New cleaner wants to be paid more as house is bigger?

[Saltedbutter]

I agreed an hourly rate with a new cleaner prior to her coming and also an approximate amount of hours but left that quite open as I obviously don’t know her pace yet.
She is currently at my house and just messaged to say actually she’d like more money per hour as the house is bigger than she expected.
Surely she’ll still clean the same amount per hour as in a smaller house but just might be paid for a few more hours?
I’ve provided all products and the rate she now wants is more than my previous cleaner (who included her products).
AIBU?

We’re leaving a 5 bed detached for a 3 bed flat and have various things fixed at both places. It’s very obvious that rates have been higher at the family house than they have at the flat. I wonder whether some people adjust their prices according to what they imagine the customer can afford to pay?

Cleaners working self employed are not on a low wage.
company cleaners on NMW yep.
self employed at £20/hour here at least

I had exactly the same but cleaner said it was because house was untidy. I pointed out I was paying per hour so either she needed more hours or she should just do what she could in the time. No - she wanted more money per hour. We parted ways as this made no sense.

It's called supply and demand. If people are willing to pay £30ph for a cleaner, or have no choice because there is a lack of cleaners, than they will.

Is there a lack of domestic cleaners? Like national shortage of domestic cleaners?? I don’t buy that, maybe they just don’t want to clean your messy house?

if people in this thread are more than willing to call out cleaners for having shared attributes such as laziness, greed, deceptiveness, and thick as pig shit, then I would go as far to say that if you’re able bodied, you should clean your own house and not be so lazy yourselves.

Cleaners do not earn minimum wage. Round here it's £20/hour minimum, that's the same as I earn and it's decent money. (I'm self employed too before active points out the differences between SE and employed.)

Yes they are in high demand which outstrips supply, but many of them don't do a great job (my personal experience).

It sounds like you don't have any real knowledge of this sector.

Iv noticed this in recent times that many cleaners wont give an hourly rate up front they want to come and see the house then will give a price. Its ridiculous, an hours work is an hours work. Maybe they need more hours to do the work but the rate shouldnt change. Makes no sense to me but seems to be increasingly common.

Make your mind up. Is the OP making a post to look down on minimum wage workers, or being taken for a mug by that sly minimum wage worker wanting an extra fiver for their stuff.

No, the OP isn’t, but other commenters are using this as the opportunity to do so. Cleaners no matter how much hourly rate they paid are not on a decent wage. You cannot physically spend 8 hours cleaning and driving round the houses all day. It’s usually a school hours job and so it might be one or two full house cleans per day. Then the school run and housework at home to do to. That doesn’t equate to a high annual wage, nor a particularly easy job.

I had one cleaner who asked for more money because the house was bigger and didn't get the logic it meant more hours. I said no thank you! She is being dim and cheeky - find someone else as this attitude doesn't bode well if you keep her on as she will always feel hard done by.

Cleaners do not earn minimum wage. Round here it's £20/hour minimum,

And likely cash in hand so no tax.

Unless they work for an agency they are not "on a wage", they are self-employed and determine what their rates are. If they don't earn enough then they need to go and get more customers or charge more, same as a plumber, gardener or odd job man.

Surely she needs extra time not more per hour, or you need to specific your priority areas as she won’t get as much done if she sticks to agreed amount of time

If you get paid for doing a job than that’s a wage, even it’s it’s self employed…

Yes there is. It's a horrible job to do if you don't enjoy it and a real faff moving between properties and managing the whims of enough clients to make it worth doing.

I have been doing it for over 20 years, but I love it and I am careful who I work for.

if people in this thread are more than willing to call out cleaners for having shared attributes such as laziness, greed, deceptiveness, and thick as pig shit, then I would go as far to say that if you’re able bodied, you should clean your own house and not be so lazy yourselves.

It's often not laziness, it's economics (or not killing yourself trying to do it all). Going back a few years I was self employed. Niche business, I charge a lot per hour. There was as much work as I wanted. My cleaner charged £10 per hour.
I'd be stupid to stop doing my work in order to do the cleaning.

I think this cleaner just expressed wrongly that she would need more hours.
Having said that, it's her business, she charges what she likes and you take it or leave it. A cleaner has as much right to set her rates as any other business woman.

I’d also find it a bit odd that she wants more per hour instead of working for an extra hour. Fair enough if she doesn’t have an hour to spare, but she’s basically saying if you pay her more she will work harder/faster. Which either means she’s not trying very hard currently or she’ll just rush around and do things to a lower standard. It just doesn’t really make sense versus saying hey I need longer to get everything done

I have run my own business. It's not the same. Some people run businesses and don't take a wage. At best it's drawings not a wage.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Rf3tFS1vNTg

This is where we are!

And the OP has a perfect right to question it and refuse.

£30 an hour 😳.

Well, yes, a wage is what you take home. But in the case of a domestic cleaner, realistically, outside of cost of fuel and maybe cleaning products, most of the pay is take home.

Actually I think she’s right. As you move into larger/more expensive houses the cost of cleaning normally increases per hour too. The test is try and get quotes from other cleaners I bet you’ll be desperate to pay her what she is asking!

You paid £5 an hour for products???

That's insane, she clearly saw you coming, I'm not the world's best cleaner I admit but I wouldnt even spend that in a month 😮

£37 per hour here (outside of London) yes I could probably get cheaper but we can afford to pay it and get a good service so why not?