Moral question…

When I’ve had to fire people it was a 3 step ‘official’ process.  Dropping hints initially is important as it does not have to be documented.  Once those steps fail then….

Step one.  Verbal warning.  This is of course documented prior to it being given and a note on how that went, dated and signed by yours truly.  There should be the problem “You stink”, consequences as you can imagine them, and solution.  Bathe.

Step two.  Written warning, pretty much the same thing but this time the employee signs off, if they refuse which has happened to me, you document this too.

Step three.  Preparation of termination pay and an escort off premises.

Well written notice might have better sent the message that it was going to cost him his employment and this wasn’t a game. It is also department of CYA (cover your a**.) But if that sort of thing is not done well…

I’d think written would be far more preferable than any sort of private conversation in an enclosed space.  :-)

This topic has motivated me to keep discussing with my boys (age 9, 7 and 3) about cleaning themselves. My oldest is starting to smell and only wants to get wet in the shower.

Ha Ha! Hadn’t seen it

The only thing I would have done differently is fire him the second time.  Never try and be nice to people when they’re just going to try and screw you over anyway.  They’ll take it as a weakness and see how much they can get.  Douchebags  like that are a dime a dozen in the construction world.

@ABWorsham:

This topic has motivated me to keep discussing with my boys (age 9, 7 and 3) about cleaning themselves. My oldest is starting to smell and only wants to get wet in the shower.

tell him he will get exponentially more positive lady attention and really good CLEAN and dirty action if he washes frequently.

But to answer your question GARG, it is always good to let someone go, for any valid reason, a lesson a mentor taught me long ago. Everyone stands straighter afterwards or perhaps they use soap the next time they shower!

And it sounds like the general morale will improve once the “frenchie” is gone.

AS i said before… if they smell send them home and require them to be odor free to work.

Then soon the problem fixes itself. Now since losing his job, he will never take a shower!

You just made the problem last longer.

I recently got reviewed for my 2012 performance. 
No raise :( .

The performance review form allocated an area of team building that was worth 10% of my rating. 
There was another 10% for considering how “savvy” I was in the comany culture and leveraging the brand.
I get to work from home alot, but I did shower before the in office days.

Some corporations are even more ruthless;  GE, during the Jack Welch heydey of the 90’s , would annually promte the 10% and also terminate the bottom 10% every year.  Folks would shower often for those jobs.

Wow, a thread twice resurrected… But because I didn’t get to comment the first time:

As a guy who literally got the stink talk directly from the one and only “Gargantua” on that same work-site: I can say this guy had fair warning and would still have a job today if he knew his armpit from a hole in the ground. Gargantua cares too much about getting the gad-damn job done to let a competent worker go without good cause and ample warning. Though I did like the “Clock out, and don’t come back until you have a shower and buy a speed-stick” idea. :-)

@Gargantua:

• A week of -no change- and I said it out-loud to him in front of a group of people…
• Another week of -no change- and I simply dropped the bomb, you F’n STINK, and it still didn’t seem to register…

This is unconscionable behavior for anyone on a managerial or supervisory role.  Public humiliation of an employee (regardless of the causal factors) is deplorable behavior.  While it may have made you popular with the other employees in the short term and may have solved the immediate problem, you have probably done more long term damage to your credibility as a leader than anything else.  And if you don’t get sued for discriminatory practices you should count yourself very lucky.

Garg, you have to admit construction types are a bit more accustomed to shall we say….blunt talk.  I just came from a site with 4 guys working on a job for me, those MEN would not have a problem with being told they stunk if they stunk.  Or were drunk when they were drunk or being a dick when they were being a dick, they call me out when it needs to be done.  Maybe construction types are different elsewhere.

Now if the guy was in a ballet troupe or a lawyer…

There is a vast difference between having justifiable grounds for dismissal and public belittlement of an employee.

I’m not saying that you didn’t in all probability have adequate grounds to terminate the employee.  But on the flip side of the coin you didn’t mention in your initial post whether or not you discussed with the individual whether he had any medical or religious conditions/restrictions that may have been contributing to is apparent lack of hygiene.  God forbid he does,  because if he does and he is smarter than he is clean… you’ll rue the day you ever opened your mouth in front of your staff.

What I’m saying is that there is absolutely no justification under any circumstances to publicly belittle any employee in the workplace.   Firstly it can have legal implications.  Harassment can be used to define a broad range of behaviors in the workplace.  And generally speaking the courts tend to favour plaintiffs in situations where managerial personnel are seen to exhibit discriminatory or abussive behavior.  But more importantly is that as an employee I would be asking myself when will it be my turn for public humiliation.   Furthermore what is stopping me as an employee from telling Jimmy that his Curry sticks up the lunch room, or that I hate Franks pink shirts, or to tell you you’re a shitty boss in front of everyone else for that matter.  Because a pattern of saying whatever you want in front of whoever is around will foster that attitude in all your employees.

You have every right in your personal life to tell it like it is.  I’m sure to you, your farts smell like roses and your breath is like rainbows to everyone around you.  And if you want to walk around pointing out others short comings then that’s your prerogative.  However the workplace is no place for it.  If you need to address a situation in the workplace you do it in private.

All that being said I will acknowledge that tradesmen and construction sites can be less than professional workplaces.

@Gargantua:

Well it’s obvious Heppsititus stinks up a government building.

lol.  I run my own designing & contracting business.  So I am familiar with the blunt nature of job sites.

However, I hope he realizes that the next step in this process, is that if the person doesn’t groom themselves that they’ll “get groomed”. In short order.

Perhaps I should argue that I saved this person and my company -that- fate.

There is no excuse for being regularily disgusting, and a “danger” to yourself and others.

lol.  I run my own designing & contracting business.  I have also worked for many construction companies over the years.  So I am familiar with the blunt nature of job sites.

Unfortunately the courts don’t have a “Oh you work in the trades” clause in the law.

I’ve seen more then a few people loose their careers after being diagnosed with severe cases of “Foot in the mouth” disease.  I have also seen many cases of companies paying dearly for managers who have suffered from said disease.