A4 Customer Service Legislation and Regulations

A4 Customer service legislation and regulations

• Industry and sector-specific codes of practice, ethical issues and standards.

• Implications for the business of not meeting all legal and regulatory requirements, including consumer rights, consumer protection (including distance selling), eCommerce regulations, health and safety, General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), equality.

Class Learning Activity

Can you think of any laws which relate to customer service?

Customer Service Legislation and Regulations

Customer service is controlled by legislation and regulations to protect businesses and most importantly their customers. As with many professions, a professional body exists for customer service. Some pieces of legislation are common to all types of business, while others are sector specific.

To ensure that businesses comply with legislation, they must have policies and procedures in place. Employees must be aware of them and how to implement them. Businesses need to monitor their practices to ensure compliance and to ensure that their knowledge and practices are up-to-date and in line with new developments. Failure to do so can result in serious consequences, such as serious injury, death and major fines or imprisonment for the perpetrator or employer. You are also responsible for ensuring that you understanding is current.

Industry and Sector Specific Codes of Practice, Ethical Issues and Standards.

There are many codes of practice including:

Health sector requirements for the presence of additional adults during medical examinations.
Health and Safety guidance on the risks of lone working which is relevant to any sector- The risk can be easily overlooked by, for example, teavchers of courses at outreach centres, codes of conduct also exist for home visits by professionals such as social workers.
The construction industry has multiple codes of practice. These are based on guidance from the BMA (British Medical Association).

Codes of practice for ethical issues and standards also exist . Businesses paying particular attention to internal codes of practice include:

Care homes
Hospitals
Health Clinics
Hospices
Doctors' surgeries

Advertising and marketing campaigns must also comply with legislation and codes of practice such as those set out by the Advertising Standards Agency.

Failing to Meet Legal and Regulatory Requirements

There are a number of implications if businesses do not meet legal and regulatory requirements discussed earlier.

Consumer Protection- This exists to help consumers during the buying process. Consumers are also protected in other ways, for example purchasing with a credit card provides a time-bound insurance againstloss or damage.
The Consumer Credit Act of 1974 regulates and provides protection for loans and hire agreements and provides a cooling off period to protect customers from making rash decisions (Possibly due to excessive pressure).
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 protects customers against unfair or misleading trading practices which include omissions and aggressive sales tactics.
The Data Protection Act 1998 entitles you to know what information is held about you and how it is used.

Distance Selling- Regulations exist to protect customers purchasing from a distance. The law changed from Distance Selling Regulations in 2014 to Consumer Contracts Regulations and applies to all purchases made at a distance, for example via the telephone, online or shopping channels, such as IdealWorld and QVC. Businesses are required by law to provide information about the goods, services and seller.

Sale of goods- The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is reported to be the biggest shake up in consumer rights law for many years and aims to simplify the rules by combining separate legislation including.

Sale of Goods Act
Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations
Supply of Goods and Services Act

This Act came into force form 1 October 2-15 and protects customers by imposing set rules for:

Refunds and Timeframes
Remediation Options
Replacement and Repairs
Additional items sold or provided with the item of interest
Pre-contract Information

Health and Safety- breaches of Health and Safety are a criminal offence. Therefore the consequences can include prosecution, fines or prison. The HSE or health and safety officers from local authorities inspect and regulate compliance with health and safety rules. Businesses are responsible for ensuring that their processes and systems comply with legislation. If they do not, there are consequences other than prison. For example, the CEO of Volkswagen resigned in the autumn of 2015 due to fraud regarding vehicle emissions and the impact on the company's reputation has yet to be measured.

Data Protection- Personal data must not be shared without that individual's permission, dependent upon characteristics such as age, vulnerability, mental health etc. However, businesses are discovering the value of having data-sharing policies, because they have found that the over-protection of data can impact on supporting the customer in the best way. For example, the NHS data was not shared between Trusts and relevant customer data was not passed between relevant departments. Information regarding police crime hotspots is also now shared online to help combat vehicle licensing tax evasion.

Equal Opportunities- Legislation exists to protect people from being discriminated against on the basis of the following protected characteristics:

age
disability
gender reassignment
marriage and civil partnership
pregnancy and maternity
race
religion and belief
gender
sexual orientation

The implications of a business not meeting all legal and regulatory requirements can be costly and lead to failure of the business. Examples of where businesses have been sued for non-compliance include:

General Electric in 2010 for racial discrimination and harassment

Thames Valley Police in 2014 for referring to Romany gypsies as travellers

An employment tribunal case in 2014 against the police force for age discrimination.

Customer Confidence in Business

No business is totally infallible, no matter how much they try- but learning from mistakes gives them the opportunity to improve. Businesses that have developed confidence by admitting their errors, include:

Toyota who voluntarily recalled vehicles that had software issues
Asda, M&S, Boots, Sainsbury's who admitted issues with suspect food products containing horsemeat.
Fujitsu who recalled battery packs with a risk of catching fire.

Some businesses offer additional free services to maintain customer confidence in their product, such as Mercedes, who offer annual winter checks, and Toyota, who offer a free service with its voluntary recalls.

Job Satisfaction for Employees

By building postiive customer relationships, employees are rewarded with greater job satisfaction. For example, the local newsagent is likely to look forward to visits from local customers with whom they have developed a good relationship. Other examples might include a JLP employee who helps a couple set up their wedding registry or a personal shopper who helps a customer to find their perfect outfit- both of these situations are likely to lead to happy customers and a rewarded employee.

In the voluntary sector many people give up their time for free for worthy causes and they may enjoy the challenge of learning new skills and developing their communication skills.

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