One for cleaners or those who have cleaners

[Cinderscleans]

Name changed for this.
For the last 2 years I've been a full time self employed cleaner. Previous to that I worked the cleaning around my part time job.

I charge £15ph but I've just worked out after my costings ect I'm on approx £10 an hour.
No holiday/sick pay and I haven't earned enough to pay into my pension.
I recently had to take 2 weeks off due to being very ill and only a couple of my clients offered to pay me anyway. So if I don't work generally I don't get paid which is fine. I've had to use savings to cover my bills.

My AIBU is this...for 16 years I've cleaned for one family weekly and a few years ago I started cleaning thier holiday let as well.
The holiday let is a set rate but works out £20 ph. However I do a lot of extras here especially when clients are away.... bins, checking house in-between guests, ordering laundry, shopping for items if needed ect.

This clients circumstances have changed recently so they have been away..ALOT.
The last 3 months I've only been needed for 2 cleans so it's nice when they come home. I also generally pop down and regularly check their house/garden/post put bins out ect without being paid.

So I've lost a huge chunk of my regular income. I haven't been able to fill this slot with anyone else as it would require taking on new clients and then ditching them when old one requires me.
(I did try..I even advertised which I never have to do)

She said to me before she left for 3 weeks at Christmas that she didn't want her being away to affect my income but has since been away for a further 6 weeks, then 2 weeks and now another 3 weeks.
Before she left she said they had decided to give me a raise on the holiday let job to £24ph. But only on the basis that I don't increase my usual cleaning prices.

AIBU to just feel like she is totally out of order to say this?
I feel like it's crossed the lines between client/friendship. I do need to put my standard prices up and she is already still underpaying me for the holiday let compared to what I get paid elsewhere.
She is due back next week so I will have a face to face with her regarding the fact that I can't keep her slot empty for months on end if that continues. Also she can't give me a pay raise on one hand and say it's only if I don't increase with the other.
She is a lovely person to work for and I do sometimes get a bonus, Christmas/birthday gifts but she is also very careful with money.

But I am literally struggling week to week to get by due to increasing costs ect whilst she has spent the last 3 months on various holidays and thinks it's fine as she still comes home to a sparkling house.
I don't want to quit and I don't want to upset her but AIBU to say...sorry...this isn't ok for me?
Looking for opinions before I speak to her as I don't think she's even thought about what impact this has had on me.
Thanks

Obviously. You’re self employed so you can do exactly what you want and your first priority should always be to yourself. Tell her you can’t continue to clean her house, but you will continue with the holiday let (if that’s regular) and certainly don’t do anything unpaid! Come on now.

You're self-employed. You set your terms and rates, it's not for her to give you a pay rise. Just tell her. "Effective from April my rates will be £x per hour, paid weekly unless I'm unable to come, in which case no fee".

Your clients don't dictate your rates. You do that and you need to have something in place that they need to pay you if they cancel for any reasons.

Put your prices up as well. A tenner an hour take home is unacceptable. You may as well get a commercial cleaning job. More money and paid holidays etc.

You’re giving it too much headspace. Just respond that you’ve reviewed your services and unfortunately are going to need to put your prices up across the board for all your customers. It’s a business arrangement for you both and she tried to negotiate a loyalty pricing arrangement as a longstanding customer. There’s nothing wrong with her doing that, and there’s nothing wrong with you declining it. She may end up finding another cleaner, but if you’re in such demand that you never usually have to advertise for clients and at £24 an hour for cleaning the holiday let are still underpaid “compared to what I get paid elsewhere” that’s probably not going to be a problem for you.

You set the prices
You set the terms
Not them
You are self employed
They are not your employer
If doing their house is preventing you from taking others on then there needs to be a retainer or something to make it worth your while
I'm a teacher and i now do tuition. Any lesson after school must be every week. We come to arrangements in the holidays but term time it must be each week or they lose their slot. I don't do fortnightly etc as i can't fill the alternate space
It works for me

You are self employed, so you are free to set your rates and terms, as well as choose your work.

You should make clear what terms would be acceptable going forward with this client (eg pay for checking in, weekly retainer) and she has a choice whether to keep using your services or not, or you could choose not to work for her anymore.

I'm not sure how you are charging £15 per hour and only taking home £10.

Do what works best for you. Just as she is proposing what works best for her. Self employed = self
governing . Be firm but polite.
Don't burn any bridges in case your circumstances change.
Aa an employer of cleaners I know that an honest reliablcleaner r who is on hand to do little extras is gold dust. So don't under value yourself.

As an ex SE cleaner, I mean this kindly but you're making a complete mess of things.

