General Chat

we have a lady at work who is lovely apart from one thing - she has the worst halitosis in the world - EVER! now im not being cruel or anything and i'm sensitive to her needs etc.. but seriously it is so bad that she can make a whole office with 7 people in it smell. bad. several of the staff have said to me as the manager that i should approach her because it is so bad that when people have a one on one meeting it almost makes them retch, and im being serious! so - the question is, how the heck, if at all, should i tell her?? thanks, paul...

Oh Paul, what a rotten problem for you. I have to say that we had one chap where I worked. A lovely, very good looking guy- and you could actually tell if he was in the room, or in the canteen queue several people behind you, just from his breath. I guess you dont have any nurse or anything there? She probably has a real dental problem or something - I dont envy you doing this subtley. Hope someone can advise you, good luck.

had a girl in my last work like that was from zimbabwe and turned out that diet she was on had her glands working full speed, so we had to tell manager, that even though nothing against her, he had to have quiet word with her so she changed diet, she wasn't even aware of it at the time till one lady held her breath and passed out worse thing for the lady though was african girl was first aider

Have another worker with you in the room, preferably a female. so you cant get into trouble for supposedly saying anything nasty. I would just start of by saying, hows everything going ? or a general question. Then say its been brought to your attention, and you hate to embarrass her but there have been complaints about her breath. Then suggest she sees her dentist to check she hasn't an underlying problem. Elaine x

Sorry Paul... you're on your own on this one. It is an awful dilema for you to be in, poor woman too. Elaines advice about having someone with you seems good to me. Good luck. Deanna X

where abouts in hampshire are u paul?

I dont agree it will embaress her more to have someone with you when you tell her. Do it on your own Paul and say it is between you two only, Ive been in management in that situation, please dont embarress her anymore by having someone with you. Dave

do you know what jim, she has actually been on a diet for a while now and lost loads of weight. i wonder if that could be the problem? personally i would be mortfiied if someone told me something like that, but i would still want to know. i would hate to embarass her but its the comfort of others too. who would be a manager eh?

I think its a good idea about waiting til no one else is there. I cant imagine how I would feel if someone had to tell me that and then I had to carry on working wondering if everyone else knew and was looking at me. Oh I do feel for you Paul and the lady. I guess the diet angle may be a good one to use. So you praise her first for keeping up the diet and then tackle the next problem.

Paul i would refer her to the Occupational Therapist within the company as this is an Health issue, or H,R PS as the manager Delegate that's what we have been taught on our leadership skills training LOL

might be change in food then paul, so manager could use diet change as exscuse to talk to her ask what new foods she's eating, and say off the cuff think maybe it changes her body chemistry as body not used to it and he/she has noticed peeps reactions when she changed diet, but not in front of anyone else as 1-1 she knows as manager he can't spread gossip, so she feel more secure,and don,t mention word smelly , stinky, use technical words

Why dont you leave her a note Paul be discreet like , Dear Dog Breath lol! Dave

Hi Paul, I dont agree that you should take someone with you to talk to the lady... what i would suggest is this... Is there a colleague of this ladies, female.., that you can talk to and ask if she could broach the subject with the lady in question. if there is, good. It will be far better for two reasons, Firstly, having a 'quiet word from the boss, could upset the lady more than if it comes from a freindly female face colleague, and secondly, women are far better at 'going round the houses in a inconspicous mannner, without arousing suspicion. some diets do indeed cause Halitosis, quite badly, and of course, the person in question can be quite oblivious to this problem. A good into into the 'Quiet word' would be to congratulate the woman on her diet and progress.... the colleague saying.. oh she wishes she could do the same , and has tried several diets etc... then gently slipping in the problem of halitosis caused by some diets.. yu get the idea... I do hope this is of some help.xx

I think the Atkins Diet causes this problem doesn't it? Wouldn't want to be the one to have to tell her though cos I tend to just blurt things out when I'm nervous lol Julie xxx

Thats a subtle way Dave - have you ever considered the Diplomatic Corps as a career?

I would tell her on a Friday too, so she has the weekend to get over the embarrassment before she has to come back to work. Just a thought. xx Jen

NO your right it may be my calling only joke Heatther I have had to deal with that situation and Im sure Paul will in dignified manner, Davex

Paul This lady could actually be diabetic if she has bad breath. Do you have access to any medical info on staff? If she is then that is the answer. If there is no info to look at, it could help you how to word it to her, by saying something like 'I have realised from a poor breath problem you have, that you may have diabetes, and you may not have realised. May I suggest that your doctor checks you out?' Also the weight loss may not have been because of a deliberate slimming regime, it can also be another symptom of diabetes. Dianne xx

Dave B.... I read your bit about embarassing her by having two people there, and I thought, what a lovely thoughtful man you are. THEN, I read the suggestion about the note....... Dog breath??? LOL That's awful Dave. Deanna X

Paul when you do decide what you are going to do, if you have'nt already done it please would you feed back so we can learn from it, but i still say Delecate to the O/T Dept Regards PS Dave B behave yourself PMSL