to tell my cleaner not to come tomorrow?

[reddwarf]

I've had a cleaner for a few months. Tomorrow is the last day of the school holidays. My dc are all still in bed and likely to be there for quite some time. As is dh. My cleaner normally comes at 7.45.

So not only are 5 people going to be in bed, but as everyone is here, the house is a tip.

I feel guilty for cancelling, but otoh, it#s not exactly ideal.

What to other people do re cleaners in school holidays, and AIBU to tell her not to come? ( WHich I did last week )

Should I just make it a blanket rule not to come during any school holiday?

[PorridgeBrain]

If I cancel my cleaner, I pay her anyway (as per policy of agency). In holidays, I normally try and negotiate a slightly later start and then get family up and ready, let cleaner in and then we go straight out so she can clean in peace. I have on one occasion stayed in and just camped out in one room upstairs until cleaner finished downstairs and then moved downstairs.

[CaHoHoHootz]

YABU and mean and flakey sorry

I have had cleaners for years. I would never ever cancel at short notice and if i did I would pay them. I pay year round even when I go on holiday. If my cleaner requests time off I don't usually pay her.
If the cleaner has kids working term time may suit her but if she doesn't I imagine she may want continual employment.
I always try and be very consistant with times and hours and my cleaners seem to appriciate it.

TBH I would still have the cleaner come over. She won care if your house is messy and imagine she would be able to keep herself busy doing the downstairs if everyone is asleep upstairs.

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

Nothing new to add except another voice to say YABVU.

I don't pay my cleaner if she cancels because she or her DCs are ill. I do pay if I cancel.

[MrsMelons]

My cleaner comes sometimes in the holidays depending on whether I am working at all or not. If I know she is coming in and the DCs are around then we get up and ready then go out when she is here.

We agree between us what weeks she comes in the holidays and she is really flexible. She is happy for me to cancel for instance if we are having building work etc but I would not cancel adhoc for more than a week without paying her and definitely would pay her if it is short notice.

If you agree holiday dates in advance then I would not pay then!

[FairyChristmas]

Mine usually comes at 9am on a Friday. I called her earlier to ask if she could come a bit later tomorrow and she was fine with that.

I think you are really out of order.

YABVU

[FreudianLisp]

I think messing her around like this is very mean, TBH. She may well be struggling on a very low income. Some of us are lucky enough that we'd be fine if we lost some of our wages, but I know our cleaner really really struggles to make ends meet. The only time I've cancelled her is when we all had D&V and I didn't want her to catch it, but I begged her to take the money anyway. (She refused.) Please don't do this to her: it's really unkind.

[cathers]

I have a cleaner. I pay her £10 per hour. I think less than 24 hours notice of cancelling her work and you should offer to pay her. More than 24 hrs, is fine in my book.

[cansu]

YABU she was expecting to work and be paid. If you don't want her around maybe either ask her if you can pay her and bank the hours for some extra cleaning later on at a mutually convenient time or ask her to come and take ironing or some other job that can either be done tucked away somewhere or at home. I also have cleaner and think that you need to be very upfront and clear well in advance. Your cleaner will be relying on your money in the same way you do. It really isn't fair to cancel like this.

[ImaginateMum]

"People manage their money in different ways. Some people prefer the PAYG option rather than lifetime membership!"

Absolutely fine, but both sides of the agreement need to have signed up to that.

[betterwhenthesunshines]

Our cleaner also starts early - 8am. This morning the children were still in bed, I was awake but reading and not yet dressed. She just started downstairs, but she knows the house and has been with us for 13 years

For tomorrow you could call her today and let her know you are all still in holiday mode ( sensitively - she is coming in to work!) so that she doesn't feel embarrassed you are still in bed! She could clean the oven, kitchen thoroughly, and do ironing for you.

Maybe she could start at a later time in the holidays, but bear in mind she will probably have other clients to strat after you, also a later start will mean reduced wages which is not fair unless it is agreed in advance.

[boomting]

She still has bills to pay in the school holidays y'know. Cancelling tomorrow and not paying her would really be beyond the pale (I've had it done to me before, and it has caused me some major problems).

