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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cleaner leaving 1.5 hours early

61 replies

IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:00

We have/had a very efficient cleaner. She wanted as many hours as possible so we paid her twice a week for four hours a time.

She started off brilliantly and did lots in that time including tidying as well as cleaning but since moving further away, she has really cut down what she does to a basic clean and leaves after 2.5 hours. I offered to reduce her hours or days and said it was fine if she wanted to go elsewhere as the travel time is long but she insisted she likes coming to us.

She was really struggling with cost of living and health issues so I did not force the issue until she had fully recovered.

Last week she left really early - 2.5 hours - and I noticed the top floor barely looked touched and sent a text - her English is minimal.

I started by praising things she had done well but added I noticed the floor upstairs looked untouched and that it may be the vacuum bag needed changing but also saying I noticed she was only staying for 2.5 hours and wondered if she wanted to change her hours as there is always something to do to fill the time. I listed a few things eg making sure the bins are emptied (which she has stopped doing). I said that if she needed to leave half an hour early, I could accommodate as I know she tries to work between school hours.

The tone I thought was friendly. Her English is not strong enough to have this conversation face to face and she is always racing out the door.

Do cleaners get paid per job rather than per hour now? The quality of most her work is good for the time it takes but the house is too big to clean it properly in 2.5 hours - even twice a week as inevitably the main rooms need going over again.

We pay £14 an hour but it’s more like £20 when you look at the hours worked.

She has not replied to my question of whether she is coming today or tomorrow so suspect she has binned us.

AIBU in (gently) calling out the hours worked?

I will message later to say I hope she’s not offended as that was not my intention. DH thinks she’s taking the piss. I think she is very understandably thin-skinned having learned a bit about her background. I tried to be as nice as possible in delivering the feedback. Argh!

OP posts:
Original poster
IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:35

I know that @Rosiem2808 which is why I’m mindful of the fact that she does have autonomy on the days she comes etc and I am respectful of her work. I also know it is skilled work and a job that would take me six hours without touching the sides (always been hopeless impractical and disorganised and no system has worked and I get overwhelmed). That is why I appreciate the skill involved in doing the job well and she does do it well. But there is always more to do and she is not filling the time we are paying for.

OP posts:
TheBarbieEffect · 22/09/2023 12:38

She is taking the piss, and you shouldn’t be gentle in calling her out on it because she’s just taking you for a mug.

OnLockdown · 22/09/2023 12:38

I appreciate that not everyone can or wants to do this but I let my cleaner in, then I go out for 2.5 hours and when I come back I pay her. She can't leave early unless she goes without being paid.

Regholdsworthswaterbed · 22/09/2023 12:41

Not sure why you are worried about offending her. If I got up and left the office 1.5 hours early I'd be called out. Why is a cleaner any different?

Notlaughingalot · 22/09/2023 12:44

Leaving a few minutes early isn't too bad, but leaving hours early is awful.
Our cleaner started on 3 hours, once a week but started leaving after two hours.
We renegotiated her hours and now pay for two.
You need to talk to her.

Original poster
IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:44

In case I don’t hear from her… do PM me any recommendations! We are in SE London.

I have just read an old thread about cleaners leaving early and it makes for depressing reading.

This one was highly regarded by friends who have used her too.

OP posts:
Fallingthroughclouds · 22/09/2023 12:48

IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:16

We pay by bank transfer at her request. She dashed off last week after about 1.5 hours after her son had a fall at school although her DH was also there. I paid her in full as she is very anxiety prone and hovers around him a lot. She is honestly very sweet and hardworking within the hours she does (unlike at least 2 others I have had) but as a messy and busy household, we really need all the help we can get!

What is the going rate for London these days?

So this was actually a one off due to her son's accident?

tttigress · 22/09/2023 12:48

Seems to be a very common theme on MN.

The cleaner starts out brilliantly, everyone very happy, then after a few months things start to slide. In the end they are doing 2.5 hours of work and billing for 4.

Rosiem2808 · 22/09/2023 12:49

I wasn't having a go at you @IwaswasntI .. I was merely replying to the way people seem to think a cleaner is subhuman :)
Of course you must ask her what is going on and depending upon what she says then at least now she knows you know what she has/has not been doing and then you can get another cleaner.
If she has binned you off then she has done you a big favour really.

Original poster
IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:50

No @Fallingthroughclouds . That was the time before last. She also left early last time. She had been leaving early for ages but that was partly due to a health issue which has now been sorted. She looks much more alive and happy. I would not begrudge anyone leaving early to look after an injured child and I paid her for the full hours.

OP posts:
Original poster
IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:52

I think of good cleaners as superhuman to be honest @Rosiem2808 . A bit like great teachers or childcare workers. They all have skills and temperaments that I cannot relate to! That may be where the ‘othering’ tone is coming from on my part!

OP posts:
gogomoto · 22/09/2023 12:52

Ive had the same issue, more than once. As far as I'm concerned I'm paying for 3, hours and that's what I expect, just like my job. I was paying £15 an hour so hardly minimum wage!

