Is this hourly rate too high?

Oh absolutley and as I suggested in my previous post, they aren't a good match so it's best not to.

I don't contract for people who don't value me, if I start work and find that out I leave because I know it't better to lose that client than know it's going to be impossible to do my job to the very best of my abilities or they are going to quibble at the end of it.

Life is too short for this shit, find people who are compatible whether that's work, friends or love.

Yes I did reply to the right quoted thread. Your hairdresser firstly doesn't have to base her hourly pay as the same as what your employer has decided your time is worth so I'm not sure why you're deciding the £70 difference has to be overheads to justify her earning more than you at a job you consider "simple". Hence if it's so simple, surely you can cut your own hair?

@MarkingBad quite and OP is entitled to decide this cleaner isn’t worth her rate.

It's not vocational either so no one does it for the love of doing it or because it's what they were born to do.

When you set up a business under any structure you are entitled to charge what you like. The market dictates whether you are over charging or not. If this cleaner can achieve £25, then that's what she is worth. If she wasn't achieving £25 she'd have to lower her prices or get out of the business.

Anyone in business knows that the market always dictates the price. The government doesn't have a list of industries and price caps because there is no need. The customers choose with their wallet, if someone can make billions having started out in business selling vinyl fair play to them. If the market didn't like his prices or offerings he wouldn't have gone on to do other things.

You sink or swim by the value people place in you and your product or service and nothing else.

Well it’s simple economics that certain roles attract a higher salary because of the greater degree of skills and training/qualifications required. I could buy a bucket and mop and be a cleaner tomorrow - but if a cleaner wanted to do my job they’d need to study and train for 6 years (4 of which are unpaid and actually cost you money) first. Are you suggesting I should base my rates on the cleaners?

Of course it’s a starting point… you can always be an employed cleaner.

OP FWIW I think it’s extortionate, I pay £55 for 3 hours and they do a thorough job. I myself am in a professional career and get paid £50 and hour and no, I don’t get sick or holiday pay because I’m also SE. I’d find it difficult to justify paying someone twice of minimum wage for cleaning. What do employed cleaners get near you? As I’d expect a small uplift from that, realistically.

Well, how much training do you need to be a Cleaner?
and how much do you need to be say a Lawyer, or a Doctor?

I read it that the OP felt her job was harder and needed more skills? I could be wrong

Cleaning is not a qualified professional role, the pay should reflect that.

Some people are really good at it, still doesn't make it a professional role.

Did you reply to the correct post? This doesn’t seem to bare any relation to the comment.
Nobody said hairdressing was simple. Neither is my profession. The discussion is about relative rates of pay and differences in overheads.
If you feel suggesting overheads of £70ph with gross pay of £30ph is reasonable, what is your business area?

And that's what cleaners get when employed by a company. The company will charge more.

Cash in hand cleaners will be cheaper but you take damage on the chin.

So really you either pay, risk it, or clean your own house. It's that simple.

Self employed. You can't compare with your wage.

Amazes me how little people want to pay to get their skids cleaned off their bog.

You could always go for a cash in hand cleaner with no insurance if it's bothering you.

Very expensive. It is a tough job but not for that rate.

Is your skill/qualification not one you can take self employed if the comparison you're giving is to set up as a cleaner? It's not really fair to blame NMW driving up people's pay when clearly the issue is that your employer or industry hasn't raised your wages clearly in several years of NMW is catching up on your skilled job.

Anyone working in people's homes does have a lot of responsibility if you look anywhere on MN you'll see that people are held for responsible for any damage or mistakes in a client's home and this is coming of of a self employed persons pocket or the insurance they have to pay for themselves. Given you have an employer, whatever level of responsibility you think you have, I doubt you'll be held personally liable for any losses or are expected to contribute to your employers liability insurance.

It's on the high side. However IME someone good who charges a bit more is better value than someone less good who charges less, so I wouldn't say it's too high. You'd need to know how good she was.

What you earn is irrelevant. I also don't think skill level is the only metric- cleaning well is hard physical work and not comparable to minimum wage jobs like call centre, data entry etc.

But "what she is EARNING" is the £25 per hour. It's probably half of that after expenses, holidays, sick time, pensions, insurance, travelling and other non chargeable time, etc. Her "earnings" are after all those things are taken account of and certainly not the amount she charges her customers.

One more thing to remember, those of you who have trained for 10 years etc and earn only slightly above what the cleaner is asking for, you probably have the potential to earn more as you progress so eventually your hourly rate maybe £80. The cleaner will always be on a lowish rate as she is deemed unskilled. Therefore she needs to earn as much as possible and if the market is willing to pay it good luck to her.

Semantics. You said "self employed people don’t pay NI twice either" in an earlier post. They pay class 2 and 4 if sole traders and employer and employee NI if a Ltd company. That's paying NI twice in most peoples book.

If it was too high people wouldn't pay it.
But they are so it clearly isn't.
I agree it's a lot but having a cleaner is a luxury.

Yep this is an example of NMW driving up unskilled and low skilled jobs to the point where they're now comparable with skilled/ professional jobs. But as you say everyone needs to house themselves, feedselves etc and NMW needs to be able to pay for that. It is a bit galling though to have studied for qualifications and carry responsibility in work, have no flexibility with shifts (specific to my job in fairness) and be paid basically the same as someone with no responsibility etc, even my pension isn't good any more. I am aware I can leave my job and set up as a cleaner btw!

Hourly costs for cleaners quoted are often skewed because of widespread practices re tax, holiday pay etc.

National minimum wage isnt based on the "worth" of someone's job though, whatever you even mean by that. Very few people need a cleaner, it's a privilege they're choosing to pay for and cleaners get to set their price as does any other self employed person. Of it's north worth it to OP to pay that for a cleaner she doesn't have to, just as she might think a car is overpriced and not "worth it" to her, doesn't mean the price is wrong.
If OP chose to go self employed, she could price herself as she chooses. It's not the cleaners fault that OPs employer seems her "skills" as worth less than this cleaner chooses to price herself.

She did not say that. Why are some people on here so nippy.

I did some cleaning during a break from my fancypants career, i worked for an agency and got between 18 and 30/hr in my pocket. It IS a real skill, i researched and improved my techniques, i won a lot of business filling in for others' on sick/holiday but the clients preferred the job i did so i'd be given the contract instead! Anyone who thinks its easy and brainless can't be much cop at it!