Cafe worker with obvious skin condition and bad nails

[BadNailsnotabadperson]

If you were served by someone with an obvious skin condition and very damaged misshapen sore nails would you say something?

I have the above conditions and twice now I’ve had comments. Once was not too bad just a ‘oh that looks sore it’s not contagious is it’ and then the other day told
to get someone to re serve fresh food and drink as I wasn’t wearing gloves (we don’t have to to take a tray to a table) and told my hygiene levels weren’t good enough.

I get that it looks horrendous but it’s not contagious. I don’t do food prep so don’t need gloves and I can’t just wear them all the time as it makes the soreness worse. They aren’t bleeding or anything.

I didn’t go in yesterday and I’m going to get signed off and look for something else as this kind of thing really really upsets me and I’m very fragile mentally due to not feeling well (I have other medical conditions) I get PIP so can survive while looking for another job. I felt so humiliated though last week .

Would people comment on this AIBU to think it was rude or are people entitled to say something if they are worried about contagious conditions

Well people are horrible, and I'd guess it's an instinctive strong reaction to a possible (in their mind) contagion.

It doesn't mean it's rational and it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, but it might be hard to overcome.

Just to provide some balance though, I doubt I'd even notice. And if I did I'd probably only feel sorry for you.

Hope you find some answers, or it eventually sorts itself.

I sympathise but yeah it would make me think “bleugh”.

If she meets health and safety standards and is not contagious she is absolutely fine. You are the one that has the unfounded problem. You're discriminating against her for the only reason you don't like how it looks. You're unreasonable. She shouldn't have to wear gloves. There is no reason to, and other than you don't like how it looks have not made a solid argument otherwise. Legally she has the right to work, and should not be made to feel ashamed

If she meets health and safety standards and is not contagious she is absolutely fine. You are the one that has the unfounded problem. You're discriminating against her for the only reason you don't like how it looks. You're unreasonable. She shouldn't have to wear gloves. There is no reason to, and other than you don't like how it looks have not made a solid argument otherwise. Legally she has the right to work, and should not be made to feel ashamed of

I don’t think people are only assuming it’s contagious, but if you’re handling food, plates or drinks with a flakey skin condition gloves are necessary. It’s basic hygiene, not an attack.

If nails are affected I suspect psoriasis which is an autoimmune skin condition and can cause the symptoms you mention. I can understand you feel uncomfortable around food but it’s not contagious.

Oh, don't be silly.

I never said she shouldn't work. I never said she was disgusting or that my reason was that I didn't like how it looked. I said that I wouldn't want someone with sores on their hands and nails to handle my food or be around food without protection - that's really not unreasonable.

Like multiple PP's have said - it's not about being contagious, it's about hygiene.

What's legally okay and what people agree with are often not the same thing.

Totally agree.
Sorry, op, I wouldn’t be rude to you, but wouldn’t be keen on being served food by someone with an obvious skin condition.
Why do you work in the food industry if your condition precludes you prepping food?

I find some of the replies odd - I don't have a skin condition, but could be picking my nose, scratching, causing invisible skin flaking, not washing my hands after using the toilet, sneezing while making food, dropping food and tea towels on the floor etc etc. As for "infectious", again, you have no idea what invisible infectious illness i have.

And the people complaining at the checkout worker - you do realize that you're not allowed unlimited sick leave???

What about all your kids that come back from school with school germs, and spend their days sticking their fingers up the noses and in the mud before touching biscuits etc

All the birds, rats and slugs shitting on your organic tomatos before you put them in your Greek salad.

Literally, when did we become some germ-phobic??

Honestly OP, I think the people you encountered are rude and horrendous. If you can, try and find a job where you don't need to deal with customers. Customers are generally awful, and jobs is customer service jobs pay peanuts while expecting the world!

I'm not remotely germphobic. I live with animals and let them lick the plates, jump on the counters and sleep in the bed.

But I still don't want someone with open sores and wounds to be handling my food, plates etc. if I can help it.

I'm sorry you're going through that OP.

I have PRP.

Nobody knows what it is.

Red skin all over....

And the people complaining at the checkout worker - you do realize that you're not allowed unlimited sick leave???

The person who referenced “constantly sneezing” over people on the checkout doesn’t need to go off sick. She needs to be moved to a different part of the store that isn’t irritating her allergies and making them worse. Her employer has a LEGAL DUTY to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate this as she has a genuine health condition. Or, they could just clean their damn tills properly and get rid of the dust.

The answer isn’t to put her health at risk and break employment law and allow her to sneeze all over her customers food FGS. Not wanting someone’s else’s snot all over your food doesn’t make someone unreasonable 🙄

I'm self employed and and I don't want to have to miss weeks of work because someone's been sneezing all over me or my shopping.

Keep your germs to yourself.

