Hugely first world problem but are my expectations of a housekeeper too high?

[SlightEmbarrassment]

Prefacing this that I know I’m hugely privileged to be able to afford this etc.

We recently (Feb) hired a housekeeper on a full time basis (8 hours a day Monday to Friday, £45k annual salary) to look after our new house. She’s excellent at laundry and ironing, bed making second to none, but the house is not that clean and definitely untidy. Clothes and toys and STUFF out. Not a tip but not pristine or impromptu guest ready.
Am I unreasonable in expecting dusting, cobweb cleaning, putting things away in this time? I know I could do it myself but I’m paying her (I think) a good salary so I don’t have to.
We have a biggish london house but not a mansion - 6 bedrooms over 4 floors.

Part of the problem is maybe that she’s always talking on the phone on her AirPods, which I’m sure slows her down.

She’s also consistently 15 mins late but leaves bang on time, which again isn’t a huge amount of time she’s missing but feels irritating since I’m not sure the quality of her work is fantastic. There have also been multiple occasions she’s been a lot later due to various issues (dog was sick, plumber etc) but it’s happened more often than I feel is reasonable for such things to arise.

Part of the reason we hired her is my eldest daughter has severe dust mite allergies and associated asthma and eczema so it’s key the house is as dust free as possible to avoid asthma attacks etc. but shelves/ornaments are dusty.

But am I unreasonable in expecting a totally spotless, 100% tidy house everyday for her hours?

Bloody hell. I’m a hugely experienced secondary school teacher with 27 years experience and don’t get paid much more than this. I’d expect a spotless house, all laundry done and food prepared as well.

Careful, your envy is showing.

35 hours a week (assuming an hour for lunch). OP she really is taking the piss.

I have a 6 bed 5.5 bath house and a cleaner for 5 hours. I work and we manage to keep our house ordered and presentable. I never clean, but I cook for 1-2 hours a day. I do laundry and tidy about 30 mins a day. My DH cleans the kitchen and cooks breakfast for 1 hour a day. That's not touching the time available to this woman.

I could do this her job lounge about admiring a show home.

Get shot.

Honestly I'd expect to shit on the fucking carpets for that price <classy>

I don’t think you’re getting value for money for the salary you’re paying. For £45 for 3 hours our cleaner tidies, sorts and cleans. If she was here every day our house would be bloody amazing looking on 3 hours a day. When she has time she reorganises the Kid’s clothes, food cupboards etc. Given the hours, your house can’t possibly need that much actual cleaning so I would expect her to be doing a lot of tidying, sorting, odd jobs etc.

Thanks everyone, good to know my expectations are not insane.

I think I’ll spend a lot more time and effort tomorrow checking in on her to get a better idea of how she fills a day, and have a chat with her in the afternoon around expectations.

You'd probably find someone more productive if you employed them for 20 or 25 hours a week. No one needs that much cleaning. Your current housekeeper is showing you that it's hard to stay motivated doing the same old fussy stuff full-time.

Depends also on how much she is tidying up after your children (you have touched on this that she does) and how much time she is expected to be watching them instead of cleaning…

have you had any air conditioning/heating filters replaced/cleaned lately? I notice in winter our house is definitely dustier when we have our lounge room fire lit.

I would prepare a roster of what rooms you want prioritised and for what day (ie fridays public areas to be spotless for weekend entertaining but no child responsibilities) and ensure the children’s belongings stay within a rumpus/family room of their own… until you have something to measure her work achievements by, it’s hard to say where and how she isn’t meeting expectations.

(for the record I have a local come in to do two hours a week and no children).

I would write out a list as follows

Every day you should do….

twice week you should do…..

once a week you should do……

on an ad hoc basis if time allows you should do….

Then at least you can monitor if she is doing the job properly

Your are paying her too much in return for the service you are receiving.

I wouod expect my house to be pristine with not a cobweb in sight. Not only should the house be tidy and spotless I would expect all my cupboards to be fully organised and neat.

For your size of house you don’t need a full time housekeeper. By all means get them in everyday but they don’t need all day.

