I'm an experienced highly qualified Early Years Educator and at work today at a creche I spent approx 3 hours deep cleaning as per current regs - I think this is neither sustainable nor desirable AIBU

[Germolenequeen]

AS ABOVE

@Italiandreams

my post of 13:30:51 makes clear I have read all of the OP's posts (at this point in time) carefully.

If you too read all of the OP's posts carefully, you'll see that the OP is clear that just because she is cleaning instead of carrying out the childcare duties she was employed for, basic staffing to child ratios are still being met as far as the childcare and cover for breaks is concerned so clearly under the applicable guidelines, enough people are spending time with the children, the OP was just not one of them, she had been assigned to cleaning duties today.

Taking a harsh and possibly unfair analysis of the situation, the AIBU point might be seen as "because of my experience and qualifications I should be one of the staff doing the childcare not the cleaning".

@2020meh My post challenging you was at 13:03.

The OP says

We have no cleaners on site - we are operating on a shoestring with the bare number of staff needed for ratios and cover for our (unpaid) lunch breaks

This could be interpreted in different ways. I hope you are right but I fear some places through having no financial choice will be including those cleaning in the ratios. I doubt there are lots of spare adults floating around.

MintyMabel

There's a piece on the BBC today about people who think they are too good to be doing cleaning.

That is one way to spin it

Your job is to do whatever your employer asks you to do.

no its not.

Get on with it and stop whinging.

I bet your a joy to work for.

All women, I notice:
www.bbc.com/news/business-53506961

And Tesco has sacked its cleaning contractors for smaller stores because it's cheaper for the staff to do the job:
www.bbc.com/news/business-53501318

Perhaps this is not so temporary after all.

A pre-school I collected from last year had introduced a rota for the parents to clean the toilets. I wonder if that will catch on?
Maybe the next step is to get parents or children to clean the premises to save money, as they already do in some countries. After all, no-one should feel that cleaning is beneath them!

Skipped to end.

Noone really minds doing their bit, but when highly experienced and highly qualified staff are being taken away from the roles they are employed to do for prolonged periods of time on a regular basis, then that is not fair on anyone and certainly should not be something that we should expect to continue.

We as a country are now heading to a huge number of unemployed people. We also have many premises needing more extensive and more frequent cleaning.

Surely there's an obvious solution here?

Maybe businesses cannot afford it if having to make people redundant, but if employees are being less productive due to cleaning requirements then actually they may be better off employing additional cleaners. And if educators are spending time cleaning rather than educating, you can bet results will slip.

Maybe Rishi could come up with some kind of government subsidised cleaning army

Why would organisations employ expensive staff to do cleaning unless they had no choice? Do you understand the financial pressures your employers are facing right now? And the meltdown that is coming?

I speak as a highly experienced physiotherapist who is currently often being paid to clean.. Not 3 hours a day, granted, but probably one at least. I am also working as a carer. I'm sure my organisation wishes they were only paying me for physio stuff - but what is their option?

We are low on staff, we have no-one on furlough and never have had. We are all pitching in.

The current situation means you cannot spend all your time working in the way you wish and trained for, OP. but you are still working. I'm grateful to still be working, in whatever capacity. If you don't feel that way, make the most of that privilege, because winter is coming.

And it's funny how those same people who doubtless mocked Labour for banking on a 'Magic Money Tree' are now believing that government can somehow keep on paying out from the Magic Money Hole. Again, do you people have any conception of how miuch this has cost us?

Labour could have funded their programmes multiple times over. Remember that next time you vote for austerity. And yes, I know most mumsnetters will vote for austerity again, because you always do. Yet maybe, just maybe, relying on state help now might give you pause.

So we have unprecedented unemployment... meanwhile lots of extra cleaning imposed by government...

Surely the solution is government subsidies to employ additional cleaners?

Caring for children is important, childcare staff should not be spending hours each day cleaning, taking them away from their core work.

Maybe businesses cannot afford it if having to make people redundant, but if employees are being less productive due to cleaning requirements then actually they may be better off employing additional cleaners. And if educators are spending time cleaning rather than educating, you can bet results will slip.

