How do I pay our lovely cleaner?

[Alwaysfullofquestions]

We’re hiring a woman to clean once a week because work is getting busier and busier and i also have a chronic illness which causes fatigue so I struggle to keep on top of it.

My only question is how do I pay her? She wants to be paid in cash but I want to make sure I’m doing it correctly, should I be paying by BACs? Or does it not matter? Anyone I’ve hired before for things like gardening or rubbish removal has been online banking.

Just want to make sure I’m doing it right and sorry if this seems like a stupid question!

I take a mix of cash and bacs payments for my self employed work.

FWIW I keep track of the cash income and include it in my self assessment because I have to show that I earn at least NMW as an hourly rate to be eligible for UC.

As a full time cleaner she could well be in receipt of IN WORK benefits and to be able to show a decent income will be important to her, so ‘tax dodging’ is not actually a positive in this situation - when you’re in receipt of ‘tax credits’ you need to show a decent income or will be sanctioned as your work is deemed to be ‘not viable’.

All those who think cash = tax dodge are confusing people like cleaners and gardeners charging £10-15 an hour with builders charging £1000s and wanting paid in cash.

Jesus why do people assume it's tax dodging? Some people here are awful. I've done cleaning in the past and it was a really place to clean and I couldn't start till 11pm at night and got home in the early hours. The only thing that kept me going was the notes placed on my hand - it actually made it feel worthwhile. The physical reward made it tolerable.

It's easy. Just get the cash out and put it in an envelope.
Cash obviously suits her for reasons pp have suggested.

@ChangeChingyChange

It's up to you, if she wants cash its because she's tax dodging. If you feel uncomfortable with this then insist on Bank transfer only. She could say no then you've lost her as a cleaner. I'd have the conversation with her before she starts. Would it really bother you that much to not just pay her in cash?

What a ridiculous thing to say! Plenty of people prefer cash, nothing to do with tax dodging.

My cleaner is paid cash, as is his hairdresser wife. It helps keep better records of who has paid and which of them is paid for which service as they have a joint account.

This thread is a delight, isn't it.

Cleaners are tax dodgers. She's probably claiming benefits so report her. She's so poverty stricken she needs the cash for food. "Insist she does a, b & c OP". People really do think cleaners are staff, don't they.

‘ Yeah it's really hard work! Why not get a months out in one go, ease that massive burden.’ @Offmyfence

Pain in the arse,
I said. Not massive burden. PITA.

I used to pay my cleaner in cash, she definitely was not a tax dodger, she declared her income correctly and could claim government help for the self employed during COVID. It’s wrong to assume that everyone is trying to dodge tax.

@Amberflames jog on - I am not responsible for knowingly helping someone to evade tax because I may cash to my cleaner

Sorry that’s not what I meant. I meant that if you pay someone in cash because you know that individual wants cash to avoid paying tax then yes you are enabling tax evasion. There is a difference.

[quote Amberflames]**@Amberflames jog on - I am not responsible for knowingly helping someone to evade tax because I may cash to my cleaner

Sorry that’s not what I meant. I meant that if you pay someone in cash because you know that individual wants cash to avoid paying tax then yes you are enabling tax evasion. There is a difference.[/quote]
Well of course, that is a massive difference, but nothing OP says is pointing to that, yet still be get the cries of tax evasion!

@logsonlogsoff

‘ Yeah it's really hard work! Why not get a months out in one go, ease that massive burden.’ *@Offmyfence*

Pain in the arse,
I said. Not massive burden. PITA.

Yeah, but you could assist it by getting in once a month, it's quite easy to think outside the box!

Our cleaner came highly recommended and we trust her implicitly. We leave her money In a tin that's solely for her. So she doesn't have to come and ask us for her money at the end of the clean which makes everyone feel awkward. Done it this way for ten years with no issues

@Offmyfence ‘ think outside the box!’

The 90s called, they’d like their bullshit business cliches back please.

Tax etc is her responsibility so don’t worry about that

It’s not necessarily dodgy to pay in cash - might just be more convenient for her

@Mojoj

Sick of reading posts of how people "have no time" to organise cash payments. Get over yourself. No-one is that busy. Pay your cleaner in cash or find another cleaner.

Exactly!

I pay mine by standing order, mainly because it is an awkward amount to have to get cash for every week (ie not just a simple visit to the cash machine). It is so much easier than having to remember to get cash all the time.

I would get a small notebook, list the dates and payments, and ask the cleaner to sign for the receipt of the money when you give it to her. It will avoid any misunderstandings if she claims you haven't paid her when you have, or vica versa.

As a previously self employed domestic worker - not cleaner but similar, I loved cash as I could use to top up gas and electric meters and send teens to do without messing about with cards, give me kids pocket money in cash, cash birthday/Christmas presents for my multiple nieces and nephews etc. I really do judge people who get sniffy about paying domestic workers in cash. Get over yourselves.

I've always paid cleaners cash. Whether they declare it or not is up to them.

@DynamiteFilledRadish

Excuse me? No one said she is poverty stricken.

When I said one reason for cash is that people who are overdrawn will end up having the bank transfer swallowed up and wont be able to use it. Cash means they have a choice of how to split it up and use it for what is most pressing.

That is an actual, legitimate reason for cash payments. And nothing at all to do with her being a cleaner. I know lots of "professional" people who live in their overdraft. I know a lot of people now who are still trying to get out of the debt lockdown put them into.

It isnt an insult or an indictment of someone to say that cash payments allow for people to access the money without worrying about overdrafts and bank fees taking it all up in one go.

Another reason for cash payments is to ensure people cant forgot and you dont need to send reminders whilst you wait for them to send the blooyd payment.

The OP wanted to know why cash payments might be wanted. Those are just 2 reasons. It is not an insult to the cleaner to say that.

I take a visible approach to cash payments
For a cleaner or odd job person earning low wage/hour I tend to go with cash if they ask and won’t take a BACS …I assume that some of these people mightn’t even have a bank account in normal way due to previous debt or other reasons. And if your not very IT literate or don’t have easy access to internet or a computer which low wage people might not have, then that is a good reason for them to only deal in cash
However, if it’s a plumber or trade charging £100 per hour for a call out and has a company with web site, obviously busy, then no I don’t. They’re definitely earning about personal allowances and they’re running a company so can deal with baking and internet. I refuse to pay cash for that- they’re the ones most likely to be avoiding tax. Had a few get a bit angst with me for refusing in past. My response was that if you told me you only dealt in cash up front I wouldn’t have hired you. And no I will not go and get cash. Either cheque or bank transfer. They always go for bank transfer. They’re trying it on basically.

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