Is there a way to tell an employee they smell and need to work on their hygiene?

[LdiJ]

If you read my previous posts carefully about what the manager should say, at no time did I ever suggest that the manager ask the employee if they had any of the specific conditions that I mentioned in this forum (like COVID-19). I said the manger should ask the employee if there is some reason why they weren't taking a shower on a regular basis. That's all I suggested the manager say to the employee. What I speculated on this forum as to the possible reasons, is not what I recommended that the manager say to the employee.

Quite frankly, I would be more offended by your way of handling it than I would be by the manager/boss being more direct about the problem.

 

[cbg]

And I am saying to you that your approach is not considered to be best practice, and I told you why. They should NOT be asking the employee if there is some reason they aren't taking a shower on a regular basis, since the manager does not know that to be the case.

 

[Mark_A]

Quite frankly, I would be more offended by your way of handling it than I would be by the manager/boss being more direct about the problem.

Asking the employee whether there is some reason they are not taking a regular shower on a regular basis anymore (what I suggested) seems direct to me. Immediately telling the employee that they need to fix the problem before the employee even has a chance to explain the reason for not showering, seems a little premature to me.

 

[LdiJ]

Asking the employee whether there is some reason they are not taking a regular shower on a regular basis anymore (what I suggested) seems direct to me. Immediately telling the employee that they need to fix the problem before the employee even has a chance to explain the reason for not showering, seems a little premature to me.

No, asking that way is accusing the employee of not practicing good hygiene. It is making the flat out assumption that the problem is not showering. The employee could be showering daily and the problem have nothing to do with hygiene, and everything to do with meds, diet, medical problems or other issues.

The way that I would address it is to mention something along the lines of "just recently I have been noticing a problem with your body odor". Since it is something new I thought I should bring it to your attention in case you were not aware."

 

[Mark_A]

And I am saying to you that your approach is not considered to be best practice, and I told you why. They should NOT be asking the employee if there is some reason they aren't taking a shower on a regular basis, since the manager does not know that to be the case.

Then what would you say to the employee? How about: Are you taking a shower on a regular basis? Does that pass your test?

If the employee was taking a shower on a regular basis, then she can say so, but that would let her know that her boss thinks she has an odor problem without saying something offensive like "You Stink!" At that point the employee could explain the problem or if she didn't know there was a problem then maybe they could figure it out together, or if the employee choses to not discuss it, that is her choice.

 

[Mark_A]

No, asking that way is accusing the employee of not practicing good hygiene. It is making the flat out assumption that the problem is not showering. The employee could be showering daily and the problem have nothing to do with hygiene, and everything to do with meds, diet, medical problems or other issues.

The way that I would address it is to mention something along the lines of "just recently I have been noticing a problem with your body odor". Since it is something new I thought I should bring it to your attention in case you were not aware."

I don't have a problem with your suggestion. My problem was with the suggestion that the manager tell the employee "you have a body odor problem and you need to fix it." I thought that was too harsh without giving the employee a chance to explain.

 

[cbg]

I don't have a problem with LdiJ's suggestion either. The question SHOULD be eased into. But NOT by starting out with suggestions of why the problem exists. You don't ever do that, whether the problem is body odor or coming in late or mistakes in arithmetic on the sales report. You identify the problem, put in on the table for the employee to look at, and let them know that the (problem) is not acceptable. Then you let them pick it up from there.

 

[Zigner]

I don't have a problem with your suggestion. My problem was with the suggestion that the manager tell the employee "you have a body odor problem and you need to fix it." I thought that was too harsh without giving the employee a chance to explain.

No, you have a problem with people who think your "joke" approach is improper.

 

[quincy]

Asking the employee whether there is some reason they are not taking a regular shower on a regular basis anymore (what I suggested) seems direct to me. Immediately telling the employee that they need to fix the problem before the employee even has a chance to explain the reason for not showering, seems a little premature to me.

The employee may be showering daily and the cause of the body odor could be unrelated to hygiene. Accusing the employee of not showering without knowing the possible source of the employee’s odor is a managerial misstep that potentially can have legal consequences.

https://www.healthline.com/health/sudden-change-in-body-odor#causes

This thread has been reported for moderator review.

 

[cbg]

As I said before, and that's why you're not in HR. Because you do not see the reasoning behind leaving it up to the employee to provide an explanation rather than the manager assuming, guessing, or providing possible excuses for the employee to jump on.

 

[mart33n]

This

The employee may be showering daily and the cause of the body odor could be unrelated to hygiene. Accusing the employee of not showering without knowing the possible source of the employee’s odor is a managerial misstep that potentially can have legal consequences.

https://www.healthline.com/health/sudden-change-in-body-odor#causes

This thread has been reported for moderator review.

Got to say I kind of wish you had reported the person rather than the whole thread, so I could return If I had another question.

 

[quincy]

This

Got to say I kind of wish you had reported the person rather than the whole post, so I could return as neccessary.

Your first post is only missing temporarily. It will be returned to the head of your thread soon. The moderator was asked to review your thread because it has become repetitive.

It will be up to the moderator to decide whether to leave the thread open for more “debate” or lock it because the question asked has been answered as completely as it can be at this point. Usually the threads are left open so the original poster can return later to add additional questions or provide updates. Sometimes threads get derailed to the point where leaving them open serves no purpose.