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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:
RedForFilth · 05/03/2018 21:56

Loads of people saying they wouldn't get paid so why should she get paid. I think the opposite! I don't get paid for events out of my control such as snow or sickness, so I would pay her because I know how unfair if feels. Not that I can afford a cleaner anyway!

pringlecat · 05/03/2018 21:57

I wouldn't pay someone for cancelling a service they were supposed to provide to me. I would however offer them the opportunity to reschedule and get paid, which I think is reasonable.

If I cancelled at short notice (or per the terms of our agreement, if there were such terms), I would of course pay. Because that would be on me.

givemesteel · 05/03/2018 21:58

I would pay but get her to do some extra jobs that don't usually get done (oven, indoor windows, ironing.... Whatever you need) abs give her the option of doing an extra hour a week / 1.5 or all at once.

I do this when we go on holiday so they don't lose out, but I don't think you should have to pay for work that wasn't done.

Alisvolatpropiis · 05/03/2018 23:11

Red

I’m one of those people and actually, on reflection, you are right and I was wrong in my thinking.

Thelampshadelady · 05/03/2018 23:16

I’m Self employed. All of my customers cancelled due to the snow and won’t pay so I didn’t earn anything on those days. (I accept that prt of being self employed)
So I’d be inclined to say don’t pay her. She didn’t carry out the work.

Eveforever · 05/03/2018 23:32

My mum is a cleaner and has a job were they have cancelled her with hardly any notice on a number of occasions and she has not been paid. To make matters worse when she arrives the following week it is clear she has two weeks of work to clean for one weeks money! They have dogs and it is clear that they don't hover between her visits...

I think paying your cleaner and asking her to do a bit extra next time she comes in a decent compromise. I've been struggling financially recently, so if I were your cleaner you'd certainly be establishing some goodwill with me. I think you're doing the right thing.

katronfon · 05/03/2018 23:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

user1472333009 · 06/03/2018 06:48

I have a few like that eveforever. They laid me off over Christmas then when I went back one said "I've done nothing while you've been off you you'll have extra to do" I nearly told her to fuck off!
I'll be sacking her as soon as something else comes along.

manilaIce · 06/03/2018 06:55

We would pay. We do so because she wouldn't take the piss. If she says she can't make it then she can't.

If you think the same then you should pay. If she didn't come due to laziness then don't.

OVienna · 06/03/2018 07:03

I realise this isn't the only test HMRC would use but isn't there a chance at some point the cleaner might be deemed your employee? If you paid regardless of whether the work was done and for holidays (which I have seen people do.) I don't know. Just genuinely curious.

SilkyBlack · 06/03/2018 07:13

Yes she’s going to go back. She has to, needs her 16 hrs which is made up of around 3 different jobs.

Her clients are awful, she’s a headteacher fgs!

stargirl1701 · 06/03/2018 08:51

@oblada

Teachers get full pay as sick pay for 6 months. We get paid for snow days.

oblada · 06/03/2018 08:57

Star - lucky teachers lol but in the private sector (and sometimes even public) it is v much the exception.

BigGreenOlives · 06/03/2018 09:05

I paid our cleaner. She has worked here for 9 years and has our keys.

Peanutbuttercheese · 06/03/2018 09:37

I would look to getting a cleaner you can pay directly as it looks like almost 50% of what you pay is just in fees. I'm interested in the hours she works for her £20. Where I live that would be roughly two hours cleaning.

I wouldn't pay but I would offer if they wanted when the snow cleared the hours missed over the following couple of weeks by arrangement.

LeighaJ · 06/03/2018 09:43

teaiseverything

"I think you'd have budgeted for it anyway and it's nice to be nice. She couldn't help the snow."

I agree with that and others, paying her seems like the fair thing to do even if there's no contract requiring you to.

purplebunny2012 · 06/03/2018 17:28

If I can't work from home and have no annual leave left and can't get to work, I have to take it unpaid. Why would you pay someone who didn't work?

Theluckynumberthree · 06/03/2018 17:46

‘She needs it more than you fo’

My sister is a cleaner and earns £10 an hour- that’s more than I earn!

Oscarsdaddy · 06/03/2018 17:49

Not quite sure your arrangement here. You say you go through a company and pay by bank transfer but pay the majority to her in cash.

To me that’s a weird arrangement. What’s to stop you cutting out the company and paying her cash in hand directly?

I would say don’t pay. You didn’t get the service last week so why pay for it?

Ssarah39 · 06/03/2018 17:56

The simple answer to that is no. If she was unable to work due to a cold would you still pay her? Probably not. My husband managed to get to work when it was snowing, if he didn't go in he wouldn't get paid. It sounds as if she is working self employed through an agency, so the risks of not being able to work, for whatever reason, is something she needs to accept and plan for.

HowsAnnie25 · 06/03/2018 18:05

I get paid hourly in a job I have been doing for 22 years and I won't be paid for the snow day I had last week. I didn't go in but the premises were still open so I'm not entitled to be paid. I work at an accountants and I'm pretty sure all our clients wouldn't be charging people for work not done due to snow either. For example a tennis court company often gets rained off as they can't paint the lines in the rain but they don't still charge the client.

GUMBYMUMBY · 06/03/2018 18:06

I would not pay... she didn't clean the place.

SarahJJBrown · 06/03/2018 18:08

It happened to us but our cleaner always finds a way of making up the clean or refunds us the money. It could be that you pay half but I would talk to the company first to find out the policy and the cleaner for her preference.

ToftyAC · 06/03/2018 18:13

Hmmm... I see what others are saying, but I personally would only pay for time worked. I pay my childminder if my DS2 can’t attend, but there is a contract in place for that.

BabychamSocialist · 06/03/2018 18:15

I would have. A) Because I would have budgeted for it and B) It makes you look nice and they might go the extra mile in the future because you've done that.