A smelly situation at work...

[Fudgie]

You just can't win can you? If I go into work smelling bad, someone will complain and if I go in wearing deodorant, someone will complain and people who know me wonder I'm an introvert that avoids human interaction, I find the average human moronic in every sense of the word.

 

Why would anyone complain if you wear deodorant? While some opt to use different kinds of deodorant, it doesn't give off a fume like perfume and other scents too.

 

Don't smell like BO and don't wear perfume/cologne (different than deodorant).

[MatchMystified]

So this news article popped up on my FB and it made me think of this thread:

 

Imagine if this girl had been in an office and someone brought in a peanut butter sandwich or something like that.

 

Why is it acceptable to ask people avoid bringing in certain foods to work but there is an uproar over scented products which can have similar effects?

 

We aren't allowed to have strange smelling food in our office either....

[Fudgie]

How should the management have treated this situation? Aren't there more tactful ways to treat the situation than to say "go wash"?

 

Absolutely. Your office manager has the tact of an anus.

 

Polite, professional thhing to do would be for him to pull you aside and tell you privately that your perfume, while innocuous, was causing some health issues for one of the employees. Not blurt at you in public to "go wash".

[MatchMystified]

I worked with a woman who HATED the Bath and Body Works Cherry Blossom smell. She wasn't allergic but it would make her gag if she smelled it. It's best in the work place to stick to very, very mild/no scent products.

 

That's funny...I don't like the BB Works Cherry Blossom scent either.

[j.man]

Absolutely. Your office manager has the tact of an anus.

 

Polite, professional thhing to do would be for him to pull you aside and tell you privately that your perfume, while innocuous, was causing some health issues for one of the employees. Not blurt at you in public to "go wash".

Where'd you get that impression? Genuine question as I may have missed a post. All I saw from her was that the boss told her to go wash, not that he'd said it in front of the office.

 

I sweat more than most people and I have to reapply deodorant a couple times a day in summer. Back like 10 years ago, I left the house forgetting to apply some (having of course showered, though). Come the middle of the day, boss pulled me aside and simply said, "You gotta go get some deodorant during your break." Don't think he should have had to lead into it with soft words to spare my feelings. I needed to do something, he let me know to do it.

[Itchy]

How should the management have treated this situation? Aren't there more tactful ways to treat the situation than to say "go wash"?

 

Yes there are and your manager is not a very good man manager and probably shouldn't be a manner if that is how she addresses her workers. If I was you, I'd write a letter of complaint about her to your human resource management department.

[Jibralta]

We aren't allowed to have strange smelling food in our office either....

 

Honestly, I avoid bringing tuna fish or other smelly food to work because I like eating at my desk and I don't want to overwhelm other people with the strong odor. I hadn't thought about perfume, but I do see where it could offend.

 

It's just one of those things that has to be navigated, I guess. Too bad they handled it so awkwardly.

[Moontiger]

.

 

How should the management have treated this situation? Aren't there more tactful ways to treat the situation than to say "go wash"?

 

Yes. They really mishandled this. The way I see it they should have quietly pulled you aside and said something like "this is awkward but for health reason of some of the staff this is a scent free office."

 

They should have spoken to you at the end of the day also. They completely dropped the ball here.

[Fudgie]

Where'd you get that impression? Genuine question as I may have missed a post. All I saw from her was that the boss told her to go wash, not that he'd said it in front of the office.

 

Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but I got that impression from the story, with OP saying that the manager told her to "go wash" and then she felt all of this negativity coming at her from other employers. They may have overheard things. Generally speaking, you don't pull someone aside to tell them something private and then just say something like "go wash". Made me think that it was a quick remark he said to her in public, instead of taking her aside privately, closing the door, and being gentle and professional in his suggestions.

[MatchMystified]

Where'd you get that impression? Genuine question as I may have missed a post. All I saw from her was that the boss told her to go wash, not that he'd said it in front of the office.

 

I sweat more than most people and I have to reapply deodorant a couple times a day in summer. Back during my retail days like 10 years ago, I left the house forgetting to apply some (having of course showered, though). Boss pulled me aside and simply said, "You gotta go get some deodorant during your break." Don't think he should have had to lead into it with soft words to spare my feelings. I needed to do something, he let me know to do it.

 

It was said at my desk which is at the front so I would consider it public.

[Itchy]

It was said at my desk which is at the front so I would consider it public.

 

I think you should write a letter of complaint about your manager and then report to your human resource management function.

