to expect social worker to...

[elliesm98]

To expect my child’s social worker (male, wears work boots) to offer to take his shoes off when he comes in when he knows I’ve just had carpets fitted. Or at least take them off when he goes upstairs to nose at the bedrooms

It's incredibly rude to ask people to take off their shoes. Don't do it.

Invest in boot covers. Nobody comes into my flat with shoes on except in an emergency. And i've had HV/MW/SW through my door over the years; all without exception have either removed shoes or put covers on. Even my MW when I had a home birth funnily enough. Not arsed how people view that, it is mine & my children's home, if people don't want to follow the basics they can stand at the door

Weirdly our one always does it and I’m not even that fussed 😂
But she doesn’t go snooping around my bedrooms 🤷‍♀️So maybe our reasons for needing one are different.

Yabu to expect. Ywnbu to ask.

Like social care workers he should be provided with overshoes to wear by his employers. Very bad manners to walk on your carpets in his outdoor shoes.

I won't remove my shoes (Health & Safety, I work with scalpels) but I will always wipe my feet / use shoecovers if asked (I carry with me) or if its manky weather I will put them on as a matter of course, or if the house is a "Wipe your feet on the way out" scenario. .

They are though a hazard on hard floors.

My ds had a Social Worker because we were in the process of adopting him. His Social Worker made regular visits to check how he was settling in with us and also used to go upstairs to have a look at his bedroom and it gave him the opportunity to chat privately to my ds. We all take our shoes off but I would never have had the nerve to ask him or anyone else to take their shoes off, I just hoped they would wipe their shoes on the entrance mat. The Social Worker used to sit on our leather settee writing notes and getting biro all over the settee (I still never said anything) then one day around 6 Social Workers had a meeting at our house and I put some chocolate biscuits out - only a couple were eaten so at the end of the meeting my son's social worker picked the plate up and tipped the whole lot into his bag without asking - I definitely got the impression he was taking advantage of us as he knew we were so desperate for the adoption to go through and for him to give us a good report that we would have put up with anything!!

Social workers are likely to need to be make swift exits from certain situations, so it's probably not common practice for them to remove their shoes.

Social workers are based in offices when they aren't visiting people or at meetings, so his shoes won't be particularly dirty.

Personally I'd just hoover up after he has been, or ask him to wipe his feet on the mat as he comes in.

Kiki unsure why you're asking Did you ever have a social worker visit your house and want to inspect your child’s bedroom? but to answer, No, we didn't

I have a social worker involved due to me being a care leaver, he’s not under child protection or child in need. He’s technically not a social worker, he’s a care leaver worker but works under social services
He knows I have new carpets fitted as he was the one that fitted them

Are you the same OP who had a call from ss at 6pm and decided not to disclose any information about yourself? and were having new carpets put down?
Sorry if you're not but other wize he probably kept them on just incase he had to make a very swift exit

I don’t want to look at some random’s socks. Prefer my guests to keep them on.

I was always slightly taken aback when HVs used to offer to take their shoes off.

Your support worker fitted your carpets? What?!!

I do expect people to take their shoes off, yes. I like them to ask.

So it's not a social worker!?

Shoes, no shoes..you decide.

Tell him to or he's not coming in.

A family support worker is basically a we, they just tend to offer a supporting role hence helping to fit carpets rather than stepping in because problems need solving.. Which a sw would do.

@justletmesleep1 no lol

It's incredibly rude to ask people to take off their shoes. Don't do it

Oh for god's sake! This is why women on these threads never assert themselves!
If someone is coming into your home then you of course can ask them to remove their shoes if that is your preference!

If they are Doc Martens, YABVU. Those things take about 20 mins to unlace enough to get your foot out.

I'm sure they're not meant to take their shoes off. Just like doctors aren't meant to if doing home visits, psychiatrists doing home visits etc. It's a security problem and training (for psych,definitely) is not to remove shoes.

I think most professionals can tell whether you are the sort that is likely to pull a knife fairly quickly.

I'm not a social worker but work with families with complex needs and do a lot of lone working, home visits etc.
The closest I have ever come to being seriously assaulted at work was during a home visit to someone I had known for years, they had no history of violence that I was aware of and we had always had a good relationship. I ended up having to escape by climbing out of a bathroom window. So I'm sorry OP but no way would I ever take off my shoes during a home visit, no matter how low risk the client appeared to be. Even if you the person you are visiting is low risk, a friend, family member, neighbour, maybe ex partner may turn up unexpectedly during your visit and you're unlikely to have included them in your risk assessment.

and why is it relevant to the thread to ask why the OP has a social worker?

If the SW doesn't want to remove their shoes for safety then they can politley decline when the OP politely asks.

Some people think it’s rude to not offer to take your shoes off. Some people think it’s rude to be asked to take their shoes off. I say, your house, your rules, their house, their rules. People aren’t mind readers though, so you may need to ask.

Unless it’s an emergency, I don’t think the fact a person is a professional should make a difference tbh. Being a professional has no impact on how dirty, or clean, your shoes may be.