She's an ad hoc slot, not a regular slot. So the rate needs to be higher and she needs to fit in with your availability, not the other way around.

Stop doing the bins and shit for free. I was once brought in, not to clean, but to check the place over once a week when the family moved abroad for work for a year. I treated it the same as a cleaning slot, same time, same price.

Take on the new clients and ditch her unless she agrees to flexibility and the new rate, not the other way around, what are you thinking!?

She feels like a bit of a CF. Would she give her holiday let away at cut price rates? I think not.

She should know that empty booking slots cost money. Personally I'd cut her loose. She's not a viable client. Have the convo and stand firm x

Find other clients. No need to say why.

I have a cleaner, and they also check the house when we are away.
They get paid for cleaning, which costs me a bit over £50 a time. They also get paid for checking the house when we are away. £6-£10 a time, depending on what they do.
Do not do this for free.
Raise your rates across the board.
It is a business arrangement. Dont get taken advantage of.

Not a cleaner (despite my username!) but I AM self employed.

I do sometimes lower my rates depending on my client circumstances. BUT those circumstances are based on need. I wouldn't offer lower rates (or to permanently save time slots) for people who are wealthy. And your client/friend sounds wealthy to me.

• A lower rate for a single mum with two kids, on a lower incomes who works long hours? Absolutely.
• A lower rate for a good friend / client, who pays you a liveable retainer fee for the months you don't clean for her? Yes.

The thing is, your client / friend sounds as if they have money. So it won't have occurred to her that you literally live on the money she pays you. Explain it to her.

I am extremely confused as to why you are doing anything for free for her. She's clearly the owner of at least two homes and you are struggling to make ends meet. Any time that she needs any of your services, she must pay! Would you expect to go to Tesco and pay for a weekly shop but not pay if you needed to go midweek and buy a handful of extras? That's what she's doing to you.

In order to get new clients, I would not advertise. I would ask your existing clients to ask their neighbours and freinds if they are looking for a cleaner. I would take on new clients and if this makes you unavailable to clean for the woman in the OP, then you just message and say you don't have time.

You need to tell her that all cleaning is going up to £20ph and the random services are chargable in chunks of £5 for 15 mins of your time. You can say that you are sorry, but this is completely necessary to make ends meet. If she sacks you, she'll replace you with another cleaner that she won't trust or like as much and then she'll realise how much she actually values you.

A trustworthy cleaner is worth their weight in gold. Please realise this - as it's you. I don't have a cleaner and the reason is because my brother's cleaner stole from him and so I have trust issues and therefore prefer to live with a bit of dirt and dust until I can get to doing it myself. Turned out DB's cleaner had stolen from her employer (not cleaning) and got sacked for that and that's how she ended up doing (really bad) cleaning and stealing from her clients. That kind of situation is really so common. This woman is really taking you for granted.

My friend works abroad several months of the year, and has a cleaner. When away, she still pays her cleaner- mainly to just check over the house and clean IF needed, and also a clean before friend returns home.
She is a good, reliable cleaner and my friend didn't want to lose her, because her work were sending her abroad.

OP, you need to set some rules and pay yourself properly. What are your overheards that you are losing £5 an hour yet not putting anything into a pension? Driving a gas guslar of a car? Travelling all over the place? Providing ALL the cleaning products yourself?

@Cinderscleans where are you based? I'm Surrey and would expect £18 PH.
It's hard but you have to realise you will find another job if you are a good cleaner (and all else you do)

We have a cleaner and do not expect anything for free.

We asked the cleaner to only do downstairs this week as have work going on upstairs. We paid the same we would normally despite cleaner charging us less.

We believe in being fair.

Your clients are CF, set clear boundaries. Take on new clients.

You need to change your terms and charge all clients a retainer. Obviously, existing clients don’t have to agree - so you’d decide on an individual basis risk/reward of asking.

This should apply to all cancellations within a set period for sickness (say 48 hours ) and all holidays, even with good notice, above 4? Weeks a year. The former is to allow for unplanned missing income and the latter is to retain the slot.

kindly, some clients will befriend you and muddy the waters so you don’t charge market rates or keep set terms. You need to set out your terms and make sure your time is paid for adequately.

I’m pretty sure you cleaning her holiday let, would be a tax perk (allowable expense) for her anyway. So isnt really costing her Net, what you’re charging

Been in this position. Is childcare an issue? I ended up getting a housekeeper job in a care home. OK no bonuses or extras but guaranteed income and tbh much easier work. Plus I get annual leave! Wouldn't go back. Life is SO much easier being employed. Think about the future too. You will struggle to clean houses until you are 67 and receive your state pension. Good luck. People don't value you I'm afraid.