I have had complaints that a person I manage has "body odor and hygiene problems."

45 Comments

1. AnonymousDecember 25,2024 at 4:50AM UTC

   You have addressed it. The person complaining needs to now stop. It can be diet or just preferences. This is not an issue unless the complaining individual want to make it one. It's not toxic.

2. AnonymousDecember 25,2024 at 2:58PM UTC

   https://www.askamanager.org/2013/04/how-to-talk-to-an-employee-about-body-odor.html

   And another one when the employee has already been told:
   https://www.askamanager.org/2024/04/coworker-is-bitter-that-i-wouldnt-play-a-game-employee-has-bad-bo-and-more.html

3. KarenDecember 25,2024 at 4:14PM UTC

   I have had to deal with this issue as a manager before. It’s hard to approach the employee but you just have to approach them in a caring loving way. Being female it was a young male that I had to speak to. He wasn’t washing his clothes enough and had no clue to the odors. Offer to help if you can. It will be appreciated as no one was to have this issue.

4. Regina BrownDecember 26,2024 at 12:28AM UTC

   This is a difficult issue. While you don't have to tell the person who is smelling the odor, sometimes we become "smell blind" to our own odor.

   Can you ask your employee as to the laundry detergent he/she uses? Maybe suggest using scent beads (i.e. Downey Unstoppables) to add to their wash cycle and put in the dryer immediately?

5. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 6:13AM UTC

   It could be the type of detergent or fabric softener, or perfume or cologne that the person is using, comes across as super strong to someone or similar to BO. I know for me that when people where anything with patchouli scent it comes across to me as smelling strongly like BO. It could possibly be something similar that is happening to the person that is reporting that someone has BO. I'd discreetly ask the person that is being reported to you for this issue if they are possibly using something similar that could be causing a similar smell to someone else that makes them think it's BO when it's not.

6. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 12:21PM UTC

   There is a definite line between personal opinion/judgement and a true issue that impacts the work environment.

   If there are multiple complaints from different sources that is one thing. If there are complaints from a single source or closely linked sources. That's another type of issue.

7. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 1:05PM UTC

   I had a colleague that every winter his sweaters had a strong mothball smell. I just steered clear of him. Some wore way too much perfume or cologne. HR sends reminders to everyone to refrain from strong perfumes/colognes. Maybe your HR dept can send out a reminder to all that it’s important to be mindful of strong scents, whether it be cologne, perfume, body odors or perhaps laundry detergent. See if that fixes the problem. It gives everyone a chance to reevaluate their personal scents. Reminding others that no candles or air fresheners may be used due to allergies or asthma for example. If your engagement with this person reflects true body odor you will need to have an another conversation about self care. Sometimes medicines can make us smell or this person may not be washing well. Either way what is your take? Body odor, clothes that smell of mildew?

8. maria roseDecember 29,2024 at 3:33PM UTC

   And son the same note those who have a sensitivity to smells also have a problem that needs addressing. As humans, we all have some kind of scent, it’s called pheromones and as some have mentioned we pass that scent on to our clothes. Clothes scent can be either washed out or replace the clothes that the material will not lose scent from ( usually made of polyester type materials) . But no one will ever be scent free. So if scents are triggering a reaction—there’s a physical cause that should be addressed. Don’t always assume that it’s just the person who smells different is the only issue. There’s needs to be a whole range of review to the situation, including the mental pressure of doing the job on the employees which can cause physical manifestation as scents.

9. Katheryn MDecember 26,2024 at 2:30PM UTC

   You'll need to continue addressing it, especially if there are complaints. Maybe have a discussion about wearing clean clothes/ clothes smells? Showering and wearing deodorant won't make a difference if the clothes are not being washed regularly/ properly. Maybe breath is also an issue?

10. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 2:58PM UTC

    I also have a colleague who consistently smells of sour laundry. Like the clothes were not washed with adequate detergent and/or were left to mold a few days before drying.

    It’s not an issue with showering or wearing deodorant. I myself had it a lot as a kid growing up when both parents were working two jobs and wet laundry sat for days. Some folks are simply never taught how to do laundry ??‍♀️

    It’s best to approach with utter care and say “there’s a moldy laundry smell to your clothes. Since we want everyone here to be respected and not gossiped about, we’d appreciate if you could find a way to address.” It may be an issue with weak detergent, cold temperature drying, letting wet clothes sit for days, and maybe they need to try to clean the machines themselves.

11. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 2:11PM UTC

    I have found that once that’s in the clothes it’s almost impossible to get rid of. I knew somebody who had done that and it was in his clothes forever.

12. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 3:29PM UTC

    Do you have an EAP? If so, I’d call them and ask if they can help with this situation. My reasoning for going this route is that you don’t want to be put in the position of problem-solving someone’s laundry issues. This could be a multigenerational way the family rolls, an housing insecure situation, or something else, and you need to focus on work performance. Tell your complainers it is being addressed. If it’s awful, cologne or Vicks applied right under the nose is a trick lots of people use whose jobs put them in contact with malodorous individuals.

13. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 2:10PM UTC

    Yeah, I don’t think making everybody else wear cologne or Vicks under their nose is a solution here.

14. maria roseDecember 26,2024 at 5:00PM UTC

    I had a similar situation years ago ( before present day interpretation of acceptance of differences) and I was given the task of dealing with the “complaint of body order smell “. Luckily, I happened to know that this individual was not brought up in American/Western culture and knew that they were still following certain customs/traditions while assimilating with working in the chosen field of work. As a second generation descendant of legal immigrants, I knew the struggle to be part of society and still maintain the family culture values. So in this case, I did a little research background and found that what some were complaining about as “body oder smells “ was not the result of poor hygiene but lack of use of antiperspirants/ deodorant products which were banned from being used—think of it as a older form of preventative use of harmful chemicals under a cultural context. Once I found that out, I had a nice conversation with this person and gave them suggestions on what they could do to eliminate natural sweat smells and still be culturally acceptable. In today’s age, anyone who has switched to natural deodorant versus antiperspirant products would know this, because it is not sweat that causes body odors but skin bacteria and sometimes one has to wipe down a bit more often to decrease the presence. And luckily in today’s era, there’s a lot more natural deodorant remedies and doctors advise to help without being culturally insensitive. Besides those complaining about smells, might have a sensitivity health issue, too that they may need to address . But never assume that the individual being complained about is doing this deliberately and also evaluate the why the individual complaining has brought up this issue. It also could be a result of poor workplace accommodations that are forcing workers into such close proximity that they can literally smell each other. Don’t be so quick to assume the situation

15. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 2:10PM UTC

    When in rome.

16. Wanda ShawDecember 29,2024 at 6:08PM UTC

    This is the best reply I've seen on this matter. You're right!

17. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 5:30PM UTC

    I had this happen when we were interviewing a very qualified person for a role. She was from India and the sari that she wore was stored in moth balls. Perhaps it is a cultural thing? If not you might use your PEO or a 3rd party EAP to help you solve this so that everyones discomfort around the "smell" is not hindering work.

18. AnonymousDecember 26,2024 at 7:30PM UTC

    Oh ewwww. That’s a really cringey problem. If you’re pretty sure it’s thing that can be solved with learning how to do laundry I have a suggestion. Every office has a collegue who is known to be outspoken and blunt. This would be a good time to utilize that resource. Have him or her take this person to lunch and tell them. also it’s best if the blunt person does not humiliate them by saying everyone has noticed. Best that they say they’ve noticed and that they had.a similar dilemma until they learned how to do laundry or whatever. I know it’s unconventional, but it will help the situation and everyone can save face. If it’s a problem Brad has to do with diet and hygiene. Well an expert 3rd party would be best. Good luck to you. And to your poor colleague.

19. Jami FarkasDecember 28,2024 at 5:22PM UTC

    The worst thing to do is have an "outspoken and blunt" peer address this very sensitive issue. Completely inappropriate, insensitive, and setting the company up for a lawsuit. This situation needs to be referred to HR. There are many reasons a person may have odors, and lots of them have nothing to do with showers or deodorant. If the initial conversation was not successful, bring in HR. We get paid to handle these situations.

20. Mia MengucciDecember 26,2024 at 7:51PM UTC

    I had to discuss this with an employee. We worked outside in summer. I get it. Looked clean. Well groomed. Clean clothes. Just body odor. I complimented them on on the positives, then suggested having extra deodorant or a body splash to help. They were understanding and we resolved the issue.

21. Pea WriteDecember 26,2024 at 11:33PM UTC

    I used to work with a lady who used to urinate on herself, and walk into meetings with the back of her pants, wet and sit in these corporate chairs at a major pharmaceutical company. Clearly she was mentally off, but she was a scientist. It finally got to the point where we reported it to HR because we were in an enclosed room working with her and she kept switching out chairs cause she had peed on herself, and peed on our chairs and then switched them out. It was the nastiest thing we literally burned our clothes. We had no idea what was going on, but we knew something was wrong with her. HR had to get involved and they forced her to take medical leave.

