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?

The smell of perfume triggers my asthma, makes my chest tighten. I would find this a problem, though my colleagues probably wouldn’t notice I was having a problem. So I would ask her if the issue is health related, rather than just her not liking the smell, and send a generic mssg out to the whole team if it really is a health problem.

I'm afraid I'm one of those awkward sods who finds perfume in close quarters a problem. Obviously if someone is wearing it, I've just got to deal with it but spraying it in the loo would be a problem for me. I would do as other posters suggest and send a general email.

There should be air freshener in there. If moany pants claims she's sensitive or allergic to the perfume I guess you could just put a memo out to all women saying pls don't spray perfume in bathrooms and just use AF provided.

I had colleagues like this. Constant minutiae, waffle and battles about the fucking toilets. As an office manager I was paid to deal with it, but you'd think none of them had any actual work to do?!

It’s tough at the top. Spraying perfume in a confined communal space is selfish and antisocial. If someone has made a complaint, you are making a statement if you choose to ignore it.

No as we have asked people not to spray perfume or deodorant in the office, and only spray in the bathroom.

Why on earth they couldn’t just say it themselves I really don’t know

I would tell that person to grow the hell up...

If you use communal bathrooms then you can't expect people to pander to whatever dislike you might have.

Seriously people these days are just getting more and more ridiculous.

Does it matter if she sounds like dick? She’s the manager, someone has raised an issue around an unneccesary practice in the office affecting their health.

Sure, it might all be bollocks but it might not be and we live in a litigious age. Complainant has the right to have personal health information kept confidential so I’d be sending the email and anyone who feels they are being hard done by at being asked not to saturate the office bogs with perfume could come and speak to me.

I have allergies and any type of perfume, body spray, pump or aerosol deodorant really irritates me and my chest.

Yes it’s annoying for you to deal with and seems petty, but I kind of agree with the complainant as who needs to use perfume or deodorant multiple times a day? Put it on in the morning and forget it?

I works with teens who seem to think o needs liberally applying every hour

Im migraine sufferer and strong smells trigger them but unless the employee who has an issue with the employee who’s sprays follows her into the bathroom at exactly the same time every time I can’t see how this is an issue unless it’s a tiny bathroom with no ventilation and the sprayer is spraying continuously every hour.

I would expect the person in an office who is allergic to something that almost everyone in the world wears to be resighted to an area away from the possibility of coming into contact with perfume. How would you manage in a theatre, on a train, on a packed bus for example?

She doesn’t have an allergy/medical condition - I asked her. She just decided to moan about it.

I do have a sneaking suspicion that there’s an element of jealousy from her towards that colleague, but I obviously wouldn’t say that.

She doesn’t need to have a diagnosed condition to put in a complaint about something a colleague is doing that (she says) negatively impacts her health.

You seem committed to not acting on the concern because you think it’s the latest in a series of spurious complaints from your underlings who all seem to have it in for each other.

Fine. Just remember, that in the parable of the boy who cried wolf, eventually there was a wolf.

And if you all work out of one office?

I'm in healthcare, am usually the most senior professional on the team and can be wiped out of service for a month by an air freshener. Keeping the air fresheners and personal perfumes is not an effective way to run a service.

Every team I've been in has either got rid of perfumes on day 1, or at the very least the first day they see how bad it is.

On the bus/train/theatre it's my problem. However in work, I think my need to breathe trumps someone else's idea that an aromatherapy oil might make us feel happy.

Some people have a bad reaction to perfumes which will be made significantly worse in a confined space with limited ventilation, I think you should deal with it.

I wouldn’t do anything about this. Firstly as a manager you need to take the appropriate course of action, not whatever your direct report demands. You might not feel raising this with the person “anonymously” is the right course of action, so you don’t have to do that.

You can’t really police someone spraying perfume. You have an accusation that this person sprayed perfume in the air, but what if that person was just spraying their own perfume on themselves? What evidence is there to prove the allegation is true, and what policies are apparently being breached by spraying perfume?

If you suspect this individual is acting maliciously and is just jealous, don’t play into their demands by carrying out detrimental action at their beck and call.

Not all concerns or grievances are valid and sometimes as a manager you need to set expectations appropriately

I’m really sensitive to some perfumes, because they give me sticking migraines. My mum is the same. I can’t see why you just can’t send out a polite email

If you’re in healthcare, you can’t police whether members of the public who may use your building wear perfume or not. Maybe your health issues just simply aren’t compatible with the role?

Personally I have a diagnosed fragrance allergy and I don’t expect the world to change to suit me.

Dear team, in the interest of the comfort and well being of all staff members , please refrain from spraying perfume products in the toilets. Kind regards.

Short and simple. But who wants that when you can have complicated and combative?

Allergies aren’t considered disabilities under the Equality Act 2010 unless they cause significant long term impact on everyday life - something like a peanut allergy causing anaphylaxis, or asthma triggered by allergy.

Can't the person who is apparently so badly affected by the perfume send this out? Why does OP have to get dragged into it all?

Why is this staff member only bothered by a colleague spraying perfume, and not by the automated air freshener? That does make it sound personal.

I would not send an email to everyone, it is one of the best ways to show you are a weak manager. Either you speak to the person who sprays perfume, or you suggest the complainer does that.

She doesn’t need to have a diagnosed condition, but allergies of this type are generally not covered by the Equality Act unless they have a significant and long term impact on the sufferer - which she would have to demonstrate.

How do you manage with patients who wear perfume?