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So my office got filled with a smell reminiscent of a dead carcass. Probably a rat or a mouse or something that got stuck in the ceiling. That in itself is not the issue, this is an industrial area and there are a few food processing facilities nearby. So not bosses' fault.

Boss called the landlord to remove it. Landlord couldn't find anything so just decided to call it our problem to fix and call it a day. Boss then shrugged ''well, the smell will go away eventually''

Consequently, I am working from home until it is resolved. We're now 2 months in. How can I make it adamantly clear they need to resolve this? I preferably would like to point out to any Dutch/EU [labor] law that they need to make this problem go away.

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    Why is this a problem big enough for you that it needs solving now, especially as you seem to have a solution of WFH?
    – Aida Paul
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 8:35
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    Because boss doesn't want me WFH all the time
    – BurnerAccount20230206
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 8:40
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    But did he send you WFH or is that something you've decided yourself?
    – Aida Paul
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 9:05
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    I decided that on my own accord with a ''try me'' attached to it.
    – BurnerAccount20230206
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 10:08
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    And what happened when, before that, you had an honest chat with your boss about it?
    – Aida Paul
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 10:13

2 Answers 2

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Over 2 months it's unlikely to be a rat or cat. It may be a matter for the police.

But it's your bosses responsibility to keep taking it up with the landlord. I have seen cases where it's never found due to the buildings design though. Many ceilings have areas that cannot be accessed without serious damage.

If your boss is unwilling to do so and lets you work from home, then he can't complain if you do.

The law stuff is between your boss and the landlord.

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    there might be healt and safety laws invovled if the boss decides to force OP in to the office. But yeah, as long as WFH is allowed, laws dont matter for OP.
    – Benjamin
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 8:55
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    Obviously, +1, though I will point out from experience that an "mischievously" placed egg can smell like death for way longer than 2 months, and be impossible to get out without a sledge. So I wouldn't call columbo just yet, but that made me chuckle :D
    – Aida Paul
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 10:03
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I don't think you have a whole lot of leg to stand on.

As I understand it:

  • Office has funky Smell
  • Boss contacts landlord
  • Landlord investigates the area
  • No source of bad smell is found

The Boss seems to have fulfilled his obligations. We are assuming everyone is acting in good faith here - absent any additional proof of a health hazard (and a bad smell alone is unlikely to be sufficient) - what more can he do?

As stated, you are working from home and whilst this is a stalemate of sorts - your Boss is being reasonable here - even if he wants you to work from the office.

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    So the general idea is: There is a problem. There is an attempt to solve it but it doesn't work. So everyone has to just live with the problem. Does that also apply for problems the boss gives to their workers?
    – quarague
    Commented Jun 13, 2023 at 13:31
  • I think that just depends how bad and intense the smell is. If it's just a small annoyance then the boss's effort might be considered enough even if it failed. But if the smell is so bad that employees are puking everyday, then the boss definitely can't force employees to work in the room with the smell. And if the smell is somewhere inbetween these two extremes, then it's a matter of finding a reasonable compromise. The fact that the OP has the possibility of working from home does work in the OP's favour.
    – Stef
    Commented Jun 13, 2023 at 13:59

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