How do you delicately tell an employee they have body odour? While this is not an easy conversation to have, it is an absolute necessity if it is affecting other staff members and the quality of your work environment. Our experts at LD Human Resources weigh-in to provide you five simple tips for addressing body odour in the workplace and how to do it from a place of care.

By Nadia Lambo, CHRP, CHRL

Body odour is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about, especially at work. There are many reasons a person might have body odour. This includes: using a weak brand of deodorant or preferring to go ‘au naturel’; medication which can cause increased sweating or dry mouth which can lead to bad breath (Readers Digest); the foods we consume; sky-high stress levels which emit the more pungent smell of ‘stress sweat’ (Healthline); skipping socks, especially in summer; and, the foods and beverages we consume such as hot peppers, onions, garlic, alcohol and caffeine (WebMD). No matter the source, body odour can have a profound impact on workplace productivity and above all, team morale.

Here are five steps that you, as a business owner or manager, can take to address the uncomfortable issue:

1.     Be discrete

Discuss this matter in private and, if necessary, take your employee outside of the workplace to have the talk. In case the body odour complaint has come to you by way of another colleague, do not divulge this information to the employee in question. Keep the conversation about them.

2.     Be tactful

Evidently, this will be an uncomfortable conversation for you and for the person with whom you are speaking; be respectful and speak seriously on the matter.  Avoid ridiculing your employee.

3.     Be frank

Ask them if they are aware of the problem and if there are any underlying issues (possibly medical) which could be causing the odour. If this is the case, proactively discuss alternatives together.

4.     Close the loop

Follow-up with the employee and the complainant to see if the matter has been resolved.

5.     Prevent a reoccurrence

Be upfront with your company expectations. Create an employee handbook that contains company policies on topics such as dress code and personal hygiene. Provide the handbook to new hires as part of your onboarding program. This will help to prevent or at least lessen the chance of this scenario occurring again.

Whether you need help with writing an employee handbook or require on-site assistance to provide workers and management with a safe and unbiased HR person to ask questions and discuss sensitive matters like the one outlined above, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our team would be delighted to assist you.

About the Author

Nadia Lambo is an HR consultant with LDHR and senior level manager with over 15 years’ experience in management and human resources. She has proven success working with executive teams developing and integrating the human resource function with the organizational strategy. When not working, you can catch Nadia enjoying “the now” with friends, family and a glass of wine!