To expect change from my cleaner?

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Small backstory - our current cleaner is shielding so we have someone different filling in. They charge £9/hour and we have them 2 hours/week. We paid our previous cleaner via bank transfer but the new one has stipulated that she wants cash. £18 is tricky to cobble together when we're being encouraged to go cashless at the moment.

The first few weeks we had exact money, but since then have been giving £20. First time she bought change with her but not after that. I know I need to woman up and discuss it, but wanted to check first whether IABU!

FFS, get some coins in. YABU.

Just give her £20!

@AryaStarkWolf

I would be so embarrassed to ask for £2 change, jesus

£2 is the difference between eating one evening and not for some people. And as has been pointed out you don't have to be rich to need a cleaner.

Two hours? Are you forgetting she has to travel to and from you - just to do two hours? So she loses all that travel time when she could be doing paid cleaning. I am surprised that the agency she works for allows two hours at all, or doesn't surcharge for it, which would be way more than £2. If she's doing a good job, I would just tip her the £2. I don't think I could ask someone who's just cleaned my toilets for £2 change.

@cushioncovers

Either pay her £10 an hour or get the right change in. It's not her job to carry change because you can't be bothered.

I think this is really quite unfair. The OP quite reasonably wants to pay her cleaner via bank transfer which is convenient and safer for both parties. It is the cleaner insisting on hard cash which is really quite old fashioned now never mind adding in the Covid health issues. You get a cleaner to make your life easier. When you’re using cash very rarely day to day it is quite a faff to have to remember every week to get cash out and make sure it’s broken and that you have exactly £18 leftover. Saying the OP ‘can’t be bothered’ as if that makes her lazy and unreasonable is quite unfair I think. Of course she can’t be bothered with all that faff to pay for something that’s meant to make her life easier!

If the cleaner wants cash, against all common sense, then she can make the effort to have some change to hand. Tbh I’d still be irritated by having to have cash in even if it is a round amount like £20 but it’s some sort of compromise.

I shouldn't have agreed to her cleaning if you weren't happy to get change. Just get another cleaner who accepts bank transfers. You are lucky to get her at that price (if she is good). I used to work as a self employed cleaner and wouldn't do it for under £12 an hour now.

I appreciate all the replies but my question was whether I should have exact money or expect change. The consensus is I should have exact money so I will be doing that and requesting to change to bank transfer in the future.

I will not be overpaying every week. We are certainly not rich and when we worked out whether we could afford a cleaner our limit was £25/week. With overpaying it goes from £24 to £26. £2 seems insignificant but that's the budget.

OP, I do not think you have done anything wrong.
A rate was agreed (plus agency fees on top), and ot should not be assumed that you would pay more. You did not insist of this bring cash so shouldn't feel you have to pay more than what was agreed.
Regardless of the cost of anything, it should not be assumed that any extra given is a tip..you would expect hair dresses, taxis etc to offer/at least discuss change with you, and extra money given he at your discretion if that's what you wanted to do

It’s such a small amount of money, and for a tiring job and presumably travel etc. Just give her £20 or get £18 ready if it’s a big deal for you.

I can see no reason to ask for cash rather than bank transfer unless you’re trying to keep your earnings off the record and I have little sympathy for anyone doing that sort of thing

I have lots of sympathy for people that might have to do this in order to squirrel money away, to be able to leave an abusive partner.

For all we know, she could possibly be cleaning whilst he is at work. He could insist on a joint account.

Who knows, but sometimes people have to do what they need to do

However, I also hope that the OP is paying her regular help a retainer

What for? When I don't do my freelance work I don't get paid for it. Nobody pays me a retainer to do nothing. Nice work if you (don't) get it! Cleaners provide freelance services, they are not employees - just like window cleaners or less regularly plumbers or electricians.

But OP if you are paying £12 anyway, cut out the middle man and find a cleaner direct and pay them £11. Their hourly rate will be better and you will be slightly better off too.

I think that if she is good, reliable and trustworthy, and does the full arranged time, an extra £2 is worth it.

I would knock it off next weeks bill but leave a note to explain what you've done.

When my children were little I had a cleaning business. It was just me and I worked - nay grafted for six days a week. I could tell some stories about the bastards I cleaned for...........

In those days it was always cash in an envelope upfront.

One lady was always forgetting to pay me. I found this a real insult as I cleaned her house from top to bottom in four hours. She always managed to find something extra on top for me to do, just in case I was twiddling my thumbs not and yet she forgot to leave money time and time again.

When she did pay me she never had the right amount of change so she deducted the extra from the following week.
I thought it was tight and mean but that was how we rubbed along with her undervaluing me and me accepting it.

Pay her the £20 and think yourself lucky if the cleaner is good. They are worth their weight in gold if you ask me, and I should know as I employed cleaners later on when my children were older and treated them with the utmost of respect.

Treat your cleaner well and she will look after you.

Your responsibility to have correct money in my opinion. And I say this as someone who scrambles every single Sunday night to find correct money for my cleaner. One particularly hungover Monday she got a tenner tip as I only had fifty, her price is 40 and I couldn't face going to the shop for change....it would not have crossed my mind to ask her for change.

Have the correct money or give the extra as a tip it’s only £2, yes I know it’s your money and you don’t have to, and it’s cheeky of her to keep it, but I wouldn’t get worked up, she is cleaning your home to a good standard I presume and good cleaners are hard to find. As a cleaner myself I’ve always been expected to carry around lots of coins and it’s frustrating having to draw money out and get it changed up because some want to pay with a £50 note etc, I tend to accept bank payment only now.

I'd just pay her £20 I wouldn't ask for change what are you paying an agency for?

£9 per hour for a cleaner is criminal.

That is a shocking rate. With travel time less than the minimum wage. Maybe think about being a responsible customer or using an agency that pays a fair price and isn’t paying its staff less than minimum wage which this one must be as travelling is required to be paid.

£2 is the difference between eating one evening and not for some people. And as has been pointed out you don't have to be rich to need a cleaner.

Honestly if £2 is the difference between you being able to eat or not then you probably can't afford to pay a cleaner...........

I had this issue when I was a private tutor. I charged 35 per hour. It wrecked my head when people didn't have the correct change. They had a whole bloody week to have the cash ready... I was then left either 5 short until the following week or sometimes left with noting at all until the following week as they "only have a 50"
Either giver over moaning about £2 or have the right cash ready.

It isn't that difficult to get some cash together including coins. If I manage to do it without going out I'm sure you can. Your cleaner probably thinks you mean to give her £20 and I don't blame her, £9 an hour is a bit mean, £10 much fairer.

Yanbu

Give her £16 next time.

Why can't she have a bank transfer now?

Just a thought but maybe she wants cash instead of a bank transfer as it's a good way to get an extra £2 as most people would be embarrassed to ask for change....?
I'd work on that stash of £1 & £2 coins OP, right money in an envelope then there's no problem.