The Question: Your employee/coworker often comes to work smelling very badly. It’s your job to address the issue. What do you do??
My 2 Cents: I’ve never been in this position myself, but when I was in college on a work/study job this situation presented itself in one of our sections. It wasn’t a section and/or floor in/on which I had to work, so I wasn’t directly affected by the bad smell. I only had to tolerate it when I had to take papers to this particular office.
A new lady, I’ll call her Hope (not her real name) came to work in the office, and she was new to America. Her husband was here, and she was able to get a work visa to come be with him during his stint at the embassy where he was working. In this particular section of our offices, Hope was one of two females in a section full of men. The other lady, I’ll call her Janette (not her real name) was assigned the task of training Hope and the ladies sat across from each other in their double-wide (haha) cubicle.
On the first day of work, all was well. As the week progressed the smell from Hope got stronger and stronger. By the end of the week, the smell was overpowering. This went on week after week and no one said or did anything. When others had to go to their section, we’d take care of business, holding our breath and leave quickly. Hope was very nice, very pleasant, and she worked hard. It was as if no one wanted to hurt her feelings.
Janette came to our section of the office and just let loose with how upset and disgusted she was with having to deal directly with this issue, and she felt more inclined to be the one to address the issue, because none of the men in the section, not even the section supervisor, felt comfortable telling Hope (a woman) that her body odor was overpowering. Janette was asking us how she should approach the issue. She wanted to know what she should say and how she should say it. I was a work/study student, so I stayed out of the discussion. I didn’t know how she could deal with the issue. After venting for about 15 minutes, Janette finally went back to her section. No one in my section gave her in real solutions before she left. I just think she needed a breather and needed to talk herself through what she needed to do.
After about two more weeks, everyone noticed that Hope’s body odor wasn’t a problem anymore. It was as if the issue never existed. No one talked about it coming and no one talked about it going. Curiosity got the better of me, and I asked Janette what she did. This was how she solved it, and I’m paraphrasing:
“I took her out to lunch on Monday, because she never seems to smell on Monday, and I asked her many questions about her country and culture and then talked to her about American customs and culture. When it was obvious she wasn’t getting the hint, I just told her point-blank that by the end of the week her natural body odor was unpleasant and overpowering. Hope didn’t get upset or angry. She just explained her in village at home they bathed on Sunday nights and believed that washing up during the week would keep them from getting sick from having their entire bodies exposed and wet every day. There was no deodorant where she came from, but she used water on her important parts every morning before coming to work. She didn’t realize that water alone wasn’t enough, because where she came from that’s the way everyone smelled and you don’t notice one from another when you grow up like that. On the way back from lunch, we stopped by a CVS, and I showed her soaps and deodorants, which she purchased, and I explained to her that she had to bathe each day. We now have a secret signal when her body odor is becoming unpleasant. I don’t say anything to her. I just leave an index card with a flower drawn on it on her seat, and she knows what that means.”
I told myself if I ever found myself in the same situation, I’d handle it similar to Janette.
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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:
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PhatCrayonz tactfully tell them complaints about BO from others came in. And ask them to solve it.
PROTECTED TWEETER this is a touchy situation…is this employee from another nation..religious reason? If not, they MUST bathe before work
ishadowaddict i will let a member of mgmt discuss the issue, but if its my friend…i will tell him/her
PROTECTED TWEETER If it’s body odor & it’s unbearable & they’re NOT American, then I’d ask exploratory questions, just to know.
PROTECTED TWEETER if it’s body odor & it’s unbearable & they’re American, then I’d say politely, “U smell like a goat!”.
PROTECTED TWEETER If it’s one’s breath, I’d say politely, “u r kinna tart” & offer a mint.
PROTECTED TWEETER No, but maybe if I am their direct supervisor I would address the issue in a respectful manner.
lotyslove “We’ve had some complaints. You must practice good hygiene, here or we have to let you go.” *hands him Mitchum*
PROTECTED TWEETER My coworkers were all laugin & talkin bout her I politely pulled her n mailroom &she Thankful
PROTECTED TWEETER I would say, “Do you smell that?” or “Wooo Wee what is that smell.”
PROTECTED TWEETER Kindly gift them a month’s supply of bath gels and lotions with a gift certificate attached. =D
PROTECTED TWEETER The employee would generally be obligated to to have a decent apperance and hygiene when coming do work, so yes; inform them.
asktonyc I’d approach the coworker when he(she) is alone. I’d tell them they have BO as tactfully as possible.
queenesther I would be as direct and no nonsense as possible. Cut to the chase. Nothing personal. Strictly business.
sidekickfun She or He may not be aware of tha funk! And I don’t mean tha music.
CheWithBlingOn I Order a Code Red
PROTECTED TWEETER “i notice that you often have an odor & i just wanted to tell u because i dont want ppl talking behind your back.”
sidekickfun If she a friend be a friend.
Hadji4ever I would pull them 2 the side and tell them their smell is offensive 2 me. Its sad but I can’t function under those conditions.
Write_Of_Fusion I would let them know-look, I’m a strong believer in good hygenes n I expect every1 2 luv themselves enough 2 feel da same.
soulrebelJ Staged humorous reaction. “Have you been (eating garbage/ wrestling onions/ hoarding sushi/ washing pups/ sharding) recently?
mayqueen79 I would ask if they are wearing too heavy cologne, because my migraines are triggered by certain scents or blame pregnant nose.
jluntzreport Leave an anonymous note on their desk.
drgoss I’ll do exactly that address the issue very politely and professionally
PROTECTED TWEETER “Jill, Mary here would like to give you some femenine hygiene advice”. If problem employee smells of [bleep], FIRED on the spot!!
ibster If it’s my job, then I read the manual. The section on “How to tell someone they need a wash” should cover it.
PROTECTED TWEETER ined if it is or isn’t Medical proceed to express concern and work on a way to resolve the issue, ie. “You Funky [bleep]“, or..
PROTECTED TWEETER pull them to the side and FIRST ask them is there something medically wrong (to soften da’ blow) wait for response. Once determ
BLKMGK Give a hand-out to all employees spelling out that some people are sensitive to smells – no perfume, no b/o.
TankaBar_JasonD Tell them nothing like cutting straight to the point hay if that was a problem for me I’m sure someone would say something
Pettra88 Send out a memo letting everyone know there’s been complaints and to step up personal hygiene.
md20737 I would delegate the responsibilty to my coworkers since I got authority lol
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