Should an employer force a workplace to be frangrance-free because one employee has allergies to perfume/cologne?
by 
Scifisuz
ANSWERS: 7
-
I don't believe in a company "forcing" people to do anything, but I think it's a commendable thing to do, try to put yourself in their shoes.
-
It seems to me that if one of your colleagues was allergic to perfume or cologne, then common courtesy would dictate that you not wear such things around them. Is your desire to wear a scent more important than another person's ability to breath? Given such circumstances, it should not be necessary to ban the use of perfume. People should be willing to give it up out of concern for their colleague.
-
I worked at one place where "Liz" had an allergy to perfumes and it was common knowledge of this. When you break it down, everything has fragrance in it from hand lotion to anti-perspirant. I would do my best not to spritz myself with perfume but you can make yourself crazy.
-
It shouldn't be "forced", but it should be a rule that people would want to follow on their own. What kind of person would show up wearing perfume, even though they know it's making someone else LITERALLY sick. What if they were deathly allergic, and the perfume wearer killed the allergic person, just because they wanted to be an asshole?
-
Being subjected to perfumes that trigger and employees allergies can be considered a "hostile work environment" and the employee could sue for harassment. The company has to make every reasonable effort to make the work environment livable for all employees.
-
I suffer from debilitatin migraines and my company makes sure people do not get out of hand with fragrance. There are tons of frangrance free products on the market...I know because I buy them. Perfume is not a nessesity. As for the ladies restroom? We strike matches. It works a lot better than Lysol! There are even cities that have banned fragrance in public places, like Halifax, Nova Scotia. Don't even get me started on cigarette smoke! Tracy F/36/Tampa, Fl.
-
I think it also depends on the size of the company. Many frangrances trigger migraines for me and another co-worker was allegeric to fragrances. When we both worked in an office of less than 10 people, then it was good business practice for the employers to ban perfume. If a small office is short 2 employees over something that is controllable, then they are losing money and productivity by allowing perfume. If it is a much larger office or work place, then I think accomodations can be made for the person who is allergic to be away from someone who may feel it is absolutely necessary to wear perfume.
Glenn Blaylock 
jtolb65 RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC