Cleaners

[ElevenandTwelve]

AIBU to think cleaning is probably the shittest job ever?

£8.72 an hour generally for cleaning up other people's shit and piss off the floors and the toilets. Toe nails and people's slovenly food habits. Dropped a chunk of caramel chocolate on the carpet, hey, don't pick it up, just tread it in! Missed the bin? Don't worry, the cleaners will pick it up. Only drunk half your can of fizzy, don't worry, sling it in the bin without emptying it so the cleaner gets covered in sticky fizzy when emptying the bin.

Either ignored or looked down upon. Taken for granted and treated like shit.

Generally not given sufficient time to carry out the job adequately so either have to work for less than minimum wage doing unpaid overtime or risk losing your job when the complaints start rolling in that things haven't been done.

AIBU?

It sounds like you are an employee rather than self-employed?

It does sound grim.

That sounds hideous. I employ two cleaners who get £15 an hour and clean a tidy house so yes, im sure many environments are shit, but many are not.

My cleaner got £15 an hour and I would say I think our house is pretty clean / not as bad as you are saying.

But sounds like you are talking about an office / hotel situation. I wouldn’t want to clean hotel rooms, although there must be some interesting story’s!

I think some cleaning jobs are awful. Others are probably much nicer to do - the same as with most careers, I imagine.

I know I'd much rather clean alone in someone's house than say, in a supermarket.

DH is a cleaner at tesco (subcontracted) so he gets minimum wage. He regularly has to clean up shit and piss of the floor and walls, in both the customers and collegue toilets.
I always find it so disrespectful that there's someone there who says good morning to him, asks how the kids are doing, talks about their recent holiday etc, while knowing they've have just shit all over the floor, or in the sink or urinal and that he'll have to go and clean it up.
Hes got a stronger stomach than me.

I've been a cleaner most of my life, only 30. Worked in drainage for 2 years as a labourer still dealing with shit and yes it's not a pleasant job always but I dont mind it. I work hard and people appreciate it.

I'm now manager in retail cleaning and have a cleaner leaving because of how store staff treated them and I can't disagree because some people will look down on you. There's loads of jobs that aren't our responsibility but store staff feel their above so you suck it up and do it with a smile.

With regards to the pay, well.. I think minimum wage gets you minimum effort in any role! Carers are often paid similar and that is a job I couldn't do for any money!

No some people enjoy cleaning.

If people ignore or look down upon a cleaner it says a lot about the person who's doing it.

There's loads of jobs that aren't our responsibility but store staff feel their above so you suck it up and do it with a smile.

Yes, husband says this.
They'll have a spec which they are paid for. Say 10 jobs, but the managers will add another 10 on, but they are on the bare minimum staff for the jobs they are given (obviously not being employed or paid for the extra jobs) if they do the extra jobs, the normal jobs they are actually employed for aren't up to scratch because they've either been missed or rushed to make time for the extra jobs, if the extra jobs aren't done the managers are nasty, rude and a bit bullying.
No winners.
We are glad he has a job in the current climate, I just wish less people would shit on the floor and the other staff would treat him a bit better. I dont think it's a lot to ask, but here we are.

Yanbu.

Clearing up after men decide to have peeing contest up the bathroom walls was a ‘highlight’. Not to mention the 6 blocked toilets one Saturday morning. Both incidents in a nhs warehouse for ppe.
Or finding used needles on a GP surgery floor - because someone couldn’t be bothered to put them in a sharps bin.

Mind boggles at what they are thinking and how they keep their homes.

It's a crap job.

Conversely, I also think cleaners are generally quite sloppy and lackadaisical. I've never had tradespeople who don;t quite do their job properly, or who need to be reminded to do basic part of their jobs like clean behind doors, lift loo seats or move out chair to clean underneath.

I've never had a cleaner who can clean properly without a massively detailed sheet of instructions.

Under £9!? We pay £14.50 an hour for ours!

Cleaning is a skill set that most people need to be taught. By that I mean that cleaning your own home is totally different to hotel clean/commercial clean/crime scene cleaning/house cleaning/deep cleans/builders cleans/sparkle cleans/ofsted cleans and Cqc cleans.
Sadly (and the company I work for are one such) very few cleaning companies actually invest in training new staff how to complete any specific clean in the time contracted.
It’s no wonder that many new cleaners can’t do the job and then receive complaints.