I worked as a chamber maid at the grand in Brighton. We had 40 mins to do a bedroom or suite. We did 14 a day to an impeccable standard. Yours is taking the piss. We were minimum wage

I don’t know if you’re being unreasonable but I want her job! I blooming love tidying, cleaning, sorting, ironing, helping with kids but I hate meal cooking. I can do cakes! Put radio 4 on in my ears and I’d be sorted.

I think you'll see the responsibility she's taking for it is £45k a year. Ridiculous. This is a job not a bloody favour.

If I was still in London, I'd clean your house to within an inch of its life for £45k. You are absolutely right to expect a spotless house for that much money.

Off to job search for housekeepers...

My mom has a part-time housekeeper (4h per day, Monday to Friday), and her house is always spotless.
And my mom does NOT tidy the kitchen at night! That is the housekeepers job when she arrives.
She does laundry, and makes beds. There are no children anymore, because my brother and I grew up and moved out, but we were teens when she first started working there.

This is a 4+1 bedrooms and 2 receptions, with 3 bathrooms flat. With a cat!

For a full time housekeeper, Id definitely expect everything to be tidy and spotless!

I'd not waste your time OP. Get on to an agency and get someone that wants to work. You could offer school hours and pay the same, and get a beautifully maintain house with a home cooked meal.

What you are asking for is the average SAHM with no childcare!

I’ve not personally had a house keeper but been an estate manager managing staff in big houses and estates. You need a set out schedule of what is basic daily and then a rota or more in-depth jobs with monthly and yearly tasks.

I'm comparing her salary to that of a teacher or a junior doctor....£45,000? Crumbs! I'm coming out of retirement and applying for her job.

Definitely taking the micky. 40hrs a week just cleaning ironing and tidying no cooking, school runs ? unless you have a very large family where 2 full days is taken up just ironing. You need to replace her she is lazy. Definitely should not be chatting on phone while working. You need to start checking her hours.

It sounds to me from what you say about her previously working places with more senior staff that she is simply incapable of being a self starter. Some people can’t look at a role and think ‘what do I need to do next’ (what you say about her ‘not seeing mess’) they need someone standing over them with a list of tasks and chasing them up by checking tasks are done etc.

If you still think you need a full time housekeeper rather than a part time house manager who manages a team of cleaners, the ironing service etc., I don’t think this woman is the right one for the job.

er there are plenty of jobs that are physical for more than 3 hours. What do you think a builder does. Cleaning is not strenuous and I can easily spend a full day cleaning.

8 hours and day and your house should be pristine as long as it’s to a good finish to start with. Some houses never look clean because it’s rough around the edges. I’m going to presume your house is in a good state of repair though as you have the money. Just find someone who can be bothered. She could tidy everything g i to a box if she’s not sure where it should be and actually this may be better for your family. Each person has to put their own stuff away.

Doesn’t sound like she is cut out for this; some people are really well suited to managing a busy household - everything sparkling, pantry sorted, some meal prep, laundry ironed and put away daily, and an eye for detail. Which she doesn’t have.

We had a housekeeper growing up (very busy house with seven children, both my parents working) and I came home from school to a hot dinner every day, with a fire blazing in the sitting room. My mum did one weekly shop, and the housekeeper took over every day to keep us ticking over.

You mentioned she spends a lot of time on her phone. Have you spoken to her about it? Is she talking on the phone whilst working, or talking on the phone instead of working?

What are her duties? I’m from a different background so I don’t fully understand the lines between cleaner/housekeeper.

I have had cleaners though, that have left my house sparkling 2 x week and also tidied and organised things. She would iron and leave I tidy piles for us to put away. I only had her a few hours a week but other clients she walked their dogs or ran errands. For me, cleaning and tidying was a priority (she was so good at it!)

I don’t think you are asking too much. She earns more than me as a professional and mine was about 20%over NMW which was considered good in this area.

I may be way off the mark because of being in different circles but for that wage with no childcare Id expect things to be spotless, even if you left it a mess, and all laundry on top of.

No, just 2 kids, husband travels a lot so often not around. She watches the children twice a week for one hour each time on my longer work days and has been fine at that but definitely babies them (I’ve seen her try to spoon feed my five year old, for example).

What you’re all saying resonates. I’ll give her one more shot after a chat but it does sound like we want someone with more self motivation and probably for fewer hours.