Be careful with stinky problem.

Byline: ON THE JOB by Bureau of Labor and Industries For The Register-Guard

Question: We have an employee who has a very bad body odor. And because we are in a small office and we sit in cubicles, this affects almost all the staff. I can't help but smell it every time I walk by, and several other employees have asked me to do something about it. Some have even threatened to bring in bars of soap and leave them on her desk.

But what should I do? I'm a male supervisor and I find this incredibly difficult, both because I don't want to hurt her feelings and because I don't want to be accused of some sort of discrimination or invasion of privacy. On the other hand, I'm not doing my job if I ignore the problem and allow things to escalate between her and my other employees. Any suggestions?

Answer: This may surprise you, but we get this question fairly frequently.

Sometimes it is simply a matter of poor hygiene, but it's also possible that the employee has a health problem that is causing the odor.

While it may seem sensible to just ask her if she has a health problem, you would be risking a "perceived disability" discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Oregon disability laws.

For more information on this issue, see: www.boli.state.or.us/ta/FAQs/Fact Sheets/Disabilities and Employment Rights.)

It might help to think of this as just another "performance" issue, like an employee turning in a document full of typographical errors.

You can use that same objective approach in beginning this difficult

conversation with your malodorous employee. First, think about whether you are the best person for the task. If you have female colleagues who are also managers and have a good relationship with her, it may be easier if you ask one of them to approach her.

Choose a workplace setting where you and the employee can talk freely. And think carefully about how you're going to open the conversation.

Starting off with something like, "You need to take more showers.

That's an order!" is obviously setting an adversarial tone to the discussion.

A better method is to just express the facts as you see them, without

any editorializing. Simply try saying, "This is difficult for me to say and I don't want to hurt your feelings, but you have an unpleasant body odor. I would appreciate it if you would do something about it."

The employee could have several reactions, including:

1. Telling you that she will, indeed, pay more attention to her personal hygiene;

2. Saying there are other reasons beyond her control (pets, lack of laundry facilities, etc); or

3. Disclosing that she has a health problem that is causing or contributing to the odor.

The first two scenarios require an empathetic yet firm approach. While

you want to avoid hurting the employee's feelings, you also need to make clear to her that her body odor is a serious issue and that it is disrupting the workplace.

Hopefully, a candid discussion with the employee will lead to a prompt solution. But if the problem persists, you can certainly address it more formally through discipline based on violation of your workplace hygiene standards.

As for the third scenario: If the employee does have a chronic health problem, it is up to her to inform you of this. If she does not, she will have no protection under the disability laws. If she does disclose that this is a health problem that she cannot resolve on her own, it is time for you to engage in the interactive process required by federal and state disability laws.

In that process, you and the employee exchange ideas about possible

solutions (such as creating more office ventilation, having her work partly at home, shifting cubicles, etc.) without creating an undue hardship for your workplace. It might also be helpful to send her to the doctor (at your expense) and let the doctor suggest ways to handle the situation.

Hopefully, this will both resolve this situation for you and your staff

and help the employee retain her dignity.

On The Job is written by the staff of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Contact BOLI at [phone], or BOLI, 800 N.E. Oregon St. No. 32, Portland, OR 97232.