Fallingthroughclouds · 22/09/2023 12:52

IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 12:50

No @Fallingthroughclouds . That was the time before last. She also left early last time. She had been leaving early for ages but that was partly due to a health issue which has now been sorted. She looks much more alive and happy. I would not begrudge anyone leaving early to look after an injured child and I paid her for the full hours.

Ah OK, not acceptable then.

namestevalian · 22/09/2023 12:54

Use DEEP L website and message her in her own language . It's very good we use it at work

Rosiem2808 · 22/09/2023 12:54

And it works both ways with cleaners and their employers. I found over time with different people that they asked me to do more and more within the time allocated and never offered extra money - ever.

They also seem to think the cleaner does not have a life of her own and forget to leave the money which I know probably does not happen today but in those days I was paid cash, and they always seemed to forget - or coppered up and gave me tons of loose change which is just what you want really for working really hard isn't it !

Or pay me for two weeks because they forgot last week and overpay by a pound with the notes and then deduct it the following week.... I mean... never ever pay over the odds for a cleaner............ pah ! Forget to pay me by all means but remember always to scrape back the pound they overpaid last week.....

MissBiljanaElectronika · 22/09/2023 12:56

English people have such odd relationships with their cleaners

It's part work, part charity , part an unequal friendship

When really it should be a working relationship

You said you expect her to do 4hrs (work relationship, normal)

That you paid her 4 hrs even though she did 1.5 as she was anxious about her son (charity)

That you are worried you offended her by the simple fact you were asking her about work (friendship/emotions)

Figure out if you want her to work for you, be your charity project or your friend and take it from there

gamerchick · 22/09/2023 12:57

Leaving that early is taking the piss. How many employers would be happy with that? I know mine wouldn't.

10 minutes fine. 1.5 hrs is massive CF Territory. No wonder she likes coming to you

Original poster
IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 13:00

I know @MissBiljanaElectronika . There is a lot of middle class angst here. I think if someone is in your house twice a week and you’re around for at least one of the sessions, you cannot help but end up befriending them to some extent. These are people who you trust to fold your smalls after all! I think it’s hard and not necessarily good to have an entirely detached relationship with them as it is more intimate than an office work environment.

OP posts:
Harrysarseinthedogbowl · 22/09/2023 13:01

You are paying for eight hours' cleaning a week? Do you live in Buckingham Palace?

Fallingthroughclouds · 22/09/2023 13:05

Harrysarseinthedogbowl · 22/09/2023 13:01

You are paying for eight hours' cleaning a week? Do you live in Buckingham Palace?

I'm envious too.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 22/09/2023 13:07

tttigress · 22/09/2023 12:48

Seems to be a very common theme on MN.

The cleaner starts out brilliantly, everyone very happy, then after a few months things start to slide. In the end they are doing 2.5 hours of work and billing for 4.

It's honestly not just on here - cleaners starting out well then fading off seems a pretty well worn path generally

My own experience is only via community premises I've hired them to clean, but in years of doing it I've never yet found an exception to this

Original poster
IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 13:15

You honestly wouldn’t think it to look at our house that we pay for 8 hours cleaning! It looks like a bomb has hit it halfway through the week. I guess in reality we are only getting 5 hours a week cleaning!

I can see spiders webs in the hallway for example…

The reality is the standard of cleaning is really poor from most people we have used and I can’t entirely blame them as it is a job I hate too.

I wish I was one of these OCD type women - I have friends who don’t have cleaners but are in serious professional jobs and their houses sparkle - but it’s just not me.

OP posts:
omgsally · 22/09/2023 13:15

Harrysarseinthedogbowl · 22/09/2023 13:01

You are paying for eight hours' cleaning a week? Do you live in Buckingham Palace?

I've just done 12 hours this week for one of my clients. They live in a 4 bed 3 bathroom house. Certainly not palatial. Cleaning thoroughly from top to bottom takes a long time. That's windows, skirting boards and everything in between. The 12 hours does also cover several bed changes and about 12 loads of washing, ironing and putting away, plus dishwasher and lots of tidying up. I've got several clients, worked as a cleaner for a while now and have never once taken the p with my hours. I charge by 15 minute slots. That way, it means if I'm finished early, I'm not charging them for a full hour and if a job takes me longer, my time is paid for. I just add up my hours, text over my bill and they transfer the money. Has worked perfectly well for both me and my clients. It means the amount varies a little from week to week but we can all live with that.

greengreengrass25 · 22/09/2023 13:23

She's taking advantage of you and trying it on.

tattygrl · 22/09/2023 13:26

IwaswasntI · 22/09/2023 13:15

You honestly wouldn’t think it to look at our house that we pay for 8 hours cleaning! It looks like a bomb has hit it halfway through the week. I guess in reality we are only getting 5 hours a week cleaning!

I can see spiders webs in the hallway for example…

The reality is the standard of cleaning is really poor from most people we have used and I can’t entirely blame them as it is a job I hate too.

I wish I was one of these OCD type women - I have friends who don’t have cleaners but are in serious professional jobs and their houses sparkle - but it’s just not me.

"I wish I was one of those OCD type women"

No, you don't. Sorry to be one of those people, but don't use OCD like this, it's beyond disrespectful and annoying. OCD has nothing to do with a reasonable desire and ability to clean.