My cleaner chucked her cigarette butt into our hydrangea bush

[JuneM]

Our cleaner does four hours a week - a couple of weeks ago I noticed a cigarette butt in a small gu pot on our back porch.. very usual as we don’t smoke! I thought it might be the gardeners, my husband mentioned he thought it was the cleaner.

this week, our cleaner who charges £18 per hour went out for a cigarette break, we have cctv at the back, and I saw that she chucked her cigarette butt into our hydrangea bush. I’m not happy about this at all. I think it’s disrespectful and disgusting that I now have to clean up my cleaners dirty cigarette butt.

I also often make her a tea or glass of water, in the past it has irritated me that she doesn’t actually put the cup in the dishwasher and I have to clean it up once she’s gone.

I know we need to raise this with her but what would you do.

AIBU?

New cleaner time.
This is akin to leaving a dog shit on your patio.

This thread is peak Mumsnet 😂😂

The fact that you couldn't "cope" with a cleaner is irrelevant. Millions of people do. I'm a cleaner. I used to be a senior manager in the corporate world but my world changed and now I do this job. I do it very well and am very much in demand. Im a real human being you know. Why do you find it funny to say you wouldnt make a cleaner a drink? Why are you 'othering' cleaners? I don't smoke, never have and I'd personally never use a cleaner who smoked. I couldn't bear the 2nd hand smoke smell in my house. As for flicking used ends in your garden, I really do think that's revolting. She's littering your own home.

Was it a rolly end (paper and cardboard) or a filter tip? Because this would radically change my answer. The first is fine, it’s biodegradable. The second is not.

Why DO people say this? She could be disabled or flat out busy or loathe cleaning or just want to sit with her feet up because she can. It's such a strange attitude. People outsource all kinds of jobs they can't do or don't want to do but it's always women who get told to do their own cleaning if they're not happy with a cleaners work.

Great thread title, sounds like 'overheard in Waitrose'

I would get a new cleaner.
She's using things out of your cupboards as an ashtray and then leaving them out for you to clean up. I use those gu glasses for food, it's like her using a mug as an ashtray.

She's leaving her dirty mug around the house for you to clean up.

She can't clean a bloody toilet properly.

She's throwing fag ends in your garden.

She's bad at her job and grubby and disrespectful to your home. Get a new cleaner.

If its so quick, why doesn't the smoker do it?

Jesus. Surely one for MN Madness.

Tell her you are a non smoking household and that includes your garden but given her behaviour, I’d start looking for her replacement.

The cleaner works FOUR hours a week and is paid £18 per hour! Not one minute within those hours should be used having a bloody cigarette break! It’s FOUR hours, whether that’s four hours together or throughout the week matters not and then she has the cheek to discard it in the garden! Not ok!

I’d be more worried about a fire starting, I’d ask her to stop smoking on my property

I think provide an ashtray.
Like others have said, You are lucky to be able to afford a cleaner, and not have to do all the dirty jobs.
She'll die of lung cancer or copd one day but that's her choice. Let her have her pleasure during her break

to be fair thought the hydranger really is the perfect shrub to cover for ciggie butts. Almost like they were developed to be a sneaky ashtray

I’d say the same if a man had started the thread.