Cleaner left 40 minutes early because I wasn't home

[Scarletthoo2]

Our cleaner only did 1 hour and 20 minutes when I pay her for 2 hours. She doesn't realise I have a ring doorbell and majority of the time I'm working from home so I know when she arrives and leaves. However, I'm away for work and she is aware of that. I caught her arriving at 11:33 and leaving at 12:53. I'm obviously really pissed off about it. Do I mention it to her and let her know I can see her or just send her half of the money? She left 40 minutes early.

Nothing to do with this post because the cleaner lied but I always thought it was a very weird job to do as the better and more familiar you get with the job the less you get paid. Very thankless. I can’t think of any other jobs like that. It’s like an anti promotion. Odd.

Most cleaners in my area charge per job not per hour anymore. So if its at a good standard then no complaints no matter how long or short a time it takes

I would have left it

This seems like a better way of doing it. I think if I were a cleaner I’d get annoyed about having to slow down just to eat up the time. It’d get quite boring.

If this is a one off and your usually happy with what gets done then let it go - but obviously keep an eye out that it doesn't become a habit. It seems really petty to suggest you reduce pay by 40 mins. If it happens regularly then sure, you need to find someone else, but don't make yourself look small in the process by chipping money off. Your better than that

I'm a cleaner and get paid per hour for some jobs, and a flat fee for others. I NEVER leave earlier if I'm done on an hourly job. That's when it's time to clean out the fridge/get the cobwebs/wash the bannisters/sweep the front step. I did leave a clients house early once because I genuinely got my times mixed up. I text her to say I'm an idiot what happened and just made up the time next week. I wish I could find some mumsnet clients that would let me leave early, pay me when I don't even show up, and give me a years salary as a Christmas bonus.

30 minutes in a 9-5 isn't even the equivalent. The cleaner only worked for two thirds of her time, presumably expecting to be paid for the full two hours. That would be like a 9-5 knocking two and a half hours off every day, or 13 hours in a 39 hour week. Can't see many employers buying that one.

If she's got available access to your property and you're away I wouldn't start any type of confrontation until you're back.

But she is not reliant and trustworthy. She left early when she thought she could get away with it and lied.

This is one of the main reasons I don't want a cleaner. It seems very standard that they don't do the hours paid and can't be proactive enough to fill them if they have time to make up. Plus a dishonest lier in your house? Well done op

Completely irrelevant, she is paid for 2 hours so she should clean for 2 hours. Would be totally different if she was paid to do X and Y but she wasnt

She’s a liar and an idiot.

gosh, what harsh treatment

Then they need to make that very clear, and if OP thinks she is paying by the hour either that's isn't the agreement or she didn't make it clear enough

Okie dokes

It matters cause she is being paid for 2 HOURS, not for tasks

perhaps with op being away the house was a lot cleaner !

If it’s a one-off and you are generally happy with her then I’d leave it this one time. Life’s too short and it’s so hard to find a good cleaner.
If it happened again I would have a word.

They still find a way to take the piss ime.

It starts off as a thorough job and then just gets sloppy with loads of stuff missed out.

In our time of having maybe 20-25 cleaners , only 3 were honest and good at what they did.
One set stole from us - we only gradually realised thing were missing and our friends who also had them also suffered thefts.

I had the same sort of thing - I came home early and the cleaner had gone but signed the time sheet for the agency with a time in the future! I left a note for her when she next arrived saying (very politely) that I’d come back and she’d already gone but the time sheet was filled in as normal - please could she let me know if she couldn’t do the full two hours. Her response was to immediately leave without cleaning anything and post my keys through the letter box. So then I had to tell the agency.

So, I’d suggest the ‘concerned’ approach. You could tell her the Ring always notifies you when people come in or out and you’d noticed she’d had to dash - is everything ok and does she want to come back to finish off?

Ultimately, unless there isn’t a single thing left in the house that could be cleaned it’s dishonest to leave early without telling you, while still expecting full pay. Without that very basic trust, I wouldn’t have a cleaner in my home.

^ ffs no, I didn’t read the update. Yes, I should have!

Is your house clean? If it’s clean then there is no problem.

Let’s not judge all cleaners as one homogeneous bunch of crooks eh?

Im perhaps a bit defensive because I’m a self employed cleaner but most of us work hard and provide a great service.So no, it’s not “standard” to be work shy.

I’ll often stay an extra 10/20 minutes or more to finish a job and won’t charge for it. I’ve also been left with dogs and children to look after whilst cleaning, fed pets while they’re away and picked up groceries on my way over.

The fact that this cleaner knocked off early because her client was away (and tried to bluff her way out of it when confronted) does not automatically mean she’s a thief and not to be trusted in someone’s house around their belongings- that’s quite a leap.

I’m also sick of the general inference on here that all cleaners are tax dodgers. I see that all the time.

If you need a cleaner, I’d suggest getting one on recommendation with excellent references rather than buying into the myth that we’re all pisstaking thieves!

Dunno OP I lost my amazing cleaner of 4 years being over 15 mins.

she kept finishing 15 mins early. She did a good job still and well maybe I should have left it. Now I have a cleaner she’s not as
good. I need someone else really.

Back when I could afford/justify employing a cleaner we booked by the hour. She was lovely, super efficient and totally trustworthy. When she finished early she would always use her initiative to find extras to do/deep clean etc. I miss her. My house is a dump now.

If I walked out of my job early (it'd be leaving about 2.30 for a 9-5 to be equivalent) I'm fairly sure I'd face consequences.