Do NOT go to HR over this. Never, EVER go to HR over anything! You will be the one who is in the wrong and HR isn’t there for the rank and file employees anyhow.
I know that you are an honest person. I know that you have morals and stuff. In a case like this, stealing isn’t wrong. You told her that it was causing problems. You spend more awake time at work then you do at home. If grandboss complains, look innocent. Or, grab them and send them to me. I’ll send you pics of their violent deaths. Don’t look at those pics while trying to look innocent, tho.
Or modify it a bit so the thing melts. (Those things catch on fire all the time, without any modifications. Should be easy to get it to melt itself down.)
Or replace her incense in it with the most unpleasant one you can find. (Hint: Google “deer scent” or “buck lure”.)
As someone who is sensitive to certain smells and can get nauseating headaches from the most subtle of scents - there is no covering it up. I could have my head jammed into a vat of Vaporub infused with rancid garlic and industrial fertilizer and I would still be bothered by the Febreeze’d chair fabric in the other room. (FWIW I don’t like any of those three scents, but it’s the Febreeze I’d be sensitive to.)
My wife’s company has a very clear policy on scents that extends to personal lotions, perfumes, etc. What the OP describes would be a clear violation. The HR department there is perhaps unusual, however, in that they actually do what they’re supposed to do and resolve issues like this instead of tarring and feathering “boat-rockers”.
I’d suggest a simple and straightforward e-mail to HR clearly stating that the issue for you is the headaches the device is causing. Request assistance on resolving the issue, and let them worry about whether or not there are any violations of company rules or OSHA regs or whatever. In some office cultures, however, this is a laughably naive approach. Good luck, whatever you decide.
Take the initiative in a good way - develop a corporate “work from home” policy and present it to your boss.
Or talk to your boss privately about it. Or talk to your boss’ boss privately about it. (I have not followed your pit threads.) I don’t think the email is a good idea. If you do send it, make your point directly. I think it would stregthen your email if you could say that you raised this concern wth your boss on (date), the reaction was (whatever), after which you raised it directly with boss’ boss on (date) and the reaction was (whatever). Show you followed the chain of command, and that you are dcumenting things.
Keep in mind that HR works for the company, not for you.
Do go to a doctor. Discuss the situation with the doctor. If you can, get the doctor to write a prescription for a “scent free workspace.” Use it to back up a case that you should work from home. Or in an isolated part of the building.
Then go home and make sure all your linked in contacts are current and your resume is up on all the relevant sites.
Then take the letter to HR and start looking for a new job. I don’t think you’ll win this. Your choice is to put up with the headache or find a new work environment. You may get the scent turned off for a bit, but the next opportunity your bosses boss has to “reduce force” you’ll be tops on the list.
Orr, G., can you PM me with anything you/your wife is comfortable in telling me about her company and their policy? I share your problem and, though I have no delusions of getting a policy like this adopted in my company, I might get something in my building or department. Appreciate it.
In your area, place a large blower fanaimed at the grandboss’s office. Turn on full blast and throw a tantrum if someone tries to turn it off. Continue until problem has been resolved.
HR is there to protect the company, not stupid supervisors. If your work performance is being hindered because the actions of a bad supervisor, you bet HR wants to know about it. Their goal is to keep the workforce productive, not stroke the ego’s of bad supervisors.
Not everyone is going to have the same experience. I have witnessed HR go above and beyond to protect a stupid supervisor - even in the face of a group complaint. HR, in this case, almost got themselves in legal hot water trying to protect an idiot. “Idiot” ended up quitting instead of getting fired, and the HR people were eventually terminated. It was a fiasco.
I think you would do better to talk to your doctor about the situation and have him write a note for you, stating that it’s causing you headaches and either it must be removed from the office or you must have your desk relocated (or smell-proofed, lol). Hand your boss the note and let it be taken care of by HR.
That, or, when she isn’t looking just throw the thing out. You don’t have cameras in your building, do you?
I agree that without a reason to take action on behalf of the company HR is not the way to go. So unless you can make it clear that you are requesting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and without action will be forced to seek legal remedies under the ADA, then HR is likely to view this as a workplace squabble, note that boss’s boss outranks you, and blow you off.
The only other option I can see for you is if boss’s boss’s boss is on site, and can be brought to your side and will tell this woman ixnay on the stinky thing. If boss’s boss doesn’t have a boss, you’re going to have to come with a legal argument to get help on this one, specifically because grandboss is your superior and especially because she’s dug in her heels on this and has chosen to take it personally.
The problem as I see it is even if you win you lose. This boss, if confronted, will meekly comply but then the boss starts thinking, “If I have to follow every stupid, rule so will the jerk who reported me.” I am not saying the person who doesn’t like the scent is a jerk, but that is what the boss will think.
Then the boss will go out of her way to make sure that every rule is enforced against the employee.
I think the only real situation is to ask the boss if she can please take it home or maybe just work out a compromise where the boss will only run it every other day.