I think we're missing something fundamental here: neither condition mentioned is actually contagious. The cafe worker's skin condition and the checkout worker's allergies pose zero infection risk. So the "taking weeks off work" concern doesn't apply - there's nothing to catch.

Also, can we retire the word "germs"? It's playground vocabulary that obscures actual risk. Bacteria? Viruses? Fungi? Each transmits differently and poses different risks. "Germs" is just a vague, emotive catch-all that encourages disgust rather than rational assessment.

Bacteria and viruses are a normal and unavoidable part of life. They are constantly on our food anyway - from the supply chain, from people breathing and talking near it, from every surface it touches. We're just bothered by visible signs (sneezing, skin conditions) while ignoring invisible but actual transmission happening constantly.

The cognitive dissonance is striking. Someone mentions letting their dog lick plates as proof they're not germphobic - dogs eat faeces and can carry genuinely harmful bacteria. But a non-contagious skin condition? Unacceptable.

Especially from people who are fine with UPF, transfat, alcohol, sitting for long periods, gel nails (waiting for that permanent allergic reaction), and a dozen other actual health risks. This isn't rational health assessment. It's just discomfort with how someone looks, dressed up as health concerns.

It’s not for the general public to ascertain whether a skin condition is infectious or not, @AllThePickledOnes ?
Op knows it’s not; the restaurant customers don’t.

But what are these infectious skin conditions in the UK that people should be looking out for? And how do you know the chef or delivery driver doesn't have it? Or the customer who previously used your food tray?

Like I said, the tone of the whole thread is just weird to me.

Same with the check-out worker - even if they had a cold, so what? People have always gone to work with colds and it's only post-covid we expect ill people to be locked away.

At the same time, people seem to be ignoring more likely risks (e.g., cross contamination of food, food being kept at the wrong temperature), which are normal parts of eating out.

I don't think OP's skin condition (or a checkout worker with a cold) is any more risky than what people come across everyday.

Get signed off girl, you don’t deserve to be treated like that xx

HI Op, I was diagnosed by nodular prurigo by a biopsy on my scalp. I only have two patches, one on my scalp and one large one on ym leg. my dorm is not convinced it even is this becasue it looks nothign like the circular sores on any pictures ive ever seen and it doesnt even really itch. but ive never met anyone else ever who has this or been even suspected of having this.

I think they were unfair and unreasonable to ask to be honest. I think if you were serving me I'd probably have sympathy for you if it looked painful but I'd trust that you made a fair judgement around food hygiene. If it was bleeding/flaking/ unable to be washed properly then that's different and I'd hope you'd wear gloves in that scenario. But that's not what you've described. I think if I overheard those customers asking you I'd think they were extremely rude and I'd be judging them, not you.

On the flip side... if it makes YOU feel less conscious of it you could maybe decide to wear gloves at work although there's evidence to suggest people who wear gloves actually practice worse hand hygiene overall funnily enough!

Having worked in retail for years, you really do need to wear your hard hat for dealing with the general public every day because you come across some really horrible people unfortunately. If you feel anxious dealing with people what about a behind the scenes job maybe doing stock or such like? I think ultimately you deserve to have a job that you feel happy and comfortable with. Take others out of the equation altogether.

Sorry to hear of your suffering in both senses.

When one of my dc were young the eczema was so bad all over the face and neck in small circle like shapes, I would not take them out for the fear of comments and others keeping their toddlers away. So I kind of have some experience however, I would still be wary of you (I am so sorry).
I think unfortunately nowadays there are bosses who ‘don’t always care’ about their staff and would tell them to go and work regardless of what they may have. People could be worried for this reason.
The food hygiene rating won’t come into most peoples minds.

But please don’t think I am saying hide away as you should not have to at all.

I once knew a lady from the school gates who was a lovely but absolutely stank of wet dog (she loved them and always had them in the car with her, at home I believe they slept on her bed, cuddled up with her on the sofa).
She took a job at a cafe we use and came to say hello the first time we went in to get a treat when she worked there and after smelling her, I couldn’t even stay as her pinny was over her normal clothes so the smell/ dog hairs would be getting everywhere. To me this is worse than your skin and I’m just giving other examples.

Hope you are ok as can be.

I wouldn’t say anything but I would be really worried, I wouldn’t be able to eat my food and I would never come back. I do aware that there are different skin conditions and some of them do look bad while not being contagious however I won’t know if yours is contagious or not. And I wouldn’t think that because a place had 5 star hygiene some time ago everything was perfect.

Just because 50 other people you meet that day may also have a skin condition, doesn’t mean you can’t also want to avoid the one person you know who does handling your food 🫣

@AllThePickledOnes Regardless of germs, I still dont want someone's snot all over my food (even if theyve been tested by a Swiss lab and found to be the healthiest person alive).

You are being incredibly disingenuous if you are suggesting you wouldn't bat an eyelid if a stranger sneezed all over your food before expecting you to eat it.

Utter nonsense.