Semi mask exempt colleague at work stressing me out.....

[Watermelon888]

Colleague wears mask when client facing but struggling to tolerate it well. Colleague has ongoing chest issues and frequent chest infections.

Keeps coming into our office, keeps 2m distance, but coughing and deep breathing saying it’s a relief to take it off. We are supposed to keep them on all the time. Colleague keeps wearing it under their nose.

It’s particularly stressful this week with Christmas round the corner. My sympathy is wearing thin. They did have a covid test , negative a few weeks ago, but is still seeing all family indoors despite tier 2 rules.

What can I do?

Get your management involved. How are they going to protect you from the non-mask wearer?

I loathe the 'under nose' wearers... either wear it or take the bloody thing off..

Speak to your manager.

One of the frequently re-iterated points that management at my school said was whatever your views of the Covid rules, you followed them, and no other member of staff was to be made uncomfortable by your behaviour.

The other was: behave as if you have Covid. Obviously that would mean being at home, but you get the idea.

Can they wear a plastic visor in combination with the mask under their nose? Or not come into the office?

Under nose wearers should be neutered. We don't need more of that DNA around.

I am bith hm at semi exception. You either can wear it or can't. If they can tolerate ot for clients protection, they should tolerate ot for yours. It would be different if they couldn't at all.

Agree with pps about getting management involved

Your manager needs to ensure you are safe. Raise it ASAP.

Be thankful you're not a teacher in a secondary school where they are crammed into a class, no masks and only a window or two if any open because the parents of the little darlings say it's too cold

If they have a real case for exemption then your workplace need to take some more measures to protect you. Maybe a screen around colleague's work area.

Talk to your manager OP.

@Anon12345678910

Be thankful you're not a teacher in a secondary school where they are crammed into a class, no masks and only a window or two if any open because the parents of the little darlings say it's too cold

Completely irrelevant to OP’s situation.

Ask your manager what they are doing to manage the risk this colleague is posing to everybody else. Recurring chest infections are not a reason to not wear a mask. If they won't wear one then they shouldn't be coming into your office, coughing all over the place. Their dislike of wearing a mask does not trump your right to be kept safe at work.

I am bith hm at semi exception. You either can wear it or can't. If they can tolerate ot for clients protection, they should tolerate ot for yours. It would be different if they couldn't at all.

Not sure it's that simple. I can cope (mostly) for under an hour so can manage to run around a supermarket etc now (apart from the few times I've had a major panic attack/flashbacks and lost all sight of what I was doing/where I was). I couldn't wear one full time in an office and hold down a job. Even 30 minutes is a massive trade off for me in terms of lack of sleep both the night before and after, all round distress and a constant reminder of things I'd much rather forget.

Obviously it depends on their reasons for struggling but if it's mental health related, short periods of managing does not mean they'd cope okay all day.

Can't stand people who put the manky things under their chin though, makes my skin crawl. Also the rule breaking would annoy me especially if they talk about to the point that everyone knows.

I have had ‘bad lungs’ my whole life- asthma, frequent bronchitis, sporadic pneumonia. Masks are a bit uncomfortable for me, I’d say likely 70% more so than for ‘normal’ folks.

I am fully able to wear one, for multiple hours at a time. If I need a break, I sneak off outdoors to somewhere private and give myself a mask-free minute.

It is entirely doable, if you aren’t a whiny, inconsiderate, ‘look at me’ manchild.

Unless your colleague has a formal medical exemption displayed, the rules apply equally to him. I have the exemption, but still choose to wear a mask. Obviously I’d have little chance of recovering from Covid myself, so I weigh up the ‘discomfort’ of that outcome. Tell him to do the maths, since he’s so poorly.

Then go and dob him in, especially for the coughing. That’ll get management attention.

Your colleague has a medical condition (potentially a disability) totally beyond their control and your "sympathy is wearing thin" with their suffering? Are you serious?

Why are people ignoring the fact this individual has lung problems and therefore, would possibly be more at risk of complications. I’m sure they’d prefer to be able to wear a mask!

Why are people ignoring the fact this individual has lung problems and therefore, would possibly be more at risk of complications. I’m sure they’d prefer to be able to wear a mask! Possible because they’re being a selfish fucker?

I have a chronic lung condition that has left me with knackered lungs and on lifelong medication so I do truly understand what it’s like to not be able to breathe properly. What I don’t do is go into other people’s offices, coughing and deep breathing all over the place.

I’m assuming she can’t wear one one of those plastic visor masks?

I would speak to my manager and ask that she cough into her elbow. That is the advice everywhere if you need to cough.

What’s jumping out at me is that your colleague is presumably clinically vulnerable. They could easily catch the virus, perhaps not realise for a few days as they already have a cough and spread it around the office through coughing. Not to mention the effect on their own health.

I think they need to stay at home for their own sake and that of others. I presume they’ll be in a priority group for the vaccine?

I am bith hm at semi exception. You either can wear it or can't. If they can tolerate ot for clients protection, they should tolerate ot for yours. It would be different if they couldn't at all.

Utter bullshit. There's a world of difference between being able to cope for about an hour (to get a bus, or run round the supermarket) and bring able to wear one for hours on end. It's definitely better for any individual to wear one as long as they can than not at all. Every little helps. Plenty of people are exempt but wear one as much as they can, there's nothing wrong with that.

@Ohtherewearethen

Ask your manager what they are doing to manage the risk this colleague is posing to everybody else. Recurring chest infections are not a reason to not wear a mask. If they won't wear one then they shouldn't be coming into your office, coughing all over the place. Their dislike of wearing a mask does not trump your right to be kept safe at work.

Agreed. Either this person is exempt or she isn't but she shouldn't be putting you at risk and management should be dealing with it.

From employer guidance for offices (England) it seems that face covering is only required in certain areas where the employee is with the public. It is not supposed to be part of the Covid secure office. In any case the colleague may say they are exempt.

Your best bet may be to talk about whether other protocols such as desk distancing are in force.

www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/offices-and-contact-centres

Are you in a union? If not you may want to join. You wouldn’t get legal advice or representation for a while but they may have wording that you could use. If in the future you want to take things further you can then get advice.

OP, if your colleague is mask exempt then they are exempt, there's no 'semi' about it. But they're wearing one as much as they possibly can. Have some empathy for their disability/illness rather than letting your patience wear thin . If you're that worried talk to management about steps they/you can take to keep you safer (screens, home working ect) but you don't get to be annoyed at your colleague for having a chronic condition and doing their best.

Not OK. Raise if w your manager - they need to have a space they can be away from other people.