Or they could make a few "professional" people redundant (if they havn't enough work to do so are spending time on cleaning) and employ cleaners instead to save money. Would the OP prefer that??

Government are requiring extra cleaning to be done.

Government are paying unemployed people benefits whilst they search for jobs.

Meanwhile people in jobs cannot do their jobs 100% of the time due to government requirements to clean.

Could not the government subsidise employing those currently unemployed to be employed doing the additional cleaning? Less £ being spent on benefits as less unemployed. Even if same spend by government in cleaning subsidies as would have done on benefits, the businesses don't have to free up current staff to do the cleaning, taking them away from what they are paid to do. Therefore more productive businesses, therefore more money for the government to tax, therefore more money to help NHS, furlough bill etc.

It just seems an obvious solution. I'm sure it's not quite that straightforward but struggle to see why it isn't.

So you’re a nursery nurse who thinks she’s too good to clean? 😂 get a grip love. I’ve worked in 4 private nurseries over the years and one did a weekly deep clean including sterilising all toys for under 3’s plus fortnightly cleaning of 3-5’s toys. 1 did their deep clean and toys fortnightly. One did a monthly deep clean and the other I was there for 3 months then reported them because it was absolutely disgusting. They changed ownership about 6 months later.

And if educators are spending time cleaning rather than educating, you can bet results will slip.

Or you can bet the cleaning will slip if they are under pressure to get results and we know they will be.

@walker1891

And if educators are spending time cleaning rather than educating, you can bet results will slip.

Or you can bet the cleaning will slip if they are under pressure to get results and we know they will be.

Don't know what happened to the pressure for results over the last 4 months...we had no teaching and that was apparently ok!

Civil service office - I wipe down my own desk area but we have extra cleaners who do the loos every hour and touch points. I’m not going to be scrubbing the loos and floors.

I'm so sick of hearing people whinge. My SEN school has never closed with all the children being in throughout. Our cleaner has been shielding. We clean, cannot socially distance, do not wear PPE and have just got on with it.

We are all having to do extras from our normal work duties. Why do you think you are any different? I'm in the medical field and it is really tough. Face masks all day leaving pressure sores on ears, clinic running over daily as it takes so long to don and duff ppe as well as extra cleaning. But if we extend appointment times less patients get seen. Its not forever and I certainly dont want to see patients suffer.

I expect there won’t be any cleaners left in some workplaces. It will just be added to the job spec of some more junior workers. I can’t see an army general where I work doing any cleaning. He can’t even print his own documents or make his own tea from my observations.

Thank you op. It may not be what you trained to do but I am grateful you are doing it.

Don't know what happened to the pressure for results over the last 4 months...we had no teaching and that was apparently ok!

So you had no work at all? You need to take that up with your school.

The pressure is extreme normally and in September it will be doubly so.
The pressure was still there alright, my ex colleague committed suicide during lockdown because of the pressure.

Sorry but your posts come over as if you think you are too good to clean. It probably isn't the best use of your time when your hourly rate is presumably higher than a cleaner, but presumably it's the only option at present? I think this extra cleaning does need to be done because hopefully it is reducing the chance of spreading the virus.

So you’re a nursery nurse who thinks she’s too good to clean? 😂

ODFOD

It will be low paid women doing all the cleaning. None of the male banking directors or senior military officers I’ve worked with over the years are going to be cleaning the loos.

Deep cleans are a necessary part of a nursery environment and very commonly done when the setting is closed. It is utterly vile if you think that doing something of benefit to learners is beneath you.

Nice try.

@noColinleftbehind you first. The entitlement of a nursery nurse thinking she’s too important to clean is staggering.

Not read the entire thread but just wanted to ask what the children are doing whilst you're spending 3 hours cleaning?

The entitlement of a nursery nurse thinking she’s too important to clean is staggering

You seem to want to disparage the OP because she is a "nursery nurse" - that's not how she describes herself btw - that job title is rarely used now in Early Years. Do you have a chip on your shoulder?