Body odor issues with member of staff

cottonhead

Its tough but as a manager you will have to deal with it. I had the same issue and it turned out the poor person was actually quite depressed and has suffered some bad trauma in their personal life. The knock on to that was not caring about appearance or personal hygiene. That was the least of their worries and I dont think they even noticed. Unfounatly a rather loud manager who was visiting from somewhere else just said outright 'you stink - do something about it!' anyway the person did and it was never mentioned again.
I would speak to this person at the end of the shift on Friday so they have the weekend to get over it because they probably will be upset. Dont mention anyone else has said anything. Just tell them you have noticed.

thistledome

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Is it BO or a fishy smell? There is a medical condition which can make people smell dreadfully of fish, the name escapes me right now though.

As the manager the buck stops with you, you need to address the situation and deal with it.

You mean TMAU or Trimethylaminuria. Although it has been known in the past as fish odour syndrome, the odours can be varied and have been described as faecal, garbage, smoky, mouldy or musty etc. as well as fishy.

There are various metabolic disorders (TMAU itself is thought to be the result of a faulty gene) that will result in foul body odours. Most of the sufferers are acutely aware of it, although most can't smell themselves, but they know from the reactions of others.

The inability to metabolise certain amino acids is one cause, but there are others. It's a very under-researched and specialist field. Most GP's know nothing about it and will give out the usual advice of eat well and keep clean, which is useless. Most people with a metabolic body odour are cleaner than the average person, some will shower numerous times a day to no avail.

OP, you can probably tell if your problem worker is clean or not. Look at their clothes and nails and hair.

lostinrates

CATS wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope all you wise people out there can give me your opinions. I am the manager at my work

i am afraid this means you now do have to Manage this situation, not hope it will go away.

The discussion needs to take place in private, and sensitivly. I would take the position that you hope the employee realise you have to raise this and that ypu value them as a member of your team, but you have noticed that they 'sometimes' have an odour issue,

I would also do this on a day you are prepared to let them go home straight after you have spoken to them, and i would STOP being involved in 'informal' complaints unless you are prepared to take action.

gunsandbanjos

thistledome wrote: »

You mean TMAU or Trimethylaminuria. Although it has been known in the past as fish odour syndrome, the odours can be varied and have been described as faecal, garbage, smoky, mouldy or musty etc. as well as fishy.

There are various metabolic disorders (TMAU itself is thought to be the result of a faulty gene) that will result in foul body odours. Most of the sufferers are acutely aware of it, although most can't smell themselves, but they know from the reactions of others.

The inability to metabolise certain amino acids is one cause, but there are others. It's a very under-researched and specialist field. Most GP's know nothing about it and will give out the usual advice of eat well and keep clean, which is useless. Most people with a metabolic body odour are cleaner than the average person, some will shower numerous times a day to no avail.

OP, you can probably tell if your problem worker is clean or not. Look at their clothes and nails and hair.

I knew it began with a T! Couldn't for the life of me remember the name though:o

There was a program on tv recently (food hospital or something along those lines?), a lady had it and she had to drastically change her diet as her body couldnt metabolise certain things. Was a bit of trial and error and not a walk in the park but it made a significant difference to the smell.

BitterAndTwisted

All this talk of metabolisms is all ery interesting but not of any use to the OP. I've had the misfortune of having to work with people who smell and it's nearly always been due to the fact that they don't bathe and change their clothes often enough. Getting on a rush-hour tube train will tell you exactly who doesn't bathe either before they go to bed or once they've got up. I've also been the manager who's had to deal with this. There is no easy or roundabout way of speaking to someone about it. Be too subtle and they won't get it. Be direct but gentle. NEVER say that anyone else has noticed it, just that you need to mention it to them before they do. It's horrible and embarrassing but it's also a kindness. I found it a tiny bit less awful by easing into it by saying something like "We all like you. Everyone enjoys working with you but...."

pink_princess

cottonhead wrote: »

Its tough but as a manager you will have to deal with it. I had the same issue and it turned out the poor person was actually quite depressed and has suffered some bad trauma in their personal life. The knock on to that was not caring about appearance or personal hygiene. That was the least of their worries and I dont think they even noticed. Unfounatly a rather loud manager who was visiting from somewhere else just said outright 'you stink - do something about it!' anyway the person did and it was never mentioned again.
I would speak to this person at the end of the shift on Friday so they have the weekend to get over it because they probably will be upset. Dont mention anyone else has said anything. Just tell them you have noticed.

I have had this situation twice over the years and one was due to depression. I was very glad that I had taken her in to the office to talk. With a few weeks reduced hours and some advice on agencys to contact she was back to herself and the productivity level I was used to from her.
The other case was different, the employee (female again) looked very shocked when I talked to her, it was never an issue again. Neither working relationship was damaged and I believe that is because my staff trust me and know I am very fair.
Have you been a Manager long OP? This is not a complicated issue really, can you ask your HRM for advice or support on how to deal with it?

Alias_Omega

Maybe the person is doing an activity that may cause them to sweat/smell before work. This maybe cycling into work, and work does not provide a shower facility. Therefore they have to sit there and stew?

j.e.j.

vax2002 wrote: »

I dont think you can insist that someone applies chemicals to themselves (deodorants) to hide what is a natural body function, all you can do is ask them to wash before or even at work if required and make sure you provide facilities for them to do so.
you could fall under Disability discrimination here if you are not careful if the person has any kind of issue that makes them sweat.
.
Does the complainant smell like a pox doctors clerk at a free perfume testing session by any chance ?

It needn't involve nasty chemicals. Even a bit of bicarb under the arms is quite effective in preventing body odour. The problem here is, this person is making life disgusting for everyone around them. As to whether that person has a medical condition or is simply not very scrupulous with their hygiene, we can only speculate. Either way, they do need to try and address the problem. Nothing worse IMO than having to sit near someone who honks to high heaven :eek:

go_cat

I have had to do this twice in my career so far not nice conversations but as a manager you have to do it!

The first one was a young girl who worked weekends who when I started to ask her about her routine and home life after I told her there appeared to be a slight issue with odour,,,anyway it turned out she lived in a house share and each saturday morning 5 girls who all worked weekends were all wanting the bathroom so she ended up not bothering :eek::eek:

The second was a little more tricky as was a colleague manager I just said i had some feedback for him and did he want me to dress it up or tell him straight.

He opted for tell me straight so i did but i waited until the end of the day when everyone else had gone home. To be fair to him he took it really well and never had an issue again.

I always say along the lines of " it gets so hot in here I am always having to put extra dehodorant on don't you !! "

moneypuddle

My advice:


- Do it at the end of the day
- Do it when no-one else is around
- Say something along the lines of "I need to discuss a bit of a delicate issue with you. This may be a little embarrasing (for both of us) but I thought it best to nip it in the bud. I've noticed just recently there have been a couple of issues in the office with body odour, and I just wanted to bring it to your attention, just in case you were unaware of it..."