To think this is unprofessional?

[Florabritannica]

My housekeeper left me a brochure for some beauty products with a note saying how brilliant they were and that she could get me a great discount. I looked it up and it is an MLM.
Am I being unreasonable to think that as my employee she shouldn’t be trying to flog me stuff?

She works for me three days a week and I pay her tax, NI and pension contributions.
Would there be this hostility if I’d described her as my PA?

Yes

So why shouldn't she try to sell her employer stuff? Are you better than her done how, you seem to be indicating you're superior somehow? You really are not.

Done how = somehow!

I can't imagine having an issue with any of the team I manage leaving an Avon catalogue on my desk with a note like that. Just say no thank you like any other normal person. It's okay to have a nice relationship with staff.

I would be very uncomfortable with this, OP, and I’m surprised at the brusque and terse responses you’ve had when normally MN is very anti MLM.

It isn’t about OP not being a ‘normal person.’ Those schemes are a huge scam and trying to get your friends and family to buy them is a really shitty trick.

However, I dare say she’s been encouraged to treat everybody she knows like a cash cow.

@MarieFromStTropez
That's awful

I’m afraid the problem is that you are not allowed to complain about anything because you can afford a housekeeper.

Sorry, that’s just the way it is.

I honestly don’t think it is very professional, but I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

One of my mates has been caught up in the usborne book shite. She genuinely thinks she can generate a decent income from it.

If one of my team left me an MLM brochure on my desk (or anyone else's) I'd be having a quiet word with them to let them know it isn't appropriate to use the office as a selling opportunity. But I work within a big, busy organisation. As it's just you and her, to be honest I'd just ignore it for now and hope she doesn't get more aggressive with it (as often happens with MLMs).

I don’t believe that you pay her NI and pension contributions. And you sound horrible - really stuck up with a massive superiority complex. Poor woman , she is just trying to earn a few extra pounds. On £15 an hour she will be struggling to make ends meet.

£15 an hour is nearly twice the minimum wage.

I don’t know why people are being so snitty. Yes, it’s unprofessional to use your workplace to flog MLM. If the supermarket cashier or postman started pushing it at me I’d be pissed off too, though I am not paying them 15 quid an hour.

Wow people are touchy. And £15 ph is not bad money.

How would you feel if it was Avon?

Why does Avon make a difference?

Younique, Arbonne, Avon. They are all still attempting to scam people out of money.

£15 per hour on a 37.5 hour full-time week is a salary of over £29k. That's not bad money at all, that's close to or above the median full time wage.

I'd be irritated by the MLM thing, but probably ignore it unless I had a good enough relationship with her to talk about how exploitative they can be.

The MLM folks will seize on any in-road or opportunity to flog their guff.
Just ignore it. If she asks tell her you’re not interested.

I don’t think it’s anything to be annoyed about unless she persists. She’s allowed to ask/offer.

It's all awful, manipulative and harms women

I agree but from this position feel for the poor beggar caught up in it believing it’s a legitimate way to make money. They wouldn’t get the brunt of my annoyance.

@NicEv where do you live that you think £15 ph is struggling?

Right that's it time to ask... what is MLM and why do people on here hate it so much? Is it like Avon or something?

Very patronising of people to assume she must be on a terrible wage and forced into a second “job” by her evil employer (who it turns out actually pays a very decent wage).

I’d let it go once and just say gently that you’re not interested but she may well keep pushing and pushing as MLM bots are wont to do.

@MindYours, it’s a form of pyramid selling of “lifestyle” crap. You can find plenty of information on Google.

what is MLM and why do people on here hate it so much?

They’re pyramid schemes that target women (often those in vulnerable positions) and quite often the net result is they lose money and are alienated from family and friends by the cult-like approach to the scheme. And the products are largely shit but often make insultingly spurious claims like curing infertility and cancer.

I’d imagine she doesn’t earn that much money and is trying to make extra on the side. No biggie. How hard is it just to say ‘no thanks, it’s not my thing’ and move on. Ffs why do people make things into a huge drama?