in not paying cleaner due to snow

[dietingagainandagain]

Not long had a cleaner so not sure what the done thing is. Also we are not loaded and this is definitely a luxury.

Anyway due to the snow the lady wasn't able to come out last week.
Should we pay anyway for the missed week?

I go through a company and pay them a proportion by bank transfer but leave most of the payment in cash for the actual lady who comes. There isn't any contract as such.

I think paying is the right thing to do but DH thinks we shouldn't. Who is right?

We paid our cleaner as it wasn't her fault, not sure if that is the norm though.

I think you'd have budgeted for it anyway and it's nice to be nice. She couldn't help the snow. I've been a cleaner and trust me, we're never doing it unless we're desperate. I'm sure most will disagree with me here but I think it's a nice gesture.

Oh I don't know actually, most jobs will pay their staff but if you don't have a contract and you just pay as you go you probably don't have to, it's probably more of a moral issue I suppose

I think paying would be a nice thing to do.

Your cleaner almost certainly needs the money more than you do.
It engenders good will to be a nice employer.

Well obviously not. She didn't come and clean. So she doesn't get paid. I don't really see the issue

If she's working for the company that you pay then it's up to them to pay her.
If she's self employed then I don't know any self employed person who is paid for time off (for whatever reason that is)
If you employ her yourself then yes you should probably pay her, but don't have to.

I did,you are not under any legal obligation but to me it is the right thing to do
I have no doubt my lay will work extra hard this week,(she will have to tbf) and a bit of come and go goes a long way

The company should pay her - she isn’t your employee, she’s theirs. That’s part of the price of being an employer.

I'd pay, and I'd resolve the odd set up where you pay some to a company and some in cash to the cleaner herself

Self employed cleaner here!! I am hoping my customers are paying me this week for last week also!! Except the tight git who won't pay me the days he forgets I am going and leaves a key in the back of the door! (owns own world wide company - paid cash for his latest car!!)

Your cleaner almost certainly needs the money more than you do

How do you know that?

I would pay without question. She might be reliant on that money. If she's a regular cleaner for you, it builds goodwill and makes her feel appreciated.

As pp said, you've budgeted for it,so it would be kind to pay it.You will get the benefit if she is a decent person; likely to put herself out for you.Not that that is why it's nice to do it.
You could ask if she can do a little extra for you next time if you really need to.

We didn’t. But she frequently cancels short notice and we’ve never had an issue with her not being able to turn up so it works both way. I think it really depends.

It would be nice to pay her wouldn't it ? Iam assuming she is selfemployed you could offer her some payment wasn't her fault she couldn't get to work.

But she didn't clean so why should she get paid? I'm self employed and could not get to clients last week. I would not expect them to pay me for a job I didn't do.

I would pay her.

I only pay my cleaner when she cleans, there's times when she doesn't get here because her kids are ill or we are ill and she doesn't want to risk catching it. She doesn't expect payment if she doesn't do the job. She also does ironing from home so probably does that instead when she doesn't get here, maybe your cleaner does other work as well?

Pay her half for last week.

Mis read she works for a company but you pay her cash in hand pay her

April you choose to be self employed so you have to take the risks & costs that come with that, not just the benefits. You didn’t work last week, so you have no entitlement to be paid. Expecting your clients to pay is beyond the pail. If you’d booked an electrician to come out and do some rewiring last week but they hadn’t come, would you still pay them?

dieting it would depend on the cleaner tbh. Our old cleaner I would have because she was fab, reliable, lovely and self employed. If, like you, I was going through an agency, no, I wouldn't. You’ve got a contract with them that they didn’t fill. Paying their staff is their issue. I’d refuse to pay the cleaner cash each week too.

Difficult but as I don't get paid if I don't work (in a fairly professional role but would be expected to take a day's holiday for the snow) then I wouldn't. I don't have a cleaner as they charge more than I earn per hour generally so this is hypothetical.

We paid our cleaner. She will have lost a lot of income last week and I didn’t want to contribute to that. She still has bills to pay and it a small gesture of goodwill from us under the circumstances.

I would pay her. Different if you've got someone generally unreliable, but if she's good and you like having her around, I'd part with the cash.