To ask when you think cleaners will be allowed back into houses?

[Dalamalama]

Not really an AIBU. Just curious when Boris announces he's going to unlock the lockdown will that mean cleaners will be allowed to work again? Will you be happy to have yours back?
I'm self employed and need to get back for the money?

My cleaner has a little business, employs one or two others. They stopped cleaning. I have voluntarily paid her throughout.

Can’t wait for her back but only when it feels safe.

This one of the many messages from the recycling centre:

Dear

We are indeed operating within the regulations and I’m sure you will appreciate this as axxxxxxx i.e. The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020: Regulation 6 Restrictions on movement which has not yet been relaxed.

Kind regards

*military

This is another:

As stated in my earlier email, we are awaiting relaxation of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020: Regulation 6 Restrictions on movement from HM Government. Until this is received, we will not be planning for the phased re-opening of recycling centres with social distancing, special hygiene measures and traffic management.

And this has been replicated in various ways from most businesses.

All state it is not 'safe' to return.

Tell the tip that many across the country have reopened with suitable restrictions in place so why can't they?

This previous confusion is why I think the roads are getting busier now.

People wrongly assumed that only critical / essential workers could leave the house.

Now that money is tight and a greater risk of the business going under, people have followed the actual rules ie if you cannot work from home you can still go to work.

@Biscuit0110 I’m in the south west. Businesses open throughout (although reduced service in some instances), car hire, car servicing, laundry service, house removal companies, cleaners, washing machine repair, home maintenance, general builders, gardeners, window cleaners....

If people can’t work from home then they’ve carried on working although sometimes in a reduced capacity. Just because places have closed in your area, doesn’t mean others have gone beyond government advice. Others have simply followed the rules.

With respect biscuit you seem to be missing the point. I’m not disputing that, in your area, the service providers you have listed are de facto closed. But that does not necessarily mean they were legally required to close. Hence the vast difference from one area to another. Some places have chosen not to work even where they could have modified their work practices to allow them to continue trading safely.

The recycling centres being closed is somewhat irritating but I gather it's a combination of ensuring safety (handling possibly contaminated waste safely, distancing) and prioritising household collections. Some are starting to reopen - it's being done at a county council level afaik.

Our cleaning agency is back running but our individual cleaner hasn’t got in touch yet. I don’t think we can have her here as we cannot give her space to work - we are two adults working from home on calls etc (one in the office one in the dining room) and two kids in the open plan downstairs, we cannot have her in hoovering etc. and I’m not sure if she would want to anyway as she has a huge family she’ll be caring for and is very active in her church community. I suspect she’ll be caring for elderly people.

My ironing service is still operating uninterrupted
Who wants all their ironing done during a lockdown?
I can't imagine any ironing service would be continuing as normal, they must all have lost a lot of business and laid off staff.

People are being deliberately obtuse. Most self employed are desperate to return to work. I don't appreciate the inference by some that we're being lazy or "shut up shop" because we don't want to work. The government are giving self employed fuck all financial help. I'm still waiting for any payment from Universal credit, despite claiming in March. The SE Grant is not available until June earliest.

I'm a self employed cleaner but most of my clients are elderly and vulnerable. It was simply not socially responsible to continue working for them and putting them at risk unnecessarily.
Clients have also cancelled because the whole family is at home, wfh or furloughed, children off school. They simply don't require help with cleaning at present.

To the Op, I'm waiting for the government announcement on Sunday, where it is expected restrictions are being relaxed. I will then advise clients I will be available to work and outlining the measures I will take to observe distancing and hygiene regulations. I'm hoping to start building up my client base again from there.

Perhaps more places have closed than legally have to because their employees have small children or have symptoms and they are struggling for staff? It's not hard to imagine. Or social distancing rules mean it's impossible to make a profit.

Round here, small market town, we are seeing more open up - butchers and farm shops, florists, hardware, diy, garden centre type shops delivering, the market for food and household products, a fair few cafes or restaurants have now managed to adapt for collection or delivery only. Good for them. We've only recently been flooded so it must be unimaginably stressful.

There are some florists working to help with funerals.

In some instances businesses just shut as a reaction to the government announcement, misunderstanding the guidelines or not wanting to bother to understand them. I know of a few instances of that (I work with small to medium businesses across the country). It's unfortunate. But it's good to see people taking notice of the guidance now and actually realising they can keep trading in some way!

If you look at the government guidance it specially states cleaners can continue to work, they must social distance, and some other rules about regular Hand washing. The decision to stop them was a personal one.

Mine is back on the 15th, next week.

There is no one size fits all. I described my own experience up thread.

