Perfume in workplace

HRAMBASSADOR

Has anyone had the request for an accommodation regarding perfume and/or odors in the workplace? I would be very interested to hear what types of accommodations have been made.

stilldazed

We haven't made accomodations, but we do have a general policy that restricts excessive odors of any sort, including perfumes, and classify it generally as respect for coworkers and customers. I have sent folks home mid shift to shower and change when complaints surfaced. The accomodation, if there was one, was that the smelly worker was permitted enough (unpaid) time to leave the workplace to shower/change and was permitted to return to the schedule without a disciplinary notice.

KSR6450

At a former workplace in FL there was an employee who had severe asthma. She had an attack due to the perfume worn by another employee several cubes down from her. The perfumed person had not overdoused herself; the asthmatic employee was just extremely sensitive to certain smells. From that point on we had a rule in place that no one could wear any heavy perfumes.

Is the accomodation request due to a health issue for an employee?

HRAMBASSADOR

Yes, this request is a result of her allergies (although at this point we have no substantiation from the treating physician). I have no reason to believe that she is not being truthfull about the allergy. Here's what we've already done:
Relocated her three times within her department.
Offered to move her to another building which is less congested.
Bought a fan for her.
Continually reminded staff in her area not to overindulge with perfumes, etc.

She has asked for a room by herself (which is not available or practical).
She has asked for an air purifier which has a cost of $1,000

davids

I have dealt with similar issues several times. First, I would always ask for medical documentation. Although you have no reason to doubt the employee, you don't want to establish a practice of not asking for documentation. You may have doubts about the next employee who makes a similar request. You leave yourself open to a discrimination claim if you didn't ask the first employee for documentation, but do ask the second employee.

Being in the public sector, most of our employees deal with the public. We could prohibit employees from wearing perfumes, but not the public seeking our services. We did, however, post a sign by the main entrance asking the public to not wear perfume and colognes. If the employee complained that a customer's frangrance was causing a reaction, we allowed her to remove herself and had a different employee handle the customer.

We provided a desk top or small floor air purifier. They cost only $100 or so. We also ensured that the buildings HVAC system's filters were replaced often. We allowed the employee to take extra breaks, but they were either unpaid or charged to her sick leave.

In most situations, these accommodations worked.