Unwashed person in office

annascott

I have just taken in a student on work placement for two days per week. The problem is that he doesn't seem to wash his clothes and there is a stale sickly smell coming from him. Today I left the office for an hour and when I came back the smell build up almost made me gag. I am worried that the smell will carry onto the clothes and hair of other workers. I have a secretary on leave who returns to work next week and will have to share an office with him.

In every other area he seems polite and competent. I would appreciate any help with this matter. How do I ask him to leave without him thinking that his work is at fault?

listermint

Ask him to leave? Why not ask him to upkeep cleanliness ?

Miaireland

I probably wouldn't ask him to leave straight off. I would be honest and discreet and ask him to make sure that he showers and wears clean clothes before he comes to work.

tayto lover

Take him into your office and tell him to come in washed with clean fresh clothes the next day.
You have to be blunt about it if you want to fix the problem.
I had that problem with a lad i worked with before. There is no easy way and beating about the bush will not sort the problem.

uck51js9zml2yt

You dont have to ask him to leave. Just ask him to wash.

I've had to have that conversation with an employee after customers complained about him.
He was a driver who would have spent his day delivering clean products and removing soiled..it was a sweaty job.
Its never the easiest conversation to have but for his own sake( and career) you need to have it. Remember it may be his first office job and he just doesnt realise.


YOu could go about it saying "some of the girls have mentioned to me that there is a strong BO smell in the office since you arrived" or something more tactful.
One thing though, do it in private

radia

Letting him go seems a bit extreme. As others have said, he needs to be told. There are ways of softening the message a bit: "I know you mightn't have worked in an office like this before so you may not realise how noticeable even minor smells are when we're sitting so close, but..."

There are also anonymous email services like this one: http://www.nooffenseoranything.com/. However, I think the best approach is just to address it in a matter of fact way, face to face.

annascott

I really do not want to embarrass him. The thing that puzzles me most is that he supposedly lives with a girlfriend and child. I am shocked that she would let him out that way. The smell has obviously been building up on his clothes for quite some time.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Westernyelp

You don't want to embarrass yourself is probably more true? Have the conversation, you will be doing him a favour.

LegacyUser

You'll just have to tell him. Simple as that. Its awful but as a manager you cant expect others in office to put up with it. This happened in our office a few years ago. we told our manager (there was 2 of us had to sit either side of this guy - lovely guy but absolutely reeked) Mgr brought him in & told him & apparently he was very upset. but the next day no joke he was like a new man clean shaven & clean & washed we worked with him for a year or so after & we never had the problem with him again. Maybe he just doesn't realise.

uck51js9zml2yt

annascott wrote: »

I really do not want to embarrass him. The thing that puzzles me most is that he supposedly lives with a girlfriend and child. I am shocked that she would let him out that way. The smell has obviously been building up on his clothes for quite some time.

Its probably the most difficult conversation you will ever have with an employee apart from maybe sacking them but you need to get over your own discomfort and have a chat. He might be your most productive employee ever..If he's not, he'll certainly be enabled to hold down a job in the future.

Mrs OBumble

annascott wrote: »

I really do not want to embarrass him. The thing that puzzles me most is that he supposedly lives with a girlfriend and child. I am shocked that she would let him out that way. The smell has obviously been building up on his clothes for quite some time.

There's nowt as strange as folks!


One thing to keep in mind: This problem (poor personal hygiene) is usually due to clueless-ness, as others have mentioned.

But it can also be due to mental illness - one signal for this is if it's intermittent rather than all the time. If you have any sense that this is the case, then tread a good deal more carefully, and get an HR professional involved.

Whatever you do though - do it fast. Do not leave the problem to fester (literally ) for weeks: it's embarrassing to tell him now, but is a lot harder when your message is "you've been like this for ages ... "

tuisginideach

Surely having just taken him on for 2 days a week on placement - this must be the easiest time to do it. The longer he is allowed turn up like that, the harder it becomes to mention it. As others have said, you are actually doing him a favour.

Magico Gonzalez

If legal, I would include it in the employment contract....something about maintaining a decent standard of personal hygiene.

I don't know if that's even possible, but it should be!

That way you could just give him a friendly warning about adhering to the personal hygiene t&c's in his contract.

It's that or hose him down on the way in the door.

Icepick

Gavin Little Beekeeper wrote: »

YOu could go about it saying "some of the girls have mentioned to me that there is a strong BO smell in the office since you arrived" or something more tactful.
One thing though, do it in private

That's not tactful. As his manager, you have to make clear that it's a problem for you as you have duty of care to everybody in the office.

Harika

We had a similar case and it was handled in following steps:
1. Send an email to all workers and clarified the stance on personal hygiene in the office
2. Talked to the employee in private
3. Send the employee home to shower and get fresh clothes

hawkeyethenoo

Harika wrote: »

We had a similar case and it was handled in following steps:
1. Send an email to all workers and clarified the stance on personal hygiene in the office
2. Talked to the employee in private
3. Send the employee home to shower and get fresh clothes

the last one is out of order, surely steps one and two are enough? embarrassing someone by sending them home to shower??

December2012

You are, at some stage, going to have to have an awkward conversation with an employee. Why not start now? The problem is fixable, and avoidable and hopefully temporary.

You say that you have noticed an odour and you would like to advise that it is not allowed. Each person must wear clean clothes and maintain persons hygiene.

If there is any reason that is not happening (if a person had no access to running warm water or old musty clothes) then maybe help can be given. Or not. But getting let go instead of being asked to clean up is not helping anybody.

