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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To only pay cleaner for what she worked

99 replies

confuddledconfudle · 18/03/2018 11:17

I am not sure if I Abu or not.

I've hired a new cleaner. She came once, house looked good. Next week she couldn't make it due to snow. I still paid her for this week. The week after she cleaned but I noticed she had just cleaned round things and there were crumbs baby had left under hallway table.
So getting to this week, I happened to be at home. She is hired to do 2 hours. She arrived at 11.45, I went out at 12. Before I left I asked if she ever had any left over time could she clean cupboard doors and windows.
After I left I realised I hadn't left money out for her so I did what I needed to do and rushed home. I was home for 13:20 and she was gone. I phoned her and apologised for forgetting to leave out the money and how can I get it to her. Explained I had rushed home trying to get her before she left. She said she left about 10 minutes ago. She asked me to do bank transfer or it could wait until next week. Cupboard doors and windows are not cleaned.

I then messaged her asking if she could confirm she was only there for an hour and a half (11.45-13.10). She said she didn't know but was there until after 1 and I could only pay her for the hour and a half if I wanted.

AIBU to only pay her for an hr and a half?

OP posts:

Eltonjohnssyrup · 18/03/2018 12:55

But the OP had agreed to leave the money. She hadn’t made the payment as agreed. We all have mobile phones these days. If the OP was genuine she would have texted straight away and explained the situation and that she would be back with the money.

Absolutely no excuse for not contacting the cleaner as soon as she realised her mistake.

The cleaner should have left immediately when she saw she had not been paid.

I wonder how many of the people posting on this thread would turn up at work and do their job when they weren’t being paid as agreed?

Just because someone is a cleaner doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to be treated with respect and be paid as agreed.

If you can’t be bothered to pay an employee as agreed then you have to have a fucking huuuuuge brass neck and sense of entitlement to complain that they have not done their job as agreed.

Mummyoflittledragon · 18/03/2018 12:57

Next time, get the key back first. This is what I did with the cleaner. I made up an excuse about needing it. Then sacked her through her employer after she’d left for the day.

starfishmummy · 18/03/2018 12:58

But the cleaner wasn't due to be paid until she had actually done the 2 hrs work...ie at 13.45, and the op was back before that.

Original poster

confuddledconfudle · 18/03/2018 12:59

@Eltonjohnssyrup are you in some sort of employment that pays you before you do the work? I don't get paid until the end of the month of doing my job, so how is that any different? The agreement I have is that she is paid at the end of the two hours. If she hadn't left early she would have been paid for her 2 hours as agreed. Plus I have additionally paid her for 2 hours she didn't work when she cancelled on me. So she knows that I will pay!

I think you are just trying to be a troll and will not be engaging with you any further.

She was recommended to me. :-(

OP posts:

GnotherGnu · 18/03/2018 13:00

Elton, as at the time the cleaner left, OP had not failed to leave the money. There's no suggestion that the cleaner was supposed to be paid in advance, and obviously that isn't normal practice for clean ers.

Original poster

confuddledconfudle · 18/03/2018 13:01

I don't really want to sack her, as I do believe in second chances and I really hope that I am not going to be eating my words (which I think I may be from all your experiences).
She said she understands and will keep an eye on the time in future.

I will be on maternity shortly so will be around more often to see what's going on.

OP posts:

Eltonjohnssyrup · 18/03/2018 13:04

But you agreed to leave the money for her. You didn’t. You buggered off out and when you realised your mistake you didn’t even have the decency to contact her and explain the situation.

You did not pay her as agreed. You did not take reasonable steps to inform her of alternative plans.

And you’re whinging she breached YOUR trust? The levels of fucking entitlement of some people on here are ludicrous.

Original poster

confuddledconfudle · 18/03/2018 13:06

@Eltonjohnssyrup I did pay her as agreed. Her money was there at the end of her 2 hour shift.
Not my fault she wasn't there to pick it up. :-)

OP posts:

Viviennemary · 18/03/2018 13:06

You were quite generous paying her when it snowed even though she had only been with you for a week. I think she was cheeky leaving early. She should have done a bit extra I think since you paid her the week before for nothing. I don't think it's only just time worked. I had a hopeless cleaner once and she just got worse and worse but she was a kind of friend so it was difficult to get rid of her.

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 18/03/2018 13:08

Ignore eltonjohnssyrup - she'd argue black was white if it meant she could be a twat.

I'd go round and get your key for your peace of mind.

himalayansalt · 18/03/2018 13:10

You are being really silly EltonJohnsSyrup.

juneau · 18/03/2018 13:10

She sounds like a piss-taker tbh and after many years' experience with cleaners I'd say you've got to nip this in the bud now - or be prepared to look for a new cleaner. If she is contracted to work for 2 hours and you're paying her to work for 2 hours, then it needs to be clear that you expect her to be there for 2 hours unless she requests to work less time, you agree and then pay her for less time. If you start off by being lax and not calling her out on cutting corners and leaving early she'll only get worse as time goes on. You need to be clear, unambiguous, fair, but firm. She is employed by you at an hourly rate and she should be doing as contracted or you will terminate that contract. End of story.

