Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Smelly CW
So, it's 3:19pm on the day before Thanksgiving & I'm bored to tears and no one is probably around to answer this post but I'll ask away anyway...
I have this CW, a guy, who smells like nothing I have ever smelled - no garbage, dirt, animal, feces, etc. has ever smelled as bad as this guy...seriously, I'm not joking. Other CW's and I are offended by it and can't escape it. Our desks are all very close to one another and the very minute that he walks into the communial office for the day, you can smell him...right as he gets off the elevator. No joke.
Our boss is aware of it and will rant behind his back about it but has never addressed it w/him. He is an Ok guy and I don't think she knows how to approach it.
I keep body splash at my desk and will try and mist it every now and then to prevent me from gagging, but that tends to bother people in the office w/allergies.
Any suggestions or ideas??? Should my CW's & I try to be more forthcoming to our boss and all take a stand and demand she do something about it?
Help!
Re: Smelly CW
I have no advice, but I know what you are talking about in college I had an evening temp job where I work 4-12. My smelly coworker worked 8-5, so there was a hour that I sat right next to her. The whole department knew she smelled and it was so horrible I was close to vomiting daily. The department manager didn't want to say anything since the CW was a seriously nice lady, so they just found something else to do for the one hour that our shifts overlapped. It worked out since I was only a temp and worked there only a few months.
I hope you are able to find a solution
I wonder if its a medical condition or lack of hygiene.
If its a medical reason, then its sad and I am sure nothing to do about it.
However, if its hygiene, then that would piss me off. Can the boss make a general comment to the staff that it has been noted that there is a smell in the office? Maybe not point out that someone smells just say, the office smells.
Good Luck!
It is definitely hygiene. It is a sour smell like he is not bathing and rewearing clothes that he doesn't wash. He's a smoker & hangs out in bars, but it isn't a smoky smell. I have friends who smoke and don't smell this way.
I used to work with another girl who didn't launder her clothes & kept poor hygiene. This is the EXACT same smell.
He always sweats too. His hair always looks greasy. His overall "look" is unprofessional.
In my experience, anytime my boss here or at another job has made a "general reference" and not directed it privately to the source themself, it goes right over the head of the individual that it's meant for.
I used to work in a small office with a woman who had this problem.
It was a lack of hygiene, and it was really bad.
At a certain point, the office manager/owner had a private meeting with her and let her know that it was affecting everyone else in the office, and if she needed to take a few days off to address the issue, she could.
It got a little better after that. She started washing her clothes regularly and showering more often. She had very long hair that was basically a rat's nest from being unkempt for so long, so she still wasn't able to really wash it.
Blech.
Maybe this could help. Your boss could mention something about the office not looking professional enough. It is so hard to deal with this problem. You can't be rude but you really wanna go over and smack upside the head and say... TAKE A SHOWER
This. HR is seen as more impartial and is better positioned to handle this.
That really sucks, but I think it's your boss's job and place to say something, not a fellow CW's. If your boss refuses to (which I think is crappy) then you might want to go to HR and see if they can talk to this person.
As a boss, it may be uncomfortable, but it reflects poorly on the whole company. If it were me, I'd call them in and try to focus on the appearance first, hoping that may encourage them to start cleaning up/showering/wearing new clothes. If that didn't take the smell away, then they may have to be more direct in a follow-up meeting.
I had a friend once who couldn't get a girlfriend. He finally asked me why girls weren't interested in him. I had to be the one to tell him that it was because he had bad body odor and his hair looked greasy. He asked "Is that why you guys open all the windows when I get in the car with you?" Yeah, he was that clueless. Sure enough 2 weeks after fixing the hygiene problem he had a date.
I work with the public and have had to ask strangers to leave because of their odor. It's really embarrassing for everyone involved, and most of the time they're unaware that there is a problem.
At other branches, we've had staff who had body odor issues. Although our dress code is very basic (don't wear anything offensive or inappropriate for the work performed), managers at those other branches have used non-compliance with the dress code as the reason for speaking with the employee. If the employee's hygiene doesn't improve then they can be written up and ultimately terminated. If there's a health reason behind the problem, then the employee is asked to work with their health care provider to control the problem.
If your boss is unwilling to address the problem, you should take it to HR. Nobody should be forced to work in such conditions.