LegacyUser

Just bash up a quick document on company policy re dress code, appearance, grooming and cleanliness. Forward it to him and say you're new, you probably haven't seen this yet, have a read and let me know if any questions. Should get the message, if not mention it in terms of compliance with company policy.

Robsweezie

there could be a situation where the young lads confidence is damaged and he gets a complex after being told, maybe feels paranoid and decides to leave with the embarrassment. But I get the need to nip it in the bud. If it were me im not sure i would say anything, depends on the smell. is it overpowering?

Mech1

I would do this :
Invite him into your office and ask him if he smokes has a pet dog or cat or maybe has a friend / housemates that do.

Tell him that someone in the workplace thinks that he maybe the cause of a sensitive nasal tract reaction as it started again for the first time in months the morning he first started.
Tell him that all staff know to wash well and ensure clothing is sanitary every day in order to prevent this anonymous employee suffering.

El_Duderino 09

Mech1 wrote:

Tell him that someone in the workplace thinks that he maybe the cause of a sensitive nasal tract reaction as it started again for the first time in months the morning he first started. Tell him that all staff know to wash well and ensure clothing is sanitary every day in order to prevent this anonymous employee suffering.

I'm never sure if this is an Irish thing or just something all people do.

Why make up such a load of nonsense. A person would lose all their respect if they told someone that fairy story. Sensitive nasal tract reaction.

Tell them the truth. It's normal to correct someone on inappropriate behaviour. If they were rude to customers, you would correct them. If they messed up the job, you would coach them. Correct them or coach them like an adult who cares about their business. Making up stories or phoney medical conditions is childish.

uck51js9zml2yt

Icepick wrote: »

That's not tactful. As his manager, you have to make clear that it's a problem for you as you have duty of care to everybody in the office.

I never said it was

With my driver a can of deodorant did the job and aa chat with the customer as to the kind of work he did and how it was very physical.

Ursus Horribilis

Harika wrote: »

We had a similar case and it was handled in following steps:
1. Send an email to all workers and clarified the stance on personal hygiene in the office
2. Talked to the employee in private
3. Send the employee home to shower and get fresh clothes

Did all three of these steps happen at the same time? Or was the employee only sent home after the email and the "chat" failed?

Boardz Fiend

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I'm never sure if this is an Irish thing or just something all people do.

Why make up such a load of nonsense. A person would lose all their respect if they told someone that fairy story. Sensitive nasal tract reaction.

Tell them the truth. It's normal to correct someone on inappropriate behaviour. If they were rude to customers, you would correct them. If they messed up the job, you would coach them. Correct them or coach them like an adult who cares about their business. Making up stories or phoney medical conditions is childish.

100% agree with your comments. Its black and white really. .. also, yes I think the inability to be direct is most certainly an Irish thing

Harika

Odus fell down wrote: »

Did all three of these steps happen at the same time? Or was the employee only sent home after the email and the "chat" failed?

Happened step by step and there were weeks between. Step 3 even happened twice, months between. Then the employee left.

TheChizler

I've known a few people this reminds me of. They claimed to shower twice a day and that it was glandular. They always had the same stains on their clothes so I suspect they never washed them. Always mention the clothes!

Turtle_

If he's on placement, do you have a contact with his college? Maybe tell them his work is great and you have absolutely no gripes in that respect, but personal hygiene is a problem and maybe would be best tackled by the college addressing the whole class about expectations in a professional environment - clean and fresh clothes (not just clothes that pass their own sniff test) every day, beards trimmed/clean shaven, hair tidy, nails neat and clean etc.

huggles85

The best bit of professional advice I ever got about having to be assertive (on any matter) was to acknowledge the other person first and their situation.
You mentioned this chap had a baby and girlfriend and other then the smell he was competent in all other areas.
You could start by acknowledging his competency and lead on to the issue at hand. You could say something like "Your work is good and I appreciate you have a busy life outside work but we like to maintain high standards of hygiene in work etc etc [insert whatever you need to say here]".

Depending on the outcome of that you could then escalate (HR,college etc,not sure of the exact circumstances) but hopefully he'll get the hint first time round face to face.

Neyite

annascott wrote: »

The thing that puzzles me most is that he supposedly lives with a girlfriend and child. I am shocked that she would let him out that way. The smell has obviously been building up on his clothes for quite some time.

That's a bit sexist, don't you think? He's an adult responsible for his own personal hygiene, and more than capable of sticking a load of clothes into a washing machine and turning a knob. Or using a bit of shower gel. But yeah, blame a woman for his lack of personal hygiene. :rolleyes:

Sunny Dayz

I would ask him into the office for a little chat about how he has been getting on. Let him know how his work has been, give him positive feedback on it, any areas of possible improvement in his work. Keep it fairly casual, like you want to see how he is getting on so far.
Then say to him that you have noticed odour which may be offensive to other workers or customers. You really are going to have to bite the bullet and tell him straight, sending around memos won't work, if anything it will highlight the issue with other workers if this guy is really oblivious to it. Just let him know that high standards of personal hygiene must be maintained when working in an office space and that you have noticed that he has failed this. Suggest to him that he wears a cleanly washed and ironed shirt each day (or whatever the dress code is). Maybe go through with him in detail what the dress code is, he may have never worked in an office environment before (or even worked anywhere before).


To be honest, I think men have a poorer sense of smell than women. I'm not being sexist but I have noticed it with my husband and son. Also, it's actually difficult to smell yourself!