Cleaner constantly on the phone, poor productivity

[NCforthispurpose]

I have been employing a new housekeeper for the past 2.5 weeks. I like her, she's smart, is good at what she does, takes good care of the house and the clothes, asks good questions and is a great cook. However, she is constantly on the phone. Usually with her earpods but today they must have been out of battery and so she was holding the phone with one hand and emptying the dishwasher with the other hand. I started to get a bit irritated and went to check on her several times (I also wanted her to notice I knew she was on the phone) and she was constantly talking to someone.
Initially I didn't really mind as she recently arrived in the country and had loads of stuffs to sort out for her kids but now things are more or less settled and I can see these are not "admin" calls or emergencies she is dealing with, but just casual chats with friends, husband etc
I also noticed her productivity is very poor. Initially I put it down to being new in the house but now I can clearly see she's not focusing and tasks are taking much longer than they should. She is in her early 40s, very fit (she told me she liked exercising) and experienced so she should be much more productive. She works full time for us and doesn't do as much as the previous lady who used to work half the amount of hours.

She is still on a trial and as I now have to give her a contract I have to take the matter seriously as in this country it's almost impossible to lay off someone without being sued (if things were to deteriorate further).

I really want to keep her but I would like to address the matter in an elegant and non confrontational way. I was planning to sit down and tell her what a great cleaner and cook I think she is but there is a long "to do list" (printed black on white on paper) which she's never able to complete due to being distracted constantly by her phone.

AIBU: You should cut your losses and not renew her trial period
YANBU: You're right to try and make it work (and any tips welcome!)

Simply say it then, be assertive but point out tasks aren't being done on time and bring it back to her on phone. You are her boss/employee and not her friend so I see no issue with raising this. I and others often have being corrected/told off at work by authority but that's working life.

If she is not doing what she should, sack her.

I think it would be too much of a risk to keep her . There’s plenty of cleaners out there , I would find another one .

I had a cleaner who spent 1.5 hours upstairs hoovering …… or so I thought. On investigation the hoover was just on while she sat there on her phone!!!

I have two jobs, neither of which I'm allowed my mobile while I'm working. One job, you have to go through reception and they come and find you if emergency. The other, no chance of getting through so you have to have special permission for your phone (only in certain areas of building) if you believe someone will need to contact you in an emergency and you have to have your manager sanction beforehand.

If she's not doing the work you require and you believe it's due to technology, then I'd have a gentle chat with her. If productivity doesn't increase, then a final warning, no mobile/earpodes whatsoever while working.

Omg!!

Frankly, a new employee who knows she's on probation should have more sense; so I don't hold out much hope she's going to be a keeper. If she behaves like that while you're present, god knows what liberties she takes when you're not.

She’s not doing an acceptable job while she’s new, on probation, and knows you can see her. So think what a terrible job she will do once you’re out, and she has a contract and knows it would be hard to sack her.

cut your losses.

tell her that this hasn’t worked out because she is simply not productive enough. Then let her go.

Yanbu. Get rid, she won’t change. Have you spoken to her about constantly being on the phone?

i agree with PPs, it sounds like you’ll be battling. Our cleaner also talks socially on the phone, very loudly, on speaker! So I have to listen to both sides of her conversations, so I understand 🥴

You would be crazy to give her a contract knowing that that's how she behaves on probation!

I'd not keep her. Give her feedback previous cleaner got on with the jobs, never on phone on work time etc.

Heh I used to ring up a pal who could talk your lugs off for hours every Sunday so I could clean the whole house. Some people clean better while chatting.

If her cleaning is shit or whatever she's supposed to be doing then get another one. If it's just wanting someone to focus on taking plates out of a dishwasher with a serious expression then I'm not sure what to suggest. Phone ban on next interview?

Unless this is a wind up you’re employing someone from overseas to do your cleaning, laundry and cook for you.
She has her own children presumably in another country and you’re complaining that she is multi tasking with a phone and a dishwasher.
You are either a fantasist, a wind up merchant or a nasty witch.

This is exactly my thinking. I have been wfh a lot but will start going back to the office more and travel quite a lot, god knows what she will be doing then. When the cat is not here...

That said I have this "to do list" which I have literally just edited (after starting this thread) with the 5 days of the weeks and she will have to put ticks in boxes when a task is completed. This is what I used to do with aupairs in the old days.... I hate micro managing but with me being out a lot I feel I have no choice.

This is exactly it except I don't understand her language so have no idea what she's talking about.

I would Google how it’s works culturally in her country with communication. Eg the Dutch are very direct. So how is the communication where she comes from?
brits are famously too polite and vague. Often other cultures don’t understand what we want because we say “it would be nice if you ..” Rather than ‘you must/I expect”

I can guess what she’s talking about!
I bet she’s also cleaning the toilet with your toothbrush.

I wouldn't get tied up in knots working out which actual words to use. Use plain English.

Im sure anyone with a basic command of the language won't have a problem understanding the message "please turn your phone off for the 2 hours you're cleaning my house, thank you". That's neither rude or abrupt and it transcends culture.

Oh calm down! She is a EU citizen moving to another EU country where her entire family (parents included) emigrated many years ago. She's moved with her husband and kids for them to have a better education... I have actually been quite supportive to help her with all the school admin, bank account, gave her a lot of clothes and books for her kids who hardly speak the language.

That's a good point. I hadn't thought about it under this angle but she is actually very direct, as direct as one can be, which is very cultural. So she might not mind if I tell her in plain language that spending too much time on the phone is detrimental to her productivity.

So she’s been with you for 2.5 weeks. She gets less done than the person you had before who worked half the number of hours and she chats on the phone the whole time, even while you’re there and clearly doesn’t have much of a work ethic when it comes to her job for you.

I would not try and keep her. You have labour laws that will make it next to impossible to get rid of her if she goes back to these habits, and this is clearly her default. You are about to be around less to supervise. Even if you were direct with her and it worked as a way to get her to buck up for a while, the chances that that will remain her standard way of working once her probation is over and you are no longer around is minuscule. If you like her, be her friend. Don’t employ her.

Thanks to those who took the time to respond. I have the possibility to add another trial period in her contract, which I am going to do, probably for an additional two months which is pretty standard.
In addition I'll sit down with her at the end of the week, discuss expectations again, praise her for the quality of her work but tell her that she's not getting enough done in a week most likely due to spending too much time on the phone (I'll emphasise that I have no issue with her dealing with emergencies for her kids and school/urgent admin matters but she should keep social phone calls for outside working hours).
Wish me luck, I hate having these types of discussions 😕

One detail I should have added in my first post (really sorry for the drip feed), I know her mother and aunt who have been working for us on and off when we were in the country. Very nice, efficient, trustworthy and never on the phone! I tend to trust this family which is why I am tempted to give her a chance.

She's on probation and can't be arsed to do a good job she will be downright useless when she's on a permanent contract. Get rid. On a side note it's unhygienic to be emptying the dishwasher and handling your phone at the same time phones typically are filthy.