Talking to an Employee About Hygiene Issues

Have you ever worked with a colleague who has poor hygiene, foul-smelling clothes, or bad breath? What if you are the person who needs to address the issue with the employee? Here are some helpful and practical steps you can take to handle this situation.

First things first! Consult with your manager. Hygiene issues should be brought to management’s attention and handled by management. If you are the manager, consult with HR and legal. Inform them of your intentions and get information about your company’s current policies and procedures as well as ADA information. HR will guide you on how to approach the situation, and the employee.

Next, familiarize yourself with some of the possible causes of body odor:

• Excessive perspiration
• Medical conditions such as diabetes
• Diet
• Environmental issues such as inadequate ventilation

Here’s how to address the issue:

1. Begin by documenting complaints, conversations, and emails.
   
2. Confirm the legitimacy of the information for yourself. Spend some time with the employee in question. Does the person have an odor or is he or she possibly a victim of teasing or bullying?
   
3. If you determine there is a hygiene issue, meet with the employee in private and acknowledge that you need to discuss a difficult and sensitive topic. You’ll want to be direct about the problem and relate it back to a business issue. You could, for example, say that the body odor may be negatively affecting customers, or that it’s impacting co-workers’ ability to work with him or her.
   Be cautious, and do not ask for details or diagnose the cause of the odor as doing so may violate ADA and civil rights. Also, don’t be surprised if the employee becomes embarrassed or defensive. Just be straightforward and ask the employee to handle the issue. Most times this conversation is all that is needed for the employee to address the situation.
   
4. End the conversation on a positive note. Thank the employee for having the discussion and let the employee know that you look forward to hearing solutions at the follow-up meeting.
   
5. Schedule and keep the follow-up meeting to discuss progress, challenges, or other concerns.

Have you ever had to deal with something like this? Tell us about it.

--By Julie Klein, LMSW

Julie Klein has been an EAP Clinician at Harris, Rothenberg International for six years. She often helps managers and HR with sensitive concerns.