[j.man]

I think you should write a letter of complaint about your manager and then report to your human resource management function.

So she can gain even more of a professional reputation of being a pouty spoilsport?

 

If he said it in front of people and loud enough for others to hear it, then I agree it wasn't tactful. HR won't do anything about it, though. It's not a battle worth picking.

 

Really, this all could have been avoided by doing the decent thing and washing off the scent when she learned it was giving a co-worker a migraine.

[Fudgie]

It was said at my desk which is at the front so I would consider it public.

 

Yep, that's definitely public and very inappropriate for your manager to do.

[Itchy]

So she can gain even more of a professional reputation of being a pouty spoilsport?

 

If he said it in front of people and loud enough for others to hear it, then I agree it wasn't tactful. HR won't do anything about it, though. It's not a battle worth picking.

 

Really, this all could have been avoided by doing the decent thing and washing off the scent when she learned it was giving a co-worker a migraine.

 

I'd still write one regardless of the outcome. I refuse to be spoken down to by some "manager".

[Seraphim]

Hi Everyone...

 

I've never had anything like this happen to me. I left because the Office Manager said several people were upset about my perfume so I felt lots of negative vibes coming my way.

 

The secretary already had the migraine before encountering my perfume.

 

I feel like the Office Manager protects the "important" people (i.e. the secretary with the migraine) in the office and my position is high turnover so it seems like they don't bother to take the time to be considerate.

 

I won't be wearing perfume there ever again.

 

How should the management have treated this situation? Aren't there more tactful ways to treat the situation than to say "go wash"?

 

Perfume can exacerbate a migraine by 10,000 in one second .

[Wiseman2]

Then it must be some sort of policy. I would just write this off as a coworker complained, it was handled brusquely and not make a federal case out of it.

We aren't allowed to have strange smelling food in our office either....

[Seraphim]

Believe me if your head was falling off and you were ready to vomit every second and you knew that now once you had the migraine it was going to last for 3 days and you were debilitated in bed for the entire time you would want that smell to go. A migraine is not just "a headache". It physiologically affects every system in your body. I have memory deficits when I have one and I even forget my own name . I become a very unsteady on my feet and suffer from vertigo. I suffer from auras , one whole side of my face goes numb. Sometimes I go blind in one eye. And I've had some migraines exactly like that last for up to nine days. I don't want to go near anything that's going to cause me a migraine.

[Moontiger]

I'd still write one regardless of the outcome. I refuse to be spoken down to by some "manager".

 

AKA the person she will want a reference from when she looks for a new job. HR isn't going to care. Their job is to protect the company.

 

OP, play the long game here. Your manager is an asshat. How long have you been at this job? If a year or more I would start looking for something new. Sadly sometimes you have to put up with asshats to get what you want (in this case a reference).

[Itchy]

AKA the person she will want a reference from when she looks for a new job. HR isn't going to care. Their job is to protect the company.

 

OP, play the long game here. Your manager is an asshat. How long have you been at this job? If a year or more I would start looking for something new. Sadly sometimes you have to put up with asshats to get what you want (in this case a reference).

 

I feel sorry for you Americans, you really are corporate servants.

[Hollyj]

There were lots of complaints directed to the office manager. the protocol is to go to the office manager with any complaints rather than approach the person directly. Usually I'm a total trooper at work but for some reason this just hit me wrong and I had a hard time dealing with it.

 

Sorry, I really don't understand what the big deal is? You wore too much of a heavy fragrance that was irritating others. You simply don't wear perfume.

[Hollyj]

Yes there are and your manager is not a very good man manager and probably shouldn't be a manner if that is how she addresses her workers. If I was you, I'd write a letter of complaint about her to your human resource management department.

 

Do not do this. It is not worth it.

[Hollyj]

I feel sorry for you Americans, you really are corporate servants.

 

No. It's common sense. She will look like a jerk.

 

Believe me, we complain and report plenty, but this is not an important situation. You pick your battles wisely.

[Itchy]

She will look like a jerk.

 

She'll be in the same boat as the staff in her work place then.

[Hollyj]

I feel sorry for you Americans, you really are corporate servants.

 

I am thinking that you have a lot of issues with your colleagues.

[Itchy]

I am thinking that you have a lot of issues with your colleagues.

 

Issues? If you mean disagreements, arguments and falling's out, then you are sadly mistaken. Do I believe I work with a horde of idiots in the main (there are several exceptions)? Yes, I believe this to be the case, but you are derailing this entire thread. It's not about me, I am not the OP.