To sack off a client for asking my religion

[mrsgtobe97]

Recently been made redundant while on maternity leave from my oil & gas job and have started up self employed with a cleaning company. It has started off great and I have been fully booked with a waiting list already which is great. However, I I went to go view a clients house yesterday afternoon, arrived & was a massive mansion, thought okay this will be fine. The woman was nice however when I stepped in the home it was absolutely immaculate and I just got the sense from her she would be watching over my shoulder a lot. She then proceeded to take me to her second home down the hill which has a tenant, this woman was very prim and proper and after a few minutes she says oh it’s nice to have someone with a good background, are you Christian? I said emmm no would probably say I’m an atheist, then she proceeded to ask me if I had Christian values.
I immediately felt very uneasy and out of place, I just didn't vibe with them.
Upon reflection, I'm wondering whether to try shake them off, I just don't know what to do.
I don't necessarily need the money as I can replace the hours but I just feel bad, maybe I'm being too judgemental?!

Sack off means to not use the client, or bin them.
In my experience yes you do need to gel with the people you're working with, at the end of the day one of the perks of being self employed is being able to choose who you work with!

Well yes of course you can choose who you work with. But your question was whether you were being judgemental in not accepting her as a client because of her question about religion.

I agree with a pp, I think that both 'good background' and 'Christian values' are (not very covert) code here for 'Will you nick the silver?'

This is reminding me of an article I think in the Guardian aeons back, where a couple of well-heeled High Tory housewives in I think the Cotswolds set up as cleaners, quite explicitly on the grounds that their high-end clients were going to trust 'someone from the same background', and not have to supervise them, because they weren't going to filch their valuables or their husbands.

Not judging you no.

Yes it's a very personal question and quite rude.

Either it matters to her that her cleaner is Christian in which case you don't fit the bill, or it doesn't in which case she is awkwardly personal and nosy.

I would pass on this one.

one of the perks of being self employed is being able to choose who you work with!

Isn't that exactly why most of us do it? I agree. If you don't need the work, I wouldn't go back.

I feel like I should also add that she also told me that another cleaner had been in to view the properties and she had ghosted her and the client couldn't figure out why. It's all clicking now I'm reflecting on it.

Also I wasn't judging the woman on having an immaculate house, however I have trepidations that someone with that status may be the type to micromanage and I'm worried that under that environment I won't be comfortable, and I started the business as cleaning is something I love to do.
'Prim and proper' wasn't ageist or whatever the other pp said, she was my age (late 20s early 30s), but she made some very strange comments on a few things that made alarm bells ring.

She should really just recruit in her church then to save such awkward encounters.

There is a mistype in my second statement I will try edit it should read don’t instead of do

i think my first comment is very clear I don’t care what if any religion, sexual orientation, political view etc. But generally people who don’t have the social intelligence not to discuss in a professional setting hasn’t been positive.

i have quite a few ‘very worried’ comments in my work places about being atheist, pure ignorant.

And also I should say I have absolutely nothing against Christian's, my husbands family is Christian and I have zero issues with it. What made me uncomfortable was asking if I was and then following up and asking if I had Christian values, I would never ask anyone's religion as at the end of the day it doesn't matter as long as they do their job well

I took prim and proper to mean uptight rather than old when I read it first. Although there are some pearls in the mental image I must admit ☺️

I just think the world would be better if people were more prepared to be around people who are different to them and not only want to be around people who think the same as them. Otherwise you spend your life putting people into categories of "people like me" and "people not like me" and avoiding the latter.

The woman asked an inappropriate question, yes definitely. Maybe she is an intolerant judgmental Christian. Maybe she is a lovely person who isn't aware of the inappropriateness of her question and has never worked in a professional environment and just made a stupid spur of the moment comment out of awkwardness. We know nothing about her life or background except that she is wealthy, Christian and supposedly "prim and proper".

It's totally up to you who you work for and if you don't want to work for this women then don't. But your question was whether you are being judgmental and, from the bare facts that we have, I would say that you are being judgmental in only wanting to work with people that you vibe/gel with, yes.

Just my opinion and maybe you're happy taking that stance. As you say, you can pick and choose who you work for. But yes I do think that there is prejudice and judgment in doing so. Perhaps the same kind of prejudice and judgment that people are accusing the client of? Just a thought.

@Marblessolveeverything what did you mean by this:

"I have quite a few ‘very worried’ comments in my work places about being atheist, pure ignorant."

I don't mind about working or being around people that are different to me, as I said in my previous post my husbands family are Christian, I don't care about other religion, she could have 5 heads and I wouldn't care. I care about how I was made to feel being put on the spot about my own religion which I find inappropriate. This is the feeling I got from being in her presence and I want to feel comfortable when I'm working for someone

you appear to find a lot text challenging this evening.

I mean what I said they would be very worried about me and my children and make inappropriate comments about how my children were off to imaginary hell. Completely ignorant and illegal in professional settings.

Drop the client as they will likely be a problem later. It's not about your feelings about her religion but her view that there's something wrong with people without Christian values. It will come up again.

Personally I've never seen the attraction of ritual cannibalism or the moral value in following a god who is celebrated for drowning lots of babies and sending bears to slaughter naughty children, but each to their own.

If you are self-employed, while working "for a cleaning company" and can still pick & choose your clients, then a casual question about your religious beliefs is the least of your worries.

People who go to agencies for a cleaner are often DESPERATE for a cleaning, having usually gone through one after the other.

Added to which, they'll be paying a lot of money to the agency, while you'll be lucky to get £12 per hour, which is well under minimum wage when you factor in holiday pay and other benefits you get on a payroll, plus travel time.

Keep the client. Dump the client. Do what you like, but if you don't mind cleaning houses and you're already self employed, splash out £60 on a public liability policy and start finding your own clients, who you can meet & vet before you even consider working for them. Genuine clients who just want their housework done by a regular trustworthy person will be falling over themselves to keep you.

I type this sitting on the stairs of a house I have been cleaning for over 18 years...they come home from holiday tomorrow and I will get a gushing text message when they do, saying how wonderful it is to come back to a fresh house. They treat me very well, and they pay very well. Good luck.

Would you feel the same if someone asked you if you were a Buddhist? Why are you so triggered by Christianity?

Sorry maybe my post is unclear. I'm self employed at my own cleaning company, I get paid £18 p/h.

Yes I would. I don't care which religion, I just don't feel it's something appropriate to ask.

Ah well in that case, you do you. Don't give this any more headspace. If it's not working then simply decline any more work from her.

You are your own boss now - be you.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Someone who asked, wanted or hoped I was a Christian would not be on my client list.

If someone applies for a job at a bank or a retail shop and the interviewer asks about the applicant’s religion, would the people saying op is being judgmental really be ok with that?

even asking the question sets the employer up for legitimate accusations of discrimination.

Go with your guts. I would find her questions inappropriate, too. Make up an excuse why you can't take on this job.

I would say its your company and your choice.