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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in not paying cleaner due to snow

212 replies

dietingagainandagain · 05/03/2018 12:34

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?

OP posts:
saoirsesoige · 05/03/2018 16:48

If she was paid a wage by the company, why would OP pay her in cash? Doesn't make sense. Obviously the agency takes their fee and the cleaner gets paid by OP, not by the company.

UpSideDownBrain · 05/03/2018 16:58

I'm self employed, but not a cleaner.
If I do not do the work, I do not get paid. It's really simple.
If I am ill, I do not get paid.
If I am on holiday, I do not get paid.
If I can't get there for any reason, I do not get paid.
It is my responsibility to get to the job and do the work. If I can't, I don't expect anyone else to foot the bill.

CoffeeOrSleep · 05/03/2018 16:59

Possibly, or else that's how the OP agreed to settle the bill. Its not clear, that's all. It's worth a call to sort out. If the OP's money doesn't just go in the cleaner's pocket, but back to the agency, then it's a completely different issue. I've not heard of an arrangement like this before, usually you either pay a cleaning company, or you pay the cleaner directly - to do both is odd.

personally, I wouldn't want to use a company that didn't pay it's staff when they couldn't work due to the snow. (or sickness) On the other hand, if someone is self employed, I'd rather only deal with them.

UpSideDownBrain · 05/03/2018 17:03

This is a common way for an agency to work. You pay them a monthly fee for finding and vetting the cleaner, providing insurance, and providing cover if your usual cleaner is away. You then pay the cleaner for her work.

katronfon · 05/03/2018 17:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

stargirl1701 · 05/03/2018 17:08

I always have paid missed weeks through weather or illness. I get paid if I'm sick or snowed in.

PatchworkElmer · 05/03/2018 17:14

Honestly, it wouldn’t occur to me to pay our cleaner in this scenario. But then I don’t get paid for snow days either.

katronfon · 05/03/2018 17:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Married3Children · 05/03/2018 17:15

star and I imagine you are employed and not self employed.
That’s one the perk of being employed. You get paid whe; you are ill or when in hols.
That never happens when you are self employed.

Think about it, bar cleaners, would you pay a physiotherapist for a missed appointment because of the snow? Or your hairdresser? Or the woman who does your nails?
I mean quite a few of them will be self employed but I doubt you would pay for your cancel appointment.
Why is it so different with a cleaner? These people need the money just as much and a lot of them make just as much (little) money as a cleaner.....

SilkyBlack · 05/03/2018 17:18

My mate WALKED 2 miles in the snow last week to her cleaning job as she was desperate for the money.

Turned up to find clients at home and they asked her not to clean as they were home. Sent her off with no payment and no concern she was walking back home. Some people are just cunts.

PatchworkElmer · 05/03/2018 17:20

Silky that’s awful!

UpSideDownBrain · 05/03/2018 17:20

When you are self-employed, not being paid for work you haven't done is the norm, not the exception. I don't pay my cleaner when she cancels, and I don't pay her when I cancel. If you want sick and holiday pay then you need to work for an employer.
But there are lots of other benefits to being self employed that compensate for this. I never have to phone in when I am sick, worry about booking holidays or that there is holiday cover. If I don't like someone, I don't work for them. I choose my own hours. I've never worked Xmas day.
I agree with other posters - if you think she needs the cash, then offer her a way to make up the hours.

UpSideDownBrain · 05/03/2018 17:22

SilkyBlack - that's just awful. AngryAngryAngry

MotherofaSurvivor · 05/03/2018 17:31

I think a portion of it is sensible. You couldn't help the snow either? What if you work in a zero hours job or another job that doesn't pay you for not being able to get to work due to Snow? Then you don't have the cash to pay her?

My mum does 2 hours a week for a lady she knows (despite being 73 herself!!!! I know...) so I just asked her this as I am visiting her right now. She's just laughed and said "Don't be daft! I wouldn't want them to, I'd feel guilty. Not their fault it snowed was it?!"

MotherofaSurvivor · 05/03/2018 17:36

@SilkyBlack PLEASE tell me she isn't going to clean for them again?!

PossiblyPFB · 05/03/2018 17:36

We pay ours (they are self employed) regardless of its not their fault they can’t come. We also pay when they are taking holiday- our choice. But we prefer to err on the side of generosity as they have been with us for many years. When they feel we have been overly generous they offer to do small jobs around the house etc so it all balances out in the end. Smile

stargirl1701 · 05/03/2018 17:42

I am employed, yes. I see no reason not to pay my cleaner. It's not her fault she can't get to me. I value her. I show this through paying her even when I 'technically' don't need to.

Original poster
dietingagainandagain · 05/03/2018 21:07

So I've checked with the company and she won't get paid by then. Their 'cut' is to provide insurance and vetting. It's frustrating as I'd rather just pay someone direct in full and I wasn't sure about the payment set up when I signed up but assumed it was normal.

For context it's £20 a week to the lady who comes and £19 a week to the company so it's frustrating that they get a large slice which could go to the cleaner for not really doing much.

It's a fairly new arrangement and so I'll wait until I know her better (which could take a while as I'm always out when she's here) and see if she wants to come to a direct arrangement.

Back to the original dilema I think I'll ask her if she can do a bit extra and I'll leave 2 weeks money.

Ps silky that is awful behaviour. Your poor friend

OP posts:
Alisvolatpropiis · 05/03/2018 21:11

I wouldn’t pay her.

The company I work for (large, multimillion pound) didn’t pay any staff who didn’t attend work during the snow. They didn’t work, why would they be paid?

tillytrotter1 · 05/03/2018 21:16

I recall when our first baby was born I came home from hospital on the day our cleaner came. She coo-ed over the baby, this was in a Hispanic country and we had almost no language in common. When I managed to mention money for the previous week that I'd been away, she held her hands up No trabajar, no dinero, No work, no money. I thought Oh hell, he's forgotten to pay her and she's on strike, I reached for my purse. Apparently though he'd hardly ever been home, eating at the Mess or friends' flats, that there'd been no work to do so she didn't want paying. Eventually I managed to get her to take it, from la nina, from the baby.

oblada · 05/03/2018 21:24

Star - most employees do not get paid for odd days off (aside from statutory sick pay after 3 days etc) or being snowed in...

I wouldn't pay. I prefer to pay a fair amount but only pay when she comes. thats the deal really with self employment... Would you pay an electrician who has been snowed in? A surveyor who is off sick? The coffee shop for that coffee you could not get because they closed/you were off? The dog walker, window cleaner, gardener? Would you be happy paying your broadband bill if the cables have been damages and they can't repair them for a couple of months? The taxi driver who has had an accident on the way? It's crazy really! No work no pay that's how business works.

FreudianSlurp · 05/03/2018 21:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

burdog · 05/03/2018 21:41

I wouldn't (our dog walker couldn't come so won't charge us for the missed days) unless there's something in the contract that means you have to pay.

user1472333009 · 05/03/2018 21:43

I'd have told them to stick it silky. I have a few thoughtless clients & am in the process of finding new ones & sacking them.

If I turned up this week to my clients who I Missed last week because of the snow & they'd left me last week's money I'd be very, very shocked!! I think I'd feel a bit awkward too, getting paid for work I hadn't done.

AdaColeman · 05/03/2018 21:50

I've paid the cleaner in similar circumstances.

I see it as a way of helping her, and of forming a good trusting relationship with her.