A leading employment lawyer weighs in on one of the most awkward HR topics
An employee with poor personal hygiene can cause serious disruption in the workplace and can even impact business results – but is it really something you can discipline or dismiss over?
Carl Blake is a senior associate with Simpson Grierson – he says employers are well within their rights to set guidelines on personal hygiene, particularly for employees in customer-facing roles.
“Certainly a dress code could say that you need to dress neatly and smartly and you could also require employees to maintain good personal hygiene at all times,” he tells HRD.
“You’re far more likely to see that in a job description or employment agreement for customer-facing roles where the employer wants to portray a certain image of the company.”
However, Blake says the issue may become trickier if the employee isn’t in a customer-facing role and is able to perform their job to an acceptable standard.
“It would have to impact on their ability to perform their job safety or effectively – that’s a far harder argument for the employer to run if the employee is in a back office and never has customer-facing duties,” he says.
“It’s likely they’d be able to perform their tasks without any consequence whatsoever and as the employer, you’d be on far shakier ground to take action against an employee.”
If that’s the case, Blake says employers may just have to face up to an uncomfortable conversation.
“If it’s just an inconvenience or an awkward social dynamic that it’s creating, then dare I say it but the employer just needs to manage that,” he tells HRD.
“Now I don’t know what the answer is to how that’s managed but a quiet and tactful discussion to try and remedy the situation is probably best practice.”
Blake also warns that employers could face significant risk if the employee’s poor personal hygiene is actually a result of a medical condition or disability.
“There is a potential for the employee to make a discrimination claim if they can prove their personal hygiene issue is actually a medical condition,” he says.
A number of medical conditions can cause a person to smell bad despite having good personal hygiene – its situations such as this that employers must be wary of.
“Just like people have argued that their weight is a health issue and not simply personal choice, people could argue that their hygiene issue is a medical problem – but they would need medical evidence to prove that,” he explains.
If an employee can prove they’re suffering from a medical condition, Blake says employers would then have to reasonably accommodate the worker’s needs as it could be classed a disability.
“Reasonable accommodation might mean taking certain steps to ensure other employees aren’t being unkind or ensuring staff are being more understanding of the situation,” he says.
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Carl Blake is a senior associate with Simpson Grierson – he says employers are well within their rights to set guidelines on personal hygiene, particularly for employees in customer-facing roles.
“Certainly a dress code could say that you need to dress neatly and smartly and you could also require employees to maintain good personal hygiene at all times,” he tells HRD.
“You’re far more likely to see that in a job description or employment agreement for customer-facing roles where the employer wants to portray a certain image of the company.”
However, Blake says the issue may become trickier if the employee isn’t in a customer-facing role and is able to perform their job to an acceptable standard.
“It would have to impact on their ability to perform their job safety or effectively – that’s a far harder argument for the employer to run if the employee is in a back office and never has customer-facing duties,” he says.
“It’s likely they’d be able to perform their tasks without any consequence whatsoever and as the employer, you’d be on far shakier ground to take action against an employee.”
If that’s the case, Blake says employers may just have to face up to an uncomfortable conversation.
“If it’s just an inconvenience or an awkward social dynamic that it’s creating, then dare I say it but the employer just needs to manage that,” he tells HRD.
“Now I don’t know what the answer is to how that’s managed but a quiet and tactful discussion to try and remedy the situation is probably best practice.”
Blake also warns that employers could face significant risk if the employee’s poor personal hygiene is actually a result of a medical condition or disability.
“There is a potential for the employee to make a discrimination claim if they can prove their personal hygiene issue is actually a medical condition,” he says.
A number of medical conditions can cause a person to smell bad despite having good personal hygiene – its situations such as this that employers must be wary of.
“Just like people have argued that their weight is a health issue and not simply personal choice, people could argue that their hygiene issue is a medical problem – but they would need medical evidence to prove that,” he explains.
If an employee can prove they’re suffering from a medical condition, Blake says employers would then have to reasonably accommodate the worker’s needs as it could be classed a disability.
“Reasonable accommodation might mean taking certain steps to ensure other employees aren’t being unkind or ensuring staff are being more understanding of the situation,” he says.
Related stories:
When does overtime become unreasonable?
Could your trial periods land you in trouble?
Why consultations are critical during acquisitions