To not speak to my team member who is spraying perfume in work bathroom?

[Fedupcolleague]

I manage a small team, unfortunately there’s a couple of them who despite being grown adults always seem to find various child like gripes which they ask me to get involved in sorting.

The latest one is today. In one of my teams 1:1’s they said they have witnessed a named colleague spraying perfume in the air in the bathroom whenever they have been to the loo. They say they are uncomfortable raising this themselves and asked that I speak to them and make clear it was an anonymous comment to me.

I find this ridiculous and haven’t committed to mentioning it. Would I be unreasonable to tell her I won’t be saying anything?

unless some body buys air freshener i dont see the issue with perfume personally
why do they mind?

I would just buy some air freshener for the bathroom. It's ridiculous they want you to discuss this with another member of staff.

There is already an ‘automated’ air freshener in there. Complaining colleague says it gets to her lungs and makes the bathroom smell even worse.

I think it depends how much of a problem it is causing. If it's just that they don't like the smell then I'd tell them to get over it. If it's triggering allergies you'll need to speak to the sprayer.

Complaining colleague thinks spraying perfume in a bathroom makes it smell worse?

I wouldn't be doing anything except maybe telling them to open a window?

I'd send an email to all the team saying that a team member was sensitive to perfume, so could others please refrain from spraying perfume in the toilets.

I wouldn't do a one-to-one chat.

If it was aerosol deodorant I’d understand, because that can make it difficult to breathe and could be problematic if anyone has asthma.

But perfume? No.

And if you haven’t identified it as a problem (or anyone else), then it sounds like it could be personal preference.

I think your colleague has a point in finding the use of the perfume distressing. Would it be possible to send a general email out asking people not to do this?

If it’s genuinely causing an issue then sadly you should deal with it.

I would send a email to the whole team saying not to spray perfume and use the provided air freshener. You’re not singling anyone out.

When I have to do stuff like this I cop out a little and send a team email with various items like “don’t forget to gather feedback” or “make sure you’ve booked your Christmas leave” etc so it’s not too focused on the bad bit!

Whilst I agree spraying anything to disguise the smell of shit actually makes it even worse, I wouldn’t be saying anything either.

Be careful how you go there if employee is complaining on health grounds, no matter how spurious you think the complaint is.

There aren’t any windows unfortunately.

Thats a potential option but I don’t want to do anything if I’m honest.

I'd be telling the complainant that I couldn't see the issue so wouldn't be having any such one to one conversations with anyone.

The sprayer is probably trying to be considerate and cover up unpleasant smells.

If the problem is allergies then I might just send out a generic email asking for it to stop for that reason. That's it though

I'd be much more inclined to do nothing too.

Is it a small one cubicle toilet? Is there no a/c? Does it filter through to where people sit and work?

I’d do this too.

1. It covers you for following through on your word
2. it doesn’t waste too much time
3. if there’s an actual smell problem for the complaining colleague it may be resolved
4. It will give the perfume colleague some anonymity so they won’t feel like they are being watched in the bathroom
5. It is the kind of email that once they read it, some of your team will have sympathy for the absolute nonsense you’re dealing with

Does she have any health conditions around her lungs?

I have COPD and strong perfume irritates my airways

You are the manager of the team though, that's why they bought the informal complaint to you.

It's unlikely to be just about not liking particular smells. Lots of people have allergies, asthma or migraines triggered by perfumes.

Just give a gentle reminder to all to be considerate and not use sprays in confined areas.

Does it get to her lungs? I cannot go near perfume as I am highly allergic to strong perfumes but id probably just avoid going to the loo after her.

People who suffer from allergies, asthma or migraines, or COPD like PP, don't really like it when their health conditions are described as absolute nonsense

Oh wells, just don’t be surprised if a disability discrimination complaint to HR is their next port of call.

How do you actually do that without sounding like a dick? This kind of crap infuriates me, I seem to spend most mornings in meetings during which we are ALL reminded that SOMEONE blah blah blah. This is passive aggressive infantilisation.

Indeed

As someone with asthma and migraine that is triggered by perfume, I've had to speak to managers before about perfume wearing.

A whole team email to say your perfume is lovely but someone is allergic to it so no more perfume is all it has taken.

Except for the manager who thought it was 'too hard' to remove a reed diffuser. Apparently she preferred having a senior staff member (me) endlessly off sick with breathing issues.