Hi all
I need to address a situation with an employee who has 'Bad Breath', which has been reported to me from numerous different people within the company.
Has anyone any experience of this, and how did you go about it?
Many Thanks
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Replies
Hi,
Are you the individuals line manager? I would suggest that the line manager has the conversation as sometimes if HR gets involved it's more embarrassing for the individual. I also agree, get straight to the point but with the appropriate tone and language.
Jennifer
Hi,
This is an interesting subject for me, as we have a situation which isn't a million miles away from this. We have an employee about whom I have had complaints that they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. The issue I have there is that the employee in question is of Indian origin, and I think it might be something to do with her religion? I think that's why it hasn't been raised with the individual before in fear of upsetting her for her religious practices. There is only so much signage you can display to get a message across!
Debbie
Hi Debbie
This is an interesting one I would not personally speak to the individual (whatever their religion) unless I worked in an environment like a hospital or where they have specific hand cleansing requirements. Or like when I used to work at McDonalds, if you were involved in the preparation of food, if someone returned from the toilet without washing their hands the managers would have no qualms in picking this up with a member of staff.
On a separate note, I am not aware of individuals not washing their hands due to a religious reason, if anything the opposite for example purification before prayer is an important part of the Muslim faith, ACAS have written a really good summary on the various practices of different religions:
http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/d/n/Religion-or-Belief-and-the_wor...
I think that as you say the appropriate signage is all that is required!
Regards
Sarah
Hi Claire
This is a tough one and one most HR professionals will experience at some point or other in their career and have to deal with.
I thought the article attached had quite a sensible approach and even offers some dialogue.
httphttp://www.hrmorning.com/bob-you-smell-what-to-say-to-employees...
The way I have dealt with it in the past is always have the conversation in private (sorry I know that's obvious), don't beat around the bush get to the point. Try to imagine before hand that someone is giving you the information and how you would want them to speak to you about it. Try to establish if this is something they are aware of and also the underlying issue it could be a medical related problem. Offer support if appropriate and reinforce that the conversation is confidential.
Hope this helps
Sarah