To be a bit disgusted that so many people seem to think it is ok not to pay their cleaner if they are going on holiday

[BranchingOut]

I employ a cleaner for 2.5 hours a week and have done for a few years. Both the cleaner I currently use and her predecessor are young, single women who make a living by adding together a range of cleaning jobs. So they work for a number of families over the week and are generally renting a room in a houseshare. Getting by, but their income is vulnerable.

I am quite conscious that they are not making a fortune and so always pay consistently and employ them year round - including during any holiday we take and for any sick days/odd absences.

However, it has happened on more than one occasion that, at this time of year, they have come to me and either asked for a salary advance or for extra hours because they are short of cash and worried about bills. Each time the reason has been that 'other families have been away on holiday during the summer and therefore have not needed them'. So, one year I asked our cleaner to do some gardening in return for the extra hours she needed and I am about to bring forward the salary of the other for next month so that her bills will clear.

We live in a London borough where there are a lot of very wealthy people - yet this August/September situation has occured twice, with two separate cleaners and their client groups. Do families really think this is ok? I regard this as penny pinching of the worst kind - to 'save' on the salary of someone more vulnerable than themselves while they themselves are off on holiday.

AIBU/totally out of touch?

I'm a self-employed stringed instruments teacher. I certainly wouldn't expect to be paid if my pupils couldn't come due to sickness/hols etc.

The cleaners should plan for the quiet summer months.

YANBU - like other posters, ours does a 'deep clean' of something when we're away. We also give an additional two weeks at Christmas and generally a, small, pay rise in line with inflation annually.
Of course I could get the basics of the job done for far less but, frankly, employee loyalty, reliability and enthusiasm, is worth far more than the maximum one can get for the minimum money as it were.

of course I don't pay cleaner whilst I'm in holiday what a stupid suggestion
if you want to get all handwringing liberal whos guilty queasy about having a cleaner and compensates by paying for services not received that's up to you
why hell would I

Oh, having read a few of the posts that went up when I was posting:

Yes, ours does pay tax on her income
We cover pay when we are away, but not if she is.

I don't have a cleaner but certainly wouldn't pay them when I'm on holiday the same as I wouldn't pay the papers and I only pay the window cleaner the weeks he comes.

Dh and I are both self employed (though I also have a part time employed job) so we have to budget for school holidays when we don't provide our service.

I am SE and wouldn't get paid for days i don't work and would expect to only pay a cleaner for days they do work to be honest - but if i had a cleaner i would probably get them to come in when i'm on holiday and water the plants and do some other stuff (oven maybe? high level dusting, full mop of all floors or something? i'd find 2.5hrs of stuff i'm sure)

jumping You are right, most cleaners do work cash in hand, usually whilst they claim benefts.

omg you have proof of this sweeping statement

if they do maybe its because they cant earn a decent wage or get the hours from cleaning up after others

If you go out every Friday night and pay for a baby sitter, do you still pay the sitter if you go away on holiday? I'm a cleaner and when I was private cleaning it didn't occur to me to get paid for work that wasn't being done.

Although I talked about people that didn't tip at Christmas or buy at least sweeties

moonlight If your cleaner pays her tax and NI and declares her cleaning money, so you give her a reciept??

If you dont and she never asks, i can guarantee she wont be declaring the money, just telling you that she is.

I wouldnt pay for services not received
and no my cleaner isn't vulnerable
and its not my lookout to ensure she has adequate monies over summer - that's her lookout

I love coming home to a clean house from holiday, why would you not have them coing in? Tightarses!

no cleaner when on holiday no mess we are absent
tightarse?astute more like
why should I pay for service not received how v ridiculous

LittleSugarPlum what ARE you talking about?! My pupils mainly pay me by cash and I don't give them receipts. I declare every penny. Your statement is insane.

So does my husband (same line of business)

We pay our nursery when we are on holiday, my employers pay me when I'm on holiday (and continue to charge our customers for my time as well). It's swings and roundabout, either you pay more for an occasional service or a lower amount all year round. The service providers yearly costs are the same either way.

Personally I'd continue to have a cleaner come in and do 'deep clean' type jobs while we were on holiday but I'd only employ one via a cleaning service anyway so expect them to be paid all year round.

What a ridiculous assumption sugarplum.

I'm a self-employed cleaner and I can guarantee you that every hour is declared. I even try to ensure that all my customers pay straight into my account and for those that don't and insist on paying cash, I invoice and it's still declared.

frankly I don't care hoe cleaner manages her monies or work rate
she doesn't ask me about work
I don't ask her about bookings over holidays

Your house still gets dusty while you are away and if you're anything like me it gets into a tip when you're packing.

LSP no, I don't give her a receipt, but have helped her with translating various tax letters and requirements (English isn't her first language). Mind you, she's below the thresholds anyway, just likes to do things properly (including my house ).

scottishmummy - you're right, paying for services not recieved is ridiculous, and likely to cause lack of respect / appreciation issues with employees.
Most posters on this thread though who follow the 'pay when we're away' line, do seem to ask for work to be done, just something slightly different to the standard 'dust / mop / hoover / scrub' weekly routine.

They are self employed though. You aren't responsible for their holiday pay or sick leave etc as you aren't a company and they aren't your staff. If they work for a company I assume they would get paid holidays but if its a private arrangement they don't. Why pay for a service you are not using?

mumsknot If you invoice, you are giving a reciept, so therefore if you were my cleaner and wanted paying through your bank or gave me a invoice for cash paid, i would definatly assume you were registered as self employed.

What i am saying is 90% of domestic cleaners who are paid cash, do not invoice or issue reciepts. So if these people that dont invoice or issue reciepts and are always paid cash, but are registered self employed, how would they prove their income??

If you get investigated by inland revenue who believe that you are not declaring all your earnings, then they will want to see ALL reciepts for the business, unless its gone through the bank.

Sch You are registered self employed and always get paid cash but dont give reciepts???

If i were you, i'd pray you dont get randomly investigated!

How can you possibly know that 90% of cleaners are on benefits and not paying tax! That's what I take offence to. Sweeping generalisations and an ignorant statement.

Its not ignorance! Every person i know whos a cleaner, does it cash in hand.

And they are all on benefts or having a job but do the cleaning as a bit on the side.

I pay while I am away and my lovely cleaner tidies up the mess left from packing, changes all the beds ready for us to come back, cleans out fridges etc. she also makes sure the bins go out on the right day and more importantly brings them back off the street.

I don't pay her when she goes on holiday.