Eight Steps to Accommodation in the Workplace

What do you do if a worker is highly allergic to perfume and other strong scents?

Do some research and get an understanding of the problem. Have other organizations dealt with this issue? Have human rights complaints been filed? Can the needs of the person raising the issue be met, short of undue hardship, for the company? Define the appropriate accommodation.

Introduce the issue into workplace, first with supervisors, then the rest of staff. Help people understand that accommodation is a threefold issue:

1. respect for the individual

2. productivity for the company

3. human rights of an individual

Get buy-in, or at least a willingness to go along, from staff. Attempt to introduce the policy as a voluntary one, but make sure that everyone recognizes the potential for enforcement if this fails.

Inform others, such as consultants and service people who have business in your offices of your new policy. If necessary (in the case of a "scent free" policy) this may require asking visitors to adhere to the policy the next time they visit. It may also mean moving a meeting a location as distant as possible from the person with the problem.

Remind staff of the policy through postings, articles (especially those illuminating successes) in internal newsletters.

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