One example of people who cant WFH, is Our local florist, operating mostly out of retail premises, who took a very different approach. He furloughed all his staff, because he had no confidence that he could keep them safe. Then, he set to doing all the work himself.

Significantly reduced workload, of course, but still up at 4am a couple of days a week to visit the flower wholesalers, back to process orders, the flowers and the paperwork/finance and then into his van for deliveries.

He is reasonably young, fit and keen to work. If he had had vulnerable members of the household, or young DC, it would all have been very different. We can't just assume people who are not working are somehow shirking. As always, the environment and circumstances have to be right for business to continue.

Some businesses have reopened after adapting. I'm about to do a Pilates class with my usual instructor - she's worked out how to do a good session using zoom. There will be a lot of that going on unseen.

Our food is all coming from local suppliers who've adapted to doing deliveries - farm shop/butchery, veg box from a bloke who normally supplies pubs etc who was delighted when we got our road organised on WhatsApp to make our orders on the same days so it's more efficient. He'd initially had to lay off his drivers but has been able to rehire some as demand has grown and been sustained. We're planning on sticking with him for as long as he's operating.

My H is still working, his company's work is not essential but he can't WFH.
Where I live all takeaways are open as are florists, builders, butchers, bakery, newsagents inc paper delivery, estate agents. They are all taking precautions and some delivery only but still open. People still have to earn a living.

My cleaner won't be coming back anytime soon. I'm in the shielding group so won't be allowing anyone into my home for the foreseeable future. Especially since I've seen on Facebook that she thinks social distancing is waste of time and that we should all catch it and get it over with.

Biscuit, I live (at least vaguely!) in the same area as one of your family members. In addition to the food shops, takeaways and chemists which have stayed open throughout, the following shops are now delivering or open for collection:

Toy shop
Art shop
Children’s shoe shop
Florist
Presents and interiors shop
Small DIY shop (can also collect).
Laundrette (limited hours but you can go in)

There are various newly formed websites that list all of these but maybe hard to find if you aren’t on social media at all.

I don’t know if they use agencies but both my neighbours have their cleaners back too. Have also seen window cleaners, gardeners and decorators doing the outsides of houses in the last couple of weeks.

I agree that lots of restaurants that were open and doing delivery shut after the furlough scheme came in. And our tip is shut too . It must be very frustrating to have nothing open at all.

Maybe. I'm disabled, I have trouble cleaning my house as I'm in constant pain. I feel embarrassed about paying for cleaners but they do do a good job. I don't want to ask the firm I use unless they're 100% sure they want to do it.

Ours came for 4 hours yesterday after 8 weeks! We went for a long walk and then sat in the garden when she was here! I've never been so happy to be in a nice, clean house! It smelled like bleach 🎊

It is very annoying if I am honest, to read that others seem to have so much open and available. Here, we are still in the land of the dead, I wonder if anything will ever open??

I would be happy with a toy shop or florist or little DIY shop were open.

These are just a small sample of every business in our area:

food outlets:
'We regret to inform you that xxx is now closed until further notice Due to a serious shortage in supplies'

Dog walkers/groomers:

We're currently closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but will reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. All customers who have had their appointments and walks cancelled will be contacted as soon as we have decided on a date to reopen'

Restaurants that already have a takeaway service set up and could easily stay open:

'We deeply regret that we have had to take the decision to close the restaurant or takeaway for the time being.

As you can appreciate, this decision was not taken lightly.
We would like to thank all of you for your custom, and would like to assure you that we will monitor the ongoing situation carefully, and will let you know as soon as circumstances change'

local vet: updated yesterday

'Please note: We only open for urgent and emergency cases during the lockdown. Contact xxxxx for emergencies only'

Local florist - web page:

'Covid-19: We are currently closed until further notice.
We are currently not accepting online orders '

Trust me, I have driven to four different surrounding villages and towns and all are the same. I found one greengrocer open, pre order only between to 10-2.

Of course places will start to open. It's a little entitled to feel so inconvenienced by a toy shops and florists being shut. You can buy those items in a supermarket.

The decision for most businesses to shut isn't taken lightly and numerous factors have to be considered. For a start its not socially responsible for many businesses to continue trading during the height of a pandemic. There are supply shortages: do you think people should work in crammed factories during the pandemic? Do you realise that supplies are often shipped from abroad. There are issues with workers using public transport or traveling to work together. It's impossible to keep distance in some working situations.

A lot of small businesses will never recover. They're hardly not working because they can't be bothered.
Apply some critical thought to this.

It's laziness! They could work if they wanted to sorry but that's simply not true.