Stinky Employee

Rockie · May 2003

We have a female employee who has extremely bad BO. She has been counseled by her supervisor several times on this (male supervisor - very uncomfortable doing this). I have had two complaints in two days. It is not as though she has gone through the day and smells. She comes in in the morning reeking.

How would you guys handle this?

jmpmo · May 2003

This is to funny. We had this exact situation. We counseled the person twice. Finally, we did a final one where we just layed it on the line and told her it was her last chance. We gave her a copy of the dress code. The second session we told her if she came in smelling bad, she would be sent home to shower and change and would have to come back when she was done. She ended up voluntarily leaving the company for an unrelated reason. Hope that helps a little.

"I know God only gives us what we can handle, but I wish he didn't trust me so much." Sister Therese

ray a · May 2003

I've had to deal with this several times. We had one good success story. If after a first warning by the supervisor the problem persists, then HR gets involved. I will start by explaining to the employee, with their supervisor present, what the problem is. I will refer to the employee manual where it addresses grooming. Then I ask if there are any medical reasons for the problem. The last time I had to do this, the woman admitted she was seeing a doctor. She was so upset, she brought in a large array of grooming products and threw them on my desk to show me what she does on a daily basis. She finally discovered, the problem was wearing sneakers - that caused extreme foot odor and all the other stuff she used just masked the problem. When she started wearing shoes, the problem went away.

Start with the medical angle. I also, tell them they must solve the problem or be subject to discipline up to and including termination. It must be handled very delicately so not to offend the individual.

cebudragonlady · May 2003

Rockie-
Since you are at a medical practice, can one of the doctors do a complete physical examination for this employee to find out what the problem is? This way would seem to be more compassionate than threatening with discipline.

Chari

jmpmo · May 2003

I agree on the medical part. I didn't mention that we had already explored that with her in the first meeting.

"I know God only gives us what we can handle, but I wish he didn't trust me so much." Sister Therese

Crout · May 2003

When you counsel her try to have a female supervisor present.

AnneLa · May 2003

I've had to deal with this issue on two separate occasions. One employee had beautiful, expensive sweaters, but didn't wash them often enough. I was present with her manager when she was told. We suggested that she send them to the cleaners more often......... she was mortified, of course, and we never had the problem again.

The second employee reeked of stale smoke so badly that some employees would literally get nauseated when she was in thier company. I spoke to her personally, and told her that someone had brought this to my attention. She wanted to know who - and I told her that "it didn't matter, that at this very minute, I could smell the odor." She went home and must have cleaned her house and clothes from top to bottom and we never had to deal with this issue again. Perhaps a female in the HR area could be a bit more aggressive with this employee and end the problem.

ray a · May 2003

One other cause: we had an employee who would get quite ripe. When I talked to him, he said he had lost all sense of smell several years prior. He didn't realize he had a problem. He was more careful after that.

KHelgeson · May 2003

With the new HIPAA privacy regulations and going down the medical route, does anyone worry about receiving "Protected Health Information"?

Tony Starks · May 2003

I supervise shipping & receiving personnel and I once had a part time ee who came in during the evenings after school(he was a senior in high school)who would arrive to work already reaking of serious pit before he even clocked in. Initially, we tried hard to tolerate it but it quickly came to the point where I sat him down in my computer room and talked to him privately about his doritos/fritos/funyon/taco sauce musk. He kind of ignored me as I discussed our company policy on cleanliness and appearance, probably because of embarrasement, but I tried to be compassionate. I never asked if the odor was medical related and he did'nt participate in any athletics. Well, it continued and got to the point where my shipping & receiving crew began complaining to him out loud. I went to the Kmart next door and bought a stick of Right Guard for him and told him to apply the deoderant first thing after clocking in. In fact, it became a part of his listed duties to check off each evening, and although it seems harsh, he came around and was down with the concept. He's moved on but he smelled just fine after that.

phbair · May 2003

HIPAA didn't concern me; but did anyone else think ADA when "ray a" suggested asking the offending employee if there was a medical problem causing the odor? Even if asking an employee if s/he has a hidden medical condition isn't a direct violation of the ADA (I think it is), doing so could still open up an employer for a "regarded as" claim.

ray a · May 2003

>HIPAA didn't concern me; but did anyone else think ADA when "ray a"
>suggested asking the offending employee if there was a medical problem
>causing the odor? Even if asking an employee if s/he has a hidden
>medical condition isn't a direct violation of the ADA (I think it is),
>doing so could still open up an employer for a "regarded as" claim.

Are you suggesting being odiferous is protected by the ADA? We are talking about being treated for a medical condition not a disability. I was suggesting a more compassionate approach rather than an outright accusation and threat.

Don D · May 2003

HIPAA does not preclude our receiving personal or protected health information from individuals in the legitimate conduct of our business. HIPAA addresses the misuse of or ill-intended receipt of and mishandling of personal health information information. This revised statute should by no means spook us into paralysis in the questions we ask people or the way we proceed with our tasks. ADA addresses such issues, but HIPAA is a far different monster.

LeeR · May 2003

Had the exact same problem with a male employee, smelled so bad the rest of the staff would not get in an elevator with him. Sent him to physician (at company expense) to rule out any medical causes for the odor, then counseled him on three different occasions. No results so terminated his employment. This was in a Union shop and Union didn't have a problem with it either.

Stinky Employee

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