Cleaner's increase

[PearlclutchersInc]

My cleaner has just text me to say that her charges are going up by 35% to £15 an hour. I supply all the cleaning materials, its a 2 bed flat for which she cleans only one 1 bed and the rest - its new(ish) and she gets 3 hours to dot. There's 2 adults, one cat and we tidy up before she comes. She's not exactly over-worked

Eh? AIBU to ask how she arrives at that.

I feel really quite peeved. Don't see my employer giving me a 30-odd% rise any time soon. Happy to hear other views.

So lobby for pay increases for nurses (I totally support this), instead of begrudging cleaners

And, brace yourself... some cleaners are actually university educated. It's a flexible job that works around childcare, and other restrictions and always in demand.

This assumption that cleaners are the very bottom of the food chain annoys me. Who do you think is cleaning the shit off your hospital toilets and mopping your floors...(and washing up the mugs some staff leave in the sink for them to do). They do a good job, not just peoples homes but schools, hospitals, etc etc. They should be treated with more respect and paid more (as indeed should nurses!)

Yabu as you should be paying her a min £15 pH already. Sounds like she trying to get her pay up the what other cleaners charge

How much would you do it for, OP?

Travel expenses, materials, hard labour, no holiday pay, no sick pay, no employment pension…plus, of course, dealing with the attitude of people like you?

£15 p/h is cheap for a cleaner round here.

Cost of living crisis affects cleaners too you know, probably more so.

Cough up.

@DixonD I don't clean because I don't like cleaning. I had a cleaner as a single person when I had a flat.

I am a cleaner ( and also a graduate with a prof degree who worked in the health service..and i confirm that i get a similar wage for cleaning as i did on a hospital ward .. there is nothing wrong with a cleaner getting a decent wage. However, for the level of responsibility, the nhs related job should have paid more. I find it amazingnto earn this amout without the mental stress.. ( this relates to the person who was saying wow to how much cleaners get/ why did they bother getting a degree))... I would not need 3 hours to do a home that you describe. 2 wd do it.

My cleaner has 3 hours to do a 3 bed semidetached. And often only takes 2.5
3 hours for a 2 bed flat which she only cleans one room of us taking the piss!

£15 hour seems very reasonable to me.

You might be supplying cleaning products, but that £15/hour still needs to cover:

• travel time between jobs and fuel
• insurance
• pension contributions
• holidays, sickness and bank holidays

Take all that out, and she's probably barely bringing home minimum wage. I work as a dog walker and earn, on average, about £15 an hour. But I have to pay for poo bags and treats. I have to drive between jobs for nothing. I have to pay for my insurance. I need to cover my pension contributions, days off and sickness. I need to factor in cancellations, owners going on holiday, dogs becoming unwell and not being allowed out for walks...

I don't make anywhere near to what I charge.

You've got that option, but as others have stated you'll lose sick pay, holiday pay (although I pay my cleaner both, she says I'm the only one!).

Pension contributions, she have no workplace pension.

Job security would also be very different.

But of course any of us could change careers.

It's a lot to consider.

I pay £15 an hour but my cleaner does a 4 bed house in 2hrs. 3hrs seems excessive. Ask for 2hrs instead

£15 is the going rate for a cleaner. She’s clearly avoiding putting her rates up for too long

Cost of living crisis also means that cleaners are possibly the first luxury to be axed.

My cleaners were £15 an hour as that paid for her insurance and NI contributions.

12 is what she got and that was paid in cash to her (per terms of contract).

Cost of living crisis also means that cleaners are possibly the first luxury to be axed

for many that employ cleaners, the crisis isn't a problem to them

I suspect with the cost of living g crisis prevailing there may soon be more rather than fewer cleaners. Supply and demand may push the hourly rate down.

Having said that my cleaner is wonderful and we therefore treat her with the deepest respect and she is worth every penny of her £15ph.

The cost of living crisis is pushing cleaner rates up.

I'm a cleaning business owner who know's many other cleaning business owners across the UK, and as always there is far more demand than which we can hire and train in time for, therefore our spots are in demand and so premium prices can be commanded throughout the industry.

We (My business) charges around £19 + VAT currently, others may charge more or less, but I know that solos operating professionally throughout the UK are charging the bare min of £15 per hr and no matter what they charge they are all fully booked.

You’re right. Cleaners are an obvious luxury to cut out when finances start to pinch. We’re about to be living in a very different world.

Sometime later, thankyou for all your replies (mostly anyway). Some of the comments made me stop to think. I do appreciate her very much and realise that it is hard work (I used do my own before I had a stroke, I've never quite recovered and get tired really quickly). I also realised that I've become a real grump lately.

Anyway, also it turns out that what she's asking is still cheaper than the going rate around here, from what I can see, so I've given myself a good shake and I've still got her.

£15 is reasonable IF they useing own products I do think she has a cheek as you are an existing client

Well done, I love it when feedback helps. And ignore the posters who were just plain horrible

Well done OP!

Nothing more BDE than an OP who can take things on board.

Sorry OP, do you not understand mumsnet? You're not allowed to reasonably take on all the responses and use them to come to a sensible solution. You have to keep insisting that you're right and then flounce off the thread and ask MN to delete it......😆

She's self employed and can set whatever rates she considers to be appropriate. If you don't think it's value for money, you can choose to take your custom elsewhere.

She doesn't need to justify her decision in the slightest. You just need to decide whether you are willing to accept the new terms.

Aww well done OP, I love to see a person who can take feedback in the spirit it's been given and have a rethink. I think it's a sign of true maturity to not just blindly insist that you are right, but to listen and adjust your expectations like that 😊