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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To give £100 Xmas bonus to cleaner

299 replies

AlorMy · 17/12/2019 16:36

Usually pay her £25 a week.

She’s been cleaning my home about 8 months so first Xmas.

I’m thinking of £100. Is that too much? Not enough?

YABU = too little
YANBU = anything else (just right/too much)

OP posts:
Streamside · 17/12/2019 19:16

Very generous and really shows your appreciation.If you can afford to do this it's a beautiful gesture.

tootsey · 17/12/2019 19:21

Cleaner here. Wished I cleaned for some of you. So far this christmas 4 of my clients have given me zero, not even a Merry Christmas on a post it note. 1 has given a full weeks pay, 3 have given a tenner and 3 others chocolates. 7 others still to see. Op you are very generous, I would be delighted with £20. I work my ass off for everyone and for those who can't even say Merry Christmas on a cheap card, makes me wonder why I bother.

NChangeForNoReason · 17/12/2019 19:29

I pay the same and will be buying her a box of biscuits!!!

BercowsFestiveFlamingo · 17/12/2019 19:37

How does one become a cleaner? Asking for a friend.

hennybeans · 17/12/2019 19:42

One week's pay would be great, two week's pay would be above and beyond...
Four week's pay= too much and ott, unless she routinely goes out of her way for you or you know she's having financial difficulty this Christmas.

nestisflown · 17/12/2019 19:45

@tootsey to be fair you bother for the standard pay not so you can get a Christmas bonus as nice as that would be. Why not drop the clients who got nothing though so you only have appreciative clients going forward? And tbf some of your clients might not be able to afford more than a £10 bonus. In previous years I've given £30 plus a bottle of champagne & chocolates. But I can only just afford the cleaning rate this year since I'm on mat leave so my presents across the board will be a lot more stingy unfortunately.

I'm not sure what to give my new cleaner- she's only come once so far. Was going to give £15 but now wondering if that's not enough.

OP, £100 is very generous. I would give £50 as that would still be very generous but more likely to be something you can maintain or increase in future.

BrendasUmbrella · 17/12/2019 19:47

If you're not sure you could give her that every year then I wouldn't start.

JTTWC · 17/12/2019 19:52

Haven't read all of it but if you can afford it I don't see why not. If she's good at her job obviously. I'm not sure of her situation but I can say if someone gave me a bonus of £100 I would be massively grateful. That is a lot of money to us as a family and would make a huge difference especially over Christmas. It's important to show appreciation to employees whether it be praise or financially as I think it's helps them to continue to work hard. My mum is a cleaner and it can be a physically demanding, laborious job. Like others say that is a lot of money for a bonus in comparison to the wage but hey why not!

Babynamechangerr · 17/12/2019 19:59

Too high in my opinion. I give a weeks worth (including what I have to pay the company, so for her it's about an extra tenner) in a card. She seemed reasonably happy about it.

I think as pp have said, it sets up the expectation that you'll pay her £100 every year so if she's still with you in 5 years you'll have done £500 in tips, rather than £125 from just giving her a weeks worth. If you give her a smaller tip next year she'll assume she's done something wrong and be miffed.

CaramelWaferAndTea · 17/12/2019 20:03

I always did this but we paid a bit more. Aimed for holiday pay for all holidays plus £50 extra at Christmas and 100 euro for long summer break at home.

Don’t ever feel you’re making a mistake by being generous.

sijjy · 17/12/2019 20:03

Also a cleaner here. I really hope your one of my customers. Xmas Grin
Joking aside that is a very generous tip I've been happy with a Xmas card that says thank you and a little
Box of chocolates.

PegasusReturns · 17/12/2019 20:03

I’m giving mine £50 plus some chocolates.

She’s also down some hours as people don’t need her so she’s doing an extra 15 hours for me in the week running up to Christmas.

Love51 · 17/12/2019 20:12

I disagree with whoever said don't give cash. Definitely give cash! No one really wants expensive candles chosen by someone else, or booze, chosen by someone else. They might, but you'd have to get lucky. Especially in big sums (£20 +!) Cold hard cash is the way to go.

tootsey · 17/12/2019 20:14

@nestisflown I appreciate everything I am given. But when a client cannot even be bothered to wish you a Happy Christmas, or even a 'thankyou' scribbled on a piece of paper, it feels like a kick in the teeth. Those who have given something are clearly not rich. I work 6 days a week, 50 weeks a year, every year. I am never off sick and I never cancel a clean. The words 'thankyou' at the end of each year cost nothing.

rookiemere · 17/12/2019 20:15

When we had a cleaner I would give her a weeks pay as the Christmas bonus, plus a token gift like a box of sweets.

Nextphonewontbesamsung · 17/12/2019 20:17

I haven't read the whole thread but this is so obviously a post from a cleaner hoping to encourage everyone to give very generous bonuses to their cleaners isn't it?

Or have I missed a lot? I'll go back through and RTWFT.

Drum2018 · 17/12/2019 20:18

Too much. £50 would be loads. She'll probably get something from her other clients too so no need to give so much.

TheOrigFV45 · 17/12/2019 20:22

PegasusReturns "so she’s doing an extra 15 hours for me in the week running up to Christmas."

Blimey, what sort of house do you live in that could necessitate 15hrs of cleaning in a few days, assuming it's already in a pretty good state (due to cleaner). Or is she doing some additional tasks?

Nextphonewontbesamsung · 17/12/2019 20:22

@tootsey - my cleaner will receive a £20 note in a Christmas card from me. Is that OK? She is paid £13 p/h.

passthetea · 17/12/2019 20:24

I worked as a housekeeper for a couple a few years ago. Very wealthy with a huge house I also babysat their kids once when they got stuck and was let down. All in all I was there about 2 years and loved working for them. They gave me £120 bonus with strict instructions to spend it on myself and not my children. God I miss working there.

nestisflown · 17/12/2019 20:27

@tootsey I completely agree- that's seems very thoughtless/ rude of those clients. Sorry my previous comment was because I thought you were unhappy by with the £10. To be honest from this thread I'm not sure on the gifting etiquette anymore, but failing to give even a token gift is inconsiderate.

Passthecake30 · 17/12/2019 20:28

Wow that's a lot! i don't have a cleaner but I would've thought £20 or a bottle of wine.

PegasusReturns · 17/12/2019 20:32

@TheOrig I have a fairly big house but the point is I don’t really need an extra 15 hours but she’s worried about losing the money.

That said I have house guests and so keeping on top of the mess and getting the floors/bathrooms done daily is a bonus.

problembottom · 17/12/2019 20:32

I’ve bought mine a Jo Malone gift set, she seemed very pleased when I gave her the bag earlier. I’d be lost without her and my 11-month-old adores her.

Cremebrule · 17/12/2019 20:41

I’ve been wondering about this. I’ve had my cleaner for 6months and normally pay £35 a week. I was thinking about rounding it up to £50 and giving her a bottle of Prosecco. Does that sound ok? I’ve not had a cleaner before.