The Codes
The Code of Practice for Social Service Workers 5.8 says:
‘I will not behave, while inside or outside work, in a way which would bring my suitability to work in social services into question.’
In the 12 months from 31 May 2022 to 31 May 2023 we concluded 759 registrant fitness to practise cases that were about behaviour outside of work, which is 24% of all registrant cases concluded.
People raise lots of different types of concerns with us. The graph below shows the breakdown of the types of complaints in behaviour outside of work cases over the last 12 months.
Not all these cases resulted in a sanction. In some cases, we decided there was no evidence of the allegations or the allegations did not impair the worker’s fitness to practise.
Examples
Here are some examples of types of behaviour where we imposed sanctions on a worker’s registration and the sanction received.
|
Scenario |
Type of behaviour |
Sanction |
|
Possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply and a failure to declare the charge and conviction to the employer and the SSSC. |
Drugs offence and dishonesty. |
Three year warning. |
|
Assault, malicious damage and breach of the peace. |
Assault and other criminal. |
One year warning. |
|
Stalking of a female colleague. |
Other criminal. |
One year warning. |
|
Drink driving and failure to declare the conviction to the SSSC and employer. |
Drink driving and dishonesty. |
Two year warning. |
|
Domestic abuse convictions and failure to declare convictions to the SSSC. |
Assault and dishonesty. |
Three year warning. |
|
Sending racially discriminatory messages. |
Other outside work. |
Three year warning and condition. |
What we consider when investigating behaviour outside work
We will investigate to understand the allegations and to find out what evidence there is. We will then consider if the allegations affect the registrant’s fitness to practise. We consider public protection and the need to maintain public trust and confidence in the social service sector. You can read more about how we make decisions in our Decisions Guidance.
Help and advice if we are investigating your fitness to practise
Our fitness to practise process is formal because it needs to be fair and safeguard your rights as the person being investigated.
If you’re undergoing a fitness to practise case, we recommend you get independent advice about your case and the decisions you need to make.
To find out where you can get help and advice please read Factsheet 5 Help and advice for people involved in our fitness to practise processes.
Supporting your learning and development with our free resources
We have two resources you might find useful in thinking about behaviour outside work. They are part of our 23 Things Digital resource, which are digital capabilities to support practice and learning. Both focus on social media.
- This resource has guidance on using social media with links to other resources and supports you to write a short blog post on your reflections.
- This resource focuses on Facebook. You can look at sample feeds and pick out what might be an issue.
We have produced many free resources to support your day-to-day practice and you can earn Open Badges to get recognition for your learning. You can use Open Badges to count towards your continuous professional learning (CPL).
Context
Of the 166,745 people on our Register only 1.13% currently have a case being considered by our Fitness to Practise Department.
We receive on average 320 referrals a month.
These figures show the vast majority of registrants demonstrate the necessary skills, knowledge and values to support the people they work with, who often have complex needs, in sometimes challenging circumstances.