    This lady did come to me and ask about her problem and I was very honest with her and told her that she smelled horrible and she needed to go get some mental help as well as go to a physician. She was surprised to hear it. This had been going on for months and probably years with this woman. We just didn’t know what it was.

22. Looking for a changeDecember 28,2024 at 2:14PM UTC

    Wow honestly this sounds like something that would be in a comedy but the reality is ridiculous. She definitely had mental issues

23. DGHDecember 28,2024 at 5:20PM UTC

    I'm 75 in age and this in-counter is about me an a classmate when we were in the 6th grade. Linda was my best friend for several years prior and was completely normal up til that time, but something changed with her in 6th grade. She eventually was taken out of school and never returned. I was too young to know what the cause was and apparently she was also. However, my knowledge of "epileptic seizures" increased at the age of 16 when my family had a need to take in my aunt's 3 children temporarily after her divorce. One of the twin's had taken a fall as a young baby which caused "grand mal seizures" with her. However, I was to discover more interesting facts about seizures at that time. I discovered that there are seizures that can happen "called a blank stare" which can last with a person for even less than a minute. This is what was happening with Linda while we were in class. Most people didn't notice nor even the teachers, but I finally started correlating the blank stare in her eyes, with the fact, that when class ended, Linda's seat was wet with urine and often it had started running down the side after she stood up. But because we wore dresses back then that were often with full skirts, Linda would make sure her clothing skirt was parted completely so when she stood up, there was no sign of wetness on her clothing. I imagine that many teachers collaborated eventually with her parents, and one day she no longer was at school. I personally was not told what happened to her, but knowledge later in life helped me figure out that she was having the lighter form of epileptic seizures. Perhaps, this same story situation applied to the scientist above.

24. Ms KimDecember 29,2024 at 4:09PM UTC

    I worked in a consulate in Miami and there was a diplomat who came to work smelling rank everyday. She was the talk of the mission but no one dared to tell her anything. Even the driver complained about feeling sick every time he had to drive her around in an enclosed vehicle. I avoided her as much as possible so as not to be tormented by the rotten carcas odor that emanated from her body. She was young, petite and dressed nicely for the most part. I think the problem stemmed from not showering. I felt sorry for her daughter who was being raised by a woman with poor or no hygiene practices.

25. LovechunksDecember 28,2024 at 1:34PM UTC

    I wish you luck. I once had a retail employee whose breath was so bad that multiple customers and co-workers complained. I sat her down and in the gentlest way possible broached the subject. She seemed genuinely shocked and embarrassed and then walked off the job.

26. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 3:17PM UTC

    It is part of the job, it doesn't happen very often. They often have a look of shock, but it doesn’t happen very often. Olfactory nerves allow this to occur and then the person stops smelling the cause body odor. The person usually take the hint, Good luck and they will thank you!

27. Dianna DeeleyDecember 28,2024 at 4:07PM UTC

    Back in the mists of time, my fellow entry level employee liked "cute" clothes. She could only afford polyester. The job was high- stress, so we both sweated. Though she laundered her blouses, she still, in her memorable phrase, smelled like a troll's crotch. Ask the employee to purchase at least a new bra.

28. AnonymousDecember 31,2024 at 6:12PM UTC

    If my employer asked me to purchase a new bra I'd find a lawyer faster than you can blink.

29. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 4:44PM UTC

    I think that you have to make sure that the smell is actually happening. You did not say above that you actually smelled the body odor.

    Co-workers often victimize other co-workers. . After you corroborate the truth, do what is appropriate for the situation, i.,e., tell that person to be more careful to be clean at work.

30. KathyDecember 29,2024 at 7:19PM UTC

    I agree that the poster didn't indicate as to whether or not they themselves smelled the odor.

    When I was in college, someone I knew complained of body odor from a roommate. I never smelled any thing. I believe it was a ploy to force out the roommate. The person making the complaint had the room to themselves after the roommate moved out.

31. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 5:00PM UTC

    This person has rights and they could file a human rights complaint/ it’s a slippery slope for certain as a manager-

32. AnonymousDecember 29,2024 at 7:51PM UTC

    That’s exactly what I was thinking. A very slippery slope. I’m surprised that others actually are giving advice on how to handle. The post says someone complained. This could be misconstrued as bullying, gossip discrimination and lots more.

