Consider this scenario: a company is experiencing a significant mess around the urinals in the bathroom. A few employees have noted that the mess occurs after one employee, in particular, has used the bathroom. 

The employee's manager thinks there may be a medical issue affecting their bathroom hygiene. 

Hygiene is a delicate issue. What is the best way to deal with the problem by balancing their medical issue, privacy and well-being without embarrassing them? 

 

Top tips to approach sensitive employee topics

It’s always a sensitive issue when dealing with employee hygiene.

  • Firstly, investigate the circumstances to ensure that the employees who have complained have a legitimate reason for doing so. Sometimes, it's easy to jump to conclusions or judge without having all the information.
  • Talk to the manager to find out exactly what they know about the employee. Do they have a medical condition? What makes the manager think the medical issue is related? What conversations have they previously had with the employee regarding the medical issue, and the impact and support required?
  • Check if there are any company policies that address hygiene. Sometimes a company's dress policy will address hygiene. Also, what signage exists in the bathrooms, if any?
  • Sometimes cultural norms may be the contributing factor. A company policy should recognise that an employee's religious, ethical or moral beliefs or disability may prevent them from complying with the policy as written. There should be reasonable accommodations for disabilities and religious beliefs.
  • When approaching the employee in question, it’s important to treat them with dignity as this could be an embarrassing matter. People often aren’t keen to talk about personal hygiene which makes the conversation tough. 
  • The person investigating or communicating the message needs to be empathetic and treat the matter with confidentiality. There may be an underlying medical issue involved so the company could offer to support relevant treatment if that was appropriate.
  • Work with the employee to come up with solutions. 

Various approaches

The approach very much depends on each unique situation and the answers to the previous questions. 

If an employee hasn't been identified as causing the mess, a company-wide approach may be suitable. If there is a company policy, a reminder could be sent out to all employees. In addition, put signs up in the bathroom if there aren’t already about bathroom/toilet etiquette. See whether that makes any improvements.

If there is solid evidence that one individual is causing the situation then this can be addressed directly. A manager may say to the employee, "I am looking into toilet hygiene as I have been made aware that there was a mess left in the bathroom on [date the incident occurred]. There was urine across the bathroom floor and urinals. What can you tell me about this?”

Further exploration may be required, for example, "would you be able to tell me whether there was urine on the floor and across the urinals when you went to the toilet on the date the incident occurred? Was there urine on the floor and what state was the toilet in when you left on the incident date?

If the employee divulges they were responsible for the incident, thank them for their honesty. Continue to ask open-ended questions to understand what caused the incident and what support they need to address the issue. 

Siobhann Provost

Senior Writer, My Business

Siobhann has over 18 years human resources business partnering experience in large organisations. She more recently established and led a people advice team of senior workplace advisors before moving into content writing.