attend, where possible. Records should always be reviewed prior to a Home Visit and if indicators are present or information is known, which may pose a risk to staff, a client risk assessment, must be conducted prior to a home visit. Where line management consider the risk too high services will be withdrawn.
Summary – Do’s and Don’ts
What should you do?
✓ Always behave professionally – don’t leave your open to criticism, allegation or complaint – keep within professional boundaries
✓ Avoid physical contact with clients/learners
✓ If anyone complains about someone’s behaviour, re-assure that you will take seriously what is said and if it concerns you, tell your manager immediately
✓ If you ever suspect anything untoward about a learner’s/client’s behaviour, then share it with someone, preferably your manager
✓ Be vigilant when working alone anywhere and transporting equipment etc. from your vehicle
✓ Report any Safeguarding issue to a Designated Safeguarding Officer/line Manager or the Health and Safety Manager, as appropriate
What shouldn’t you do?
✘ Share personal information about yourself or your colleagues
✘ Give lifts to clients/learners
✘ Arrange to meet a client/learner off site or at their home, unless home visits are part of your normal job role and, then always follow procedures
✘ Use inappropriate, suggestive or offensive language
✘ Befriend clients/learners on social networks and keep your privacy settings to maximum
✘ Respond to inappropriate, threatening or offensive messages or phone calls