33. Christine Brush, MSW, MBADecember 28,2024 at 9:20PM UTC

    It's important to be kind and helpful in discovering what causes the problem, and find solutions. When I was in the military and stationed in South Korea, I discovered that I enjoyed dining on kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage). For us American service members, many people enjoyed Korean food, but it changes the body chemistry and odor and comes out through the pores. Those of us who smelled like kimchi had a segregated unit section for daily physical fitness, had to shower and wash clothes frequently, and use hygiene sprays and products. When I was in Japan, I became aware that the Japanese use persimmon soap as a means to wash away "old people smell", which is caused by a legitimate change in the skin and immune systems of elderly people. The Japanese don't shame the elderly for this, people understand it is part of getting old, but they use persimmon to help take care of the elderly.

34. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 9:57PM UTC

    Let the person work from home if the job allows. People seem to be very sensitive to so many things these days. Usually it’s fragrance. I personally get nauseated from dirty hair smell, which many people seem to have now. But there isn’t anything I can do about it except stay away from people. Crazy.

35. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 11:21PM UTC

    I had a similar situation at this small family business last year. I got hired as a recruiter. The boss's daughter doesn't seem to like me. She kept making complaints that I have "body odor and hygiene problems." Yet,I shower every day.

    I winded up just quitting. But I did explain that my father is disabled and he can't take a shower himself some days.

36. AnonymousDecember 29,2024 at 4:08AM UTC

    Eventually, you should get a caregiver to care for your Dad.

37. AnonymousJanuary 3,2025 at 7:18PM UTC

    Well, truth is I am my father's caregiver.

38. AnonymousDecember 28,2024 at 11:22PM UTC

    Steve Jobs was once known to have "bad body odor and hygiene problems' when he worked at Atari.

39. Meme PriceDecember 29,2024 at 1:55PM UTC

    Working around women who go through cycles, I have experienced odors from them monthly and Men who have perspiration odors as well. In some extreme cases, I kindly and discreetly spoke with them and in others I don’t allow it to bother me. The best approach is to handle it the way you want to be handled when you stink.

40. AnonymousDecember 29,2024 at 2:35PM UTC

    Love the blatant anti semitism here and that two people liked it- do better

41. AnonymousDecember 29,2024 at 5:52PM UTC

    Sometimes, body odors can be a subjective issue. For one person, the way someone smells may be totally offensive, whereas another person may not notice it. Since you have some complaints about this individual from members of your team, clearly indicates that there is an issue. You mentioned that after speaking with this person that you realized it may be the clothes the person wears - that maybe they've been left in the washing machine too long and then dried. Mildewed clothing does have a strong odor. Perhaps the lack of access to a reliable washing or drying machine may be the issue. Being observant sometimes help - does this person wear the same clothing items daily. (Doesn't matter how much deodorant you use or how long you shower. if you're wearing the same mildewed clothes day in day out and not changing them, the odor is going to persist) If this is the case, then have a conversation - no judgement but with kindness; telling them that you're concerned and that you would like to help to arrive at a solution together.

42. GitanaDecember 30,2024 at 11:00PM UTC

    Here to see the comments. Curious how this would be resolved.

43. Karen KelemenDecember 31,2024 at 1:56AM UTC

    I had a similar problem with an employee many years ago. With her, it ended up being very old perfume that she wore because she couldn't afford new. It was sad...and yet the co-workers had a right not to gag every day (I smelled it too, it was pretty bad.) I sat with the woman and we walked through what it could be, and finally landed on this. I went out and bought a new perfume for her, and told her that if she wanted to use it, to do so sparingly, and let me know when the scent changed. It solved the problem. You never know what the source can be, but I tried to gently work through it with her, being honest about the situation.

44. AnonymousJanuary 1,2025 at 6:05PM UTC

    Odors that can change are one thing. Health issues or personal issues that lead to not noticing or being unable to fix the issues- that's another thing.

    Depending on the work you do, hygiene could be part of the job. Don't know if it's cultural or circumstantial. In some cultures - same gender conversation may be appreciated.

    Private , supportive conversation stating the facts to uncover cause and support. Good luck!

45. AnonymousJanuary 2,2025 at 4:20PM UTC

    If the smell is coming from this person's clothing, the problem could be their washing machine needs cleaning. If too much detergent is used it can build up on the drum and develop an odor that transfers to your clothing. Also leaving the washer door propped open so the drum can dry out and mold/mildew don't happen inside where you can't see helps as well. There are really great washing machine cleaner tablets that can help with this problem, if it's the problem.