Another cleaner one.

[CushionsandCandles]

I thought I had a really good relationship with my cleaner- always friendly, generous gifts at Christmas and birthday etc. We have had her about 18 months, she does a good job, she is very reliable. I pay her £60 a week (big house). I always leave the cash on the side as she doesn't want a bank transfer (tax I assume but have never asked).
She stopped cleaning for me in early March- I'm in healthcare and have direct contact with COVID patients and I think she was frightened (entirely reasonable I guess). I have been putting £60 a week aside for her ever since as she never wants money into a bank account. As such I now have £900 waiting for her.
Anyway.... I have texted her several times through lockdown but decided to phone this week and ask her if she might be coming back soon. I'm doing ridiculous hours so desperate to have her back.
She now tells me she has got another job and has been working this through lockdown (home based) and will not be able to come back as she can't reduce the hours. She says she'll pop by tomorrow to drop off the key and pick up her money?
I think this is CF'ery or am IBU????

It would be cheaper to change the locks

Congratulations OP, you've got an extra £900 to spend on yourself.

Enjoy!

Don't give her the money!

Yep, don't pay her the £900! I would see that as a kind of retainer and she's not coming back (& didn't even reply to you to tell you) so she doesn't get the cash!

She is taking the piss. Being willing to pay was conditional on her coming back and a reward for loyalty. I think I’d just change the lock barrel

Eh? She’s clearly left the job at yours and started another one. You could only consider paying her if she had no other income but she replaced the one from you with another so you don’t owe any money. I’m too self-employed btw.

Dont you dare give her that money OP.

If you want to be 'fair' as she's paid weekly then give her a weeks pay. No more.

Being willing to pay was conditional on her coming back and a reward for loyalty

Say that.

Cheeky cow. Have to admire the brass neck man

I hope she's a Mumsnetter.

Change the locks and give her the choice between either working for her notice period to get the £900 or not getting the money at all.

Don't say anything to her until you get your keys back. You should change your locks just to be safe. Do not pay her anything. Clearly she isn't putting in her tax returns

Shes a CF of the highest order.

Definitely don't pay her.

Of course you do not pay her.

Wow complete CF. Definitely don’t hand over the £900! I’d be tempted not to even give one week pay as she’s given you no notice of stopping. (I recently asked my cleaner to stop coming and one week pay, however that was because it was my decision to stop the arrangement)

Wow! She has one hell of a thick skin!

OP, don’t you dare pay her a cent! The £60 per week was a retainer as another pp stated. She took the decision to find employment elsewhere at the start of lockdown so a retainer was totally unnecessary as she had no intention of returning to service your home anyway.

Again, as a previous pp pointed out, I would be tempted to tell her not to bother returning the keys as the locks have been changed anyway and then ensure you do this ASAP. Then BLOCK the cheeky, deceitful cow.

Don't pay her if she has been working. CF.

My cleaner returned a few weeks ago and I tried to give her money for the weeks she had missed! She absolutely refused to take it! She said we are all in the same boat etc and she didn’t want to feel morally obliged to me etc - in the end I persuaded her to take under 100 as a goodwill gesture. She has been back ever since. I would not be paying your cleaner one penny. You really aren’t obliged to pay for a service that wasn’t given to you in any shape or form. My friends’ cleaners who have been paid all turned up to wash windows on the outside instead (once allowed), cooked food or did the washing/ironing at home especially for their clients who were nhs/keyworkers and then they only took money for hours they did,

Nooooo, it would have been good enough of you to pay her in full when she'd decided not to come anyway, but that would be to make up for lost earnings. To then admit she's been working throughout so no lost earnings and that she's not coming back then I'd not give her a penny. Just change the locks

Noooo, do not pay her. It is definite CFery.

What did you say when she said that?

Text back

'Ok that is fine but the only reason I have put the money aside each week was because I thought I was still employing you to clean after lockdown, with you finding a new client and working for them I do not need to pay you for a service I have not had and will not be getting back. I would appreciate if you could post the key tomorrow! Thank you.

Proper CF!

HTT reply is spot on. No way should she have the £900 now, it's a retainer for a loyal employee. If she'd been straight with you then you could have employed somebody else weeks ago.
Just tell her to push your keys through the door.

Sorry to say what everyone else has said but in no way pay her! IF you are feeling generous give her a weeks wages when she gives the keys back and then change the locks. She is a CF. If you don’t go back to work for a certain amount of time after mat leave you have to pay your employer back some of you mat leave money. Why is this any different?

What a cheeky cow!!!