AIBU to expect my cleaner to stay for the time I've paid for?

[pintsizedblondie]

I'm on half term this week and my fortnightly cleaning slot fell on the Friday of me being off.

My cleaner arrived at 9.30am for her 3 hour slot. I told her that I'd keep out of her way in the living room and that she didn't need to do that room with me being in it.

At 12.05, I heard the door go and low and behold the cleaner has left. She technically still had 25 minutes left that I'd paid for.

AIBU to expect that, despite her not doing one of the normal rooms she usually does, that she should have used the 25 minutes for a task she doesn't normally do/get time for, or at least that she'd asked if I wanted anything else doing before leaving?

Not sure whether to mention it to the lady who owns the cleaning business or not.

Also makes me wonder if she's leaving early when I'm there what is she doing when I'm not…

I have had a number of cleaners over the years, all through agencies, I have only had one who did her full hours. Currently searching for a new agency as this one always leaves half an hour early.

If the rest of the cleaning was done to a good standard I would let it go.
Its always more difficult for a cleaner when the home owner is at home.

Yeah she should probably have popped her head round the door and asked if you needed anything else done. I think YABU to doubt what she’s doing the other times she comes though, it would seem to me if she usually does the living room as well she will do the full 3 hours.

I was off one day and our cleaner asked if she could leave early half hour (paid for 3 hours) to pick up her son from nursery. Said yes of course but then it dawned on me she must do this every week or who else picks him up? So I checked our alarm (it logs people in and out) sure enough some days she stayed only an hour!!!
It's not like she'd finished cleaning as often she hadn't done things or text to say she hadn't had time to iron etc, to which I felt guilty for giving her too much to do!!!

Ended up getting rid. She asked for a reference and I said I'd provide one but then she never took me up on it....wonder why!

This is the reason why I stopped having a cleaner. In my experience, all three I had did it - and no, I wasn't paying for the job irrespective of how long it took

For those saying you're unreasonable, try it yourself at work if you're able to. Your boss pays you 9-5 but just try sloping off at 4.25 and see how that goes down

This is such a problem with some cleaners. I also had one bring her kid ( I came back early), another was turning up late and leaving early and also jobs not being done properly

I just don't trust one now

Yes if I was paying for 3 hours I would expect the cleaner to be there 3 hours. She should have come to you and asked what else needs doing for the last half hour.

I think it's cheeky and no other employees do this. If they want a job and finish they should openly negotiate it. It isn't her job to decide that one room less equals an early day.

My cleaner regularly did this too. Stop it now-mine actually mentioned it and said it was a one off, but then kept doing it. They're testing the water to see what they can get away with. Pay her properly of course. Then tell her that it's 3 hours and you have a backlog of irregular jobs for if she has spare time. Then if you can't trust her to stay, get someone else.

I think you should let it go this time. You both have different expectations of what not doing the lounge meant, she clearly thought that 1 less task meant she had done all her usual jobs so was finished, you'd have rather some extra jobs been done.

I'm a cleaner and I work to fill the time, if I've finished the homeowners specified jobs early I find something to do, theres always more that can be done but some of my clients have been surprised by that because other cleaners they've had leave as soon as tasks are completed.

Our cleaner did this, and to be honest, it didn't occur to me to mind.

We paid $xx for 2 hours, but she was in and out in much less than this. I figured, if she got through the tasks sooner, so much the better.

But actually, there was a lot of stuff that didn't get done that could've been, in that extra time.

We had our kitchen renovated over Christmas, so she didn't come in over that time and we all got into a fairly good routine keeping the house clean. We ended up ending things with this cleaner for another reason, but now I'm inclined to think, well, if we get another cleaner, I'm going to want assurance that they will work for the time I'm paying them for, and if they get to the point of doing the job faster, what will they add into the clean to make up that extra time?

I feel like that is being vaguely exploitative, but actually, it's not, is it? As PPs have pointed out, in any other job, you don't get to head off early. You work for the hours expected of you. Why is this a 'perk' reserved just for cleaners?

I think it was a communication error in this case rather than her being a CF.

If she was regularly leaving earlier than the paid for time it would be piss taking. Here you asked her not to do one room and she assumed that that = finishing early, whereas you intended her to check in about other tasks. I think you are both partly to blame for not being clearer.

@Mmmmbrekkie I had been using her for 5 years, and never once checked the cameras to monitor her until my neighbour mentioned. We have signs both internal and external to advise people that we are recording, so perfectly within the law.

I wouldn’t mind if the house had been cleaned properly.
However, my last cleaner was staying for almost half the paid time and claiming she had run out of time for the jobs I had asked.
My current cleaner does a good job but sometimes leaves before the two hours are up.

She probably should have done some extra work elsewhere but I can see why she didn't. She probably has her standard jobs she does and you took away some of those do she finished quicker. Most cleaners te d to leave 5-10 minutes early anyway. Unless you're paying £20 an hour or you're not happy with her in general is let it go.

I think as a one off, I'd let it go as it sounds like there was a miscommunication.

You said not to clean one room, which the cleaner took to mean she could leave when she had done her usual work in all the other rooms when you actually meant for her to use the extra time to do deep cleaning. In future I would make it clear that you still want 3hrs work and have a list of more intensive jobs to hand. That way there is no miscommunication as you have explicitly asked for a swap ", since we're home, can you skip the living room where we will be and instead use that time to deep clean the oven/focus on baseboards/do windows/clean the fridge etc. Thanks!"

When I used to have a cleaning lady she came a couple of times a week and she had a list of regular jobs for every visit and then she had a list of one off jobs. The first 2/3 of the visit she would complete her "regular" tasks and then she would pick one item from the extras list to do every visit on a rotating basis. That way everything got done regularly but bigger jobs only need doing every couple of months or so.

I find this astonishing.

You pay for 3 hours of her labour. She needs to work for 3 hours. There's ALWAYS something to clean in a family house!

If you are usually happy with her I'd ignore this, as it sounds like a one-off situation.

I've always thought the number of hours is a surrogate measure of the work to be done. So when we first hired our cleaner she said our house would take three hours, so I expect her to have cleaned our house and we pay her for three hours, but if she worked faster and left early I wouldn't mind.

If she left early and the normal cleaning wasn't done I would mind (had a previous cleaner who we ended with for this).

Our current cleaner sometimes invents jobs to fill up the allotted hours and they are frequently unhelpful, twice she folded our dirty laundry (yuk) until I asked her not to, she has folded my husbands pants and I also had to ask her to not do that, and she scrubbed our stove top coffee pot and ruined it by scrubbing off the coating! She also took our rubbish out although I asked her not to, and left a bag in hallway for ages in the heat and we got maggots in the coat cupboard. So I'd be careful of hoping that she does spontaneous extra jobs!! I've said it's fine if she goes if she has finished but I think she is worried about leaving early.