Don’t get me started on lack of decent equipment and cleaning supplies. !

Sounds like domestic cleaning in people's homes is a lot nicer and better paid than cleaning commercially. Let's just say, they wouldn't leave their homes in the state they leave their offices, etc.

@underneaththeash

It's a crap job.

Conversely, I also think cleaners are generally quite sloppy and lackadaisical. I've never had tradespeople who don;t quite do their job properly, or who need to be reminded to do basic part of their jobs like clean behind doors, lift loo seats or move out chair to clean underneath.

I've never had a cleaner who can clean properly without a massively detailed sheet of instructions.

I agree, sort of. I'm pretty damn good at cleaning, always think about those areas, behind doors, skirtings, under loo seats (that one is pretty basic surely?!), corners of ceilings and floors, etc. But we don't get given enough time to do most of those things. The time we have means we have to do a quick, basic clean and ultimately things don't get done. And it's our fault. Everything is always our fault. I don't need bloody instructions, I need sufficient time to clean to the standard expected. And how about more than £8.72 an hour, eh.

And most tradespeople, btw, get paid a hell of a lot more per hour than cleaners!

Don’t forget that domestic cleaners aren’t always paye. What sounds like a good rate, may not be so great after tax, insurance and NI contributions are deducted. Plus you will have higher travelling costs going from home to home. Some domestic cleaning companies expect you to provide your own supplies too. They are little more than an agency. I’m not saying all are like that. Just be aware.

@Bargebill19

Cleaning is a skill set that most people need to be taught. By that I mean that cleaning your own home is totally different to hotel clean/commercial clean/crime scene cleaning/house cleaning/deep cleans/builders cleans/sparkle cleans/ofsted cleans and Cqc cleans. Sadly (and the company I work for are one such) very few cleaning companies actually invest in training new staff how to complete any specific clean in the time contracted. It’s no wonder that many new cleaners can’t do the job and then receive complaints.

Don’t get me started on lack of decent equipment and cleaning supplies. !

Yes. We are advised to put in an order for cleaning supplies, giving the office two weeks notice at least to get the stuff to us. Three months later and still nothing. Staff turnover is huge and people come and go constantly because the conditions are shit, the pay is shit, the management is shit and all of it is just shit.

YANBU. I get so irritated when people leave food/plates/cups on their desks at work. It just shows a complete lack of respect for cleaners. So easy to to take it to the bin.

Sorry but you can do the whole job in the time allowed if trained correctly, with the right equipment. Example would be two toilet stalls to a high standard in 5 mins, including floors and ceiling. An office is usually around 6 min.

My colleague cleaned one of the toilets earlier, five minutes later, the office manager used the loo, pissed all over the seat and then had a go at my colleague for not cleaning the toilet properly!

@Cadent. There are ways of training such people who have disrespect for their cleaner....😇

@Bargebill19 do tell!

Op that is a common one. Leave the floor signs out and make sure they hear you say clearly “toilets just been cleaned, please do not slip or better still use the one at xyz(wherever the other toilet is)”

Oh I am sure you know. !!!

@Bargebill19

Sorry but you can do the whole job in the time allowed if trained correctly, with the right equipment. Example would be two toilet stalls to a high standard in 5 mins, including floors and ceiling. An office is usually around 6 min.

Sorry, I disagree. I clean quickly, very quickly and I know what I'm doing. By the end of my shift I'm dripping with sweat, heart pumping like I've been training for a marathon. Could you clean an entire building in an hour and a half? I'm talking two kitchens, two large staircases, four bathrooms, about fifty desks, 30+ metres of flooring, flooring that not only gets covered in piss, shit and food but oil and dirt, needs hoovering and mopping, four back room offices, all with a shitty hoover, fifty plus bins to empty. It's not enough time.

Yes I could and to a very high standard. It’s about knowing how to do it properly with the right equipment. Plus having a weekly routine. Never try to do every job every night.
I have cleaned two story office blocks in less.
(which have several hundred employees.)