IThinkThatsWeird · 18/03/2018 13:10

Elton. Not sure if you are being deliberately obtuse or not but the OP was back in time to pay the cleaner before she was due to finish work. The OP did nothing wrong.

Original poster

confuddledconfudle · 18/03/2018 13:11

Thanks everyone - I really don't like confrontation so it helps to know that you all think the same.

OP posts:

deeohgee · 18/03/2018 13:17

I know for a fact that some weeks my cleaner doesn’t stay for the full 3 hours. I leave her with cleaning and laundry that would take me 3 hours. Some weeks it takes her 3 hours, some weeks she has an appointment and will run around like a mad lady, almost killing herself dashing around, she will do the same amount of work but it will take her 2.5 hours instead.
If she was cutting corners and leaving things dirty then I’d complain, but as it’s still the same standard as usual I don’t say anything.

Enwi · 18/03/2018 13:19

I’d get rid. My MIL had a cleaner who did this. She had had her for a couple of months before DP and I came to stay with her for a week. We were upstairs one day (still in bed as we were working nights at the time) and heard the cleaner arrive at 13:00, hoover the hallway and lounge and leave at 13:20. We thought nothing of it and didn’t mention anything until MIL came home and commented that the cleaner had been here for 3 hours, did she wake us up. Ummm, yes for the 20 mins she was there! She had taken the money by the door for the 3 hours too. MIL rang and asked if all was OK, And the cleaner said all was fine but she had struggled to fit everything in in the 3 hours, but she was happy to come again the next day and do another 3 for 3 more hours pay!!

Dvg · 18/03/2018 13:20

Some people are really stupid, that elton person is obviously just not that smart and doesnt understand.

If i was you i would be paying close attention to how long she is actually there for every day.

juneau · 18/03/2018 13:20

And I'm not a fan of the 'rushing around like a mad woman' scenario. If she finishes early then she should find something else that needs doing - like doing the cleaning of cupboards, etc, that you'd asked her to do. Having an appointment that means she cannot fulfil her work to you in the hours contracted is not acceptable unless it is agreed in advance. If she has an appointment then she should make up the time by arriving early or coming on a different day.

Serialweightwatcher · 18/03/2018 13:24

So the cleaner is supposed to be paid before she works??? She was supposed to do 2 hours and still had 25 mins left to go when OP came back with the money and had apparently left 10 mins prior to that - she is a CF ... some people just like to talk rubbish for the sake of it on here to cause more upset

5BlueHydrangea · 18/03/2018 13:25

I think she was very cheeky leaving early when you'd already paid her for a week of doing nothing, especially when she had just started with you. Don't think I would have..

I have a good friend who is blind. She used to live in sheltered accommodation, in a small one bed flat. She had a cleaner for a while who had been recommended by someone where she lived. I went to her flat and saw a bag containing electrical equipment which had what was clearly several months worth of dust on it. Also it didn't look as though any bottles in the shower ever got moved when it was cleaned as they had clear marks where they lived. I wrote a note to her on behalf of my friend saying how unhappy we were, and she went mad!! Came round (I wasn't there) and had a go friend saying how good a cleaner she was etc Refused to come back which I think was a good thing. Makes me wonder how many blind/partially sighted people living there that she 'cleaned' for and just took their money for doing not a lot! Disgusting abuse of trust.

Eltonjohnssyrup · 18/03/2018 13:28

Suggesting you pay your staff as previously agreed is ‘trolling’. Nice.

One of the biggest ironies is that there are people on this thread arguing that not paying your staff as agreed is fine, but that worker not doing work they hadn’t been paid for in the manner previously agreed as a verbal contract is terrible, who genuinely believe they are socialists and spend half their time flashing their left wing credentials and virtue signalling about what good lefties they are. Fucking joke.

BarryTheKestrel · 18/03/2018 13:29

For all the cleaner knew the OP had just popped to the cash point to get some cash to pay her Elton

If the OP wasn't at home I'd understand leaving the money on the side, but seeing as she was at home there was no need to leave it on the side and not just hand it over at the end of the 2 hours. The OP was gone for less time than the cleaner was contracted to be there, so the cleaner frankly should have done her job and stayed for the contracted time, then she would have been paid. Instead she left half an hour early with no reason and hadn't actually done what she was being paid for anyway.

Eltonjohnssyrup · 18/03/2018 13:31

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

MyBeloved · 18/03/2018 13:33

Huh? This thread has gone a bit strange!

For the record, I've never paid a cleaner in advance - only once she had finished!

Alabama3 · 18/03/2018 13:38

eltonjohnssyrup cleaner gets paid at the end of her shift. The money was there at the end of her shift.... comprendez? she wasnt there at the end of her shift, because she had buggered off early

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