Cleaner situation please advise

[Tospyornottospy]

Hello everyone - just wanted a bit of advice on the following. Sorry for long post just want to be thorough.

we’ve had a cleaner for 9 months. She does 2 full days (as per her request), 8am-4pm. So 2 x 8 hour days. She was recommended to us via a friend of hers and was previously also a nanny, so for her 8 hours the initial agreement was:

1. for 1-2 hours (broken up) to watch 2 year old whilst I’m running errands/cooking etc
2. take dog for 30 min walk
3. do a little bit of ironing (about 30 mins worth)

so there was 4-5 hours left to clean 2 x a week a 5 bed house (2 bedrooms aren’t used so need very little focus). House is always very tidy. After a few months it became clear she was extremely slow as the ironing that took me 30 mins max was taking 90 mins, so I asked her to drop the ironing and spend more time on the house.

the issue is it’s very unclear to me what she’s actually doing. Surfaces are covered in dust, windows are not clean, under furniture not hoovered etc, mould in parts of the bathroom, mirrors smudged. I’ve pointed these things out various times and they are solved the next time but then not done again.

I feel the hours she is doing are enough for the house to be clean clean but maybe i am
Expecting too much? We pay 18£ an hour plus her travel so it’s not nothing.

our previous cleaner kept the house much cleaner than this in less time and sadly she moved away.

also, DS went upstairs to get a top during the holidays and told me she was just sitting down up there. He’s 7 so could just be bollocks but im not sure how to handle. Sometimes there isn’t a lot of noise up there when im downstairs but i cant really go and stand over here and it’s awkward to keep bringing it up. On the other hand she’s very sweet and the children love her.

what do i do? Speak to her again? Let her go? Get a nanny cam to confirm if she’s actually working up there? Am I expecting too much?

I don’t manage people, no

DH is actually a total shark at work, but a kitten at home 😀

So what happened op?

I take it you didn’t dare say anything when home time came 🤣🤣🤣

She’s still here! She’s here 8am - 4pm
so the time is coming!

Thanks everyone - DH got key back and told her we need to think about how to get the amount of cleaning we actually want done. New person starts trial Monday!

My cleaner does one day a week (maybe 6 hours of cleaning) and I tidy up nothing. There are NO cobwebs and dust. Honesty you HAVE to learn how to have a "difficult" conversation. If it's too hard just channel someone else in your brain. But you need to learn.

We clearly made the right decision - if someone had sent me photos of a dusty cupboard and questioned how much I was doing and I came to “fix things”, I would probably have dusted the tops of the wardrobes during the fucking 8 hours I had to clean that day! What a fucking joke. Not sure how clear this is because I’ve had to crop to remove identifying features but this is a cm thick of dust

She’s on her phone
sounds like me! But I’m not being paid or pretending to be a professional…

I don’t understand how else she can be filling the amount of time if she’s not dusting stuff etc. like what else is there to do so
i think napping or on phone or resting etc

Yup, messing about on her phone, snoozing, honestly some people have a shocking ability to just sit and stare into fucking space for hours (my DP!!) when they're meant to be doing something else.

What was her response when your DH ask for the key back and told her she was sacked? Did she seem surprised?

Well done op!

How did she respond when he asked for the keys?

Is your new person going to take on all the same tasks?

She didn’t seem surprised at all, she gave key and said “ok”. He messaged her today to make sure she understands we are looking elsewhere for our cleaning needs and she just said ok thank you.

new cleaner I think will come 2-3 days for 4 hours (as a trial anyway) and I would expect a pretty clean house for this. No childcare/ironing or dog stuff as it’s just 4 hours but for 18£ an hour I will raise my expectations and give her a very clear list tomorrow

Well done OP. That was a tough one re the confrontation (I get it I’m the same, inwardly seething outwardly hate the thought of confrontation but I’m working on it) the very fact she thanked your DH after he let her go sounds like she knew she was taking the absolute piss

I'm still confused as to why you are paying someone for 4 hours, two or even three times a week.
A single four hour weekly clean would keep on top of your house, or two x 2 hrs if you prefer.

I was wondering exactly the same thing as NewName24. You could get a lot done in 4 hours. You wouldn't need to repeat all of that twice more across the week. Maybe 2 hours twice a week, with an occasional 3hour stint, to do something extra if required, such as cleaning windows once a month or a batch of ironing now and again.

This
How ridiculous
I can clean my house in 2 hours and I work full time?

You must be proper mingers to need that amount of cleaning

How do you need this much cleaning doing?
Seriously?
Do you do absolutely nothing?

It sounds like quite a big busy house with kids and pets. I don't think it's a crazy amount of cleaning if they'd prefer not to/don't have time to do actual cleaning, just the basics of keeping things running. Sounds like they can afford it too so why on earth not? Agree it really sounds like she knew she was taking the piss and was seeing how long she could get away with it for!

It does seem an insane amount of cleaning.
If you manage to get a good cleaner this time your house should be gleaming!(and then she will slowly run out of things to do as she's onto of it,and sit around getting paid to be on her phone anyway!)

Because we have several small children, a dog and a pretty big 5 bedroom house. And this way I don’t have to do any cleaning? Just kitchen/table surfaces and tidying.

This, thank you!

new cleaner is fabulous. Finished 10 mins early and came so say she was done and what else could she do. Shows how much ex cleaner was taking the piss.

Or we are people who like a very very clean house 😀 I’m heavily pregnant with many small children and a dog - I don’t really want to do any of the heavy lifting. House is always spotless but ideally I don’t want to do any of the big stuff, no. I don’t see how it’s anyone’s business if this is something we want to spend money on. I like doing the washing, changing bedsheets etc but not keen on lugging hoover over several floors and my toddler demands to be carried during hoovering and mopping so it’s exhausting.

It's very obvious they are not "cleaning" when the dust starts to build and the toilets get hardened limescale -

I found this. I had to get brick acid to get it off as they weren't being bleached!

Two options: write a checklist that she has to go through in her hours.

I'd manage it in a more positive way like "I've wrote a checklist for you, it prioritises most of the things I'd like done - anything you don't have time to do, please leave unticked so I know it's something I need to do."

Or I'd get rid of her. I know what it's like having cleaners than don't clean - and as nice as they are and the excuses they have, it's just not on.

I've been through many cleaners and they do try it on.

Btw everyone - spoke to person who recommended old cleaner. She had been fired from another job before us for being too slow! So never going to change 😀

Sounds like something has gone wrong in her life. Or maybe she is looking for a job change.

I wish her well but I am glad you are free, OP!