It seems that much of the problem arises from what time she comes in in the morning. Could you renegotiate that to another mutually convenient time that's later in the day?

[Ephiny]

I agree with what most people have said. You would be unreasonable to cancel at such short notice, unless it was a real/unavoidable emergency. Not just because you/your children don't want to get out of bed.

For future school holidays, maybe you could make different arrangements. She might be able to come later in the day, for example. Or term-time only might be a possibility, but I would have thought you'd need more cleaning not less with the children at home full-time!

[Autumnalis]

People manage their money in different ways. Some people prefer the PAYG option rather than lifetime membership!

[Booyhoo]

"She costs loads and I can't afford to pay her for nothing."

bullshit!

if you can afford to pay her when she does come then you can afford it if she doesn't as you had that money set aside for her anyway.

[ImaginateMum]

Maybe I am not quite with it, but it seems to me that "I can afford the money for work done but not for no work" doesn't actually make any sense unless you are going to pay a different cleaner to then do the work?

I am with the others that think cancelling at short notice because you don't want to get out of bed is not really on and that you should pay.

[Revelsarethebest]

Its fine to have her term time only providing that you clean when shes not there.

It would be very unfair to not clean when shes not there and then when she comes back when its term time she then has double/triple the amount of dirt to deal with

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

The issue here is not the cleaner cancelling it's that it doesn't suit the OP. Give and take is 2 way. Of course nobody expects to be handed money for nothing. The cleaner has a booking so is ready to honour it and be paid accordingly.

[TheUnsinkableTitanic]

i would get her to deep clean downstairs (will make you tidy it up today so she can get a good go at it)

thats what i plan to do :)

[PumpkinPositive]

If the cleaner can't make it she will surely re-schedule rather than send someone else in at the same time etc.

Maybe the cleaner is very busy and no other time would suit? (As is the case in my line of work). If client wanted to cancel me and rebook at some other time, they would be looking at paying 2 charges.

[Autumnalis]

If the cleaner can't make it she will surely re-schedule rather than send someone else in at the same time etc. I can afford the money for work done but not for no work. As mentioned above, it's give and take on both sides, whatever works for each pair.

[middleagedspread]

It's a tricky one. On one hand you want the house to be clean but you also need the space & time to tidy up so that she can do her job.
Why not blitz down stairs tonight & get her to just do the rooms she can tomorrow?
IME most cleaners are flexible & used to homes with sleeping children.
I would definitely pay her if you decide to cancel though.

[myfirstkitchen]

If you can afford a cleaner you can afford to pay then when you cancel at short notice.
If you work as a cleaner I doubt you can afford to loose money (especially just after Christmas and with a child!) because your employer doesn't want to get out of bed

It probably hits her hard if she cancels because her or dc are ill too but that's her decision.

If you don't want her to work at least give enough notice so she can make up the shortfall by taking on extra work etc. for all you know another client could of asked for more hours due to having relatives stay in usually unused spare rooms etc but she turned it down because you already booked her.

[PumpkinPositive]

I am self employed and it's standard in my particular industry to have a cancellation policy (less than 5 working days notice = full fee, between 6-9 days = half fee, 10 days or more = no charge). This is to take account of the fact it would be difficult for the person to pick up other work within 5 days to "replace" the cancelled assignment.

Unless your cleaner is likely to be able to find another client to fill your slot tomorrow, it would be most unreasonable to cancel her at this late stage without pay because your family want a lie in. This is this woman's livelihood - she may be depending on this money.

I think the old principle "do unto others" applies here.

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

I have a friend who cleans and she has a rota for clients, she has school age children herself so appreciates organising things in advance so she can arrange her own childcare. If a client prefers not to have her round during school holidays there is sometimes an arrangement by which my friend takes home ironing to do instead. If my friend has to cancel at short notice she will try her best to arrange an agreed alternative date or even introduce a back up cleaner to ensure the client is not inconvenienced. It seems only reasonable to expect the same level of consideration in return. Ideally this is sorted out at the beginning of employment.