AIBU to pay cleaner half wages if they couldn't get in.

[couchparsnip]

We have a brilliant cleaner who we don't want to lose but I am not sure what the done thing is here and what she would consider fair.
She was due to clean last week while we were on holiday, so we have a key safe so she can get in.

Unfortunately my friend, who was feeding the cat, forgot to replace the key in the safe. So my cleaner arrived but was unable to get in. My friend was at work so couldn't come round with the key.
I need to compensate the cleaner for her wasted time but do I give her the full 3 hrs or 1.5 hours.
She probably spent 15 mins trying to get in and phoning me plus travel time of about 30 mins there and back.
She's employed by an agency and I pay her directly. The agency provides cover if she's sick etc.
Should I cover what she was expecting to earn or just compensate for the wasted time plus a bit extra?

You are being unreasonable - pay her the whole amount
You are not being unreasonable - pay her half

Nailed it

So if your husband couldn’t get into his workplace one day,would he be happy with half pay?

The full amount definitely.

Pay her the full amount why should she be out of pocket because she couldn't get in

You pay her in full and apologise.

Was she supposed to stand outside your house until the 3 hours were up banging on the door? DH is in the wrong. I hope she reads this and sees how much her time is valued.

Pay her the full amount. It's not her fault your friend forgot to put the key back.
Seen your update. Your DH is a prat - bet he wouldn't accept a dock in pay if his office was locked and he couldn't get into work.

Full amount

This!

Point out to DH her wasted time is 3 hours as that is how long she had arranged to be available for you and therefore couldn't do any work elsewhere. After that time had already started was too late to arrange alternative work during that time.

So you agree - you pay her for the full time or her wasted time. Which is the full 3 hours either way.

The husband no doubt thinks he's being very generous and doing her a huge favour. Knob.

Reverse, surely? No one can be this much of an arse.

She turned up to the job willing and ready to work. It's fully your fault the key wasn't present.
So she should be paid for the whole shift. It matters not whether she waited around for 15 minutes or three hours, she couldn't suddenly take another job to replace yours so she shouldn't lose out. She couldn't use the time to make money, or do anything else meaningful.

I'm very annoyed with myself - I posted the wrong vote!

Pay her the full amount OP, it's not her fault.

Don’t take the piss. Full pay and you absolutely know you should. Not her fault your friend messed up

Good lord, of course you pay her in full.

Full amount

Full amount. She turned up to do the job and couldn’t through no fault of her own.

You pay her in full WITHOUT equovocation, if you're a decent person!

Are you serious? The cock up was on your end, so of course you pay her in full!
if I were her and knew that you were debating this I’d be looking for someone else to fill your slot.

What does pay her for her wasted time mean in this context & why does your husband think that only that should be paid?

If I was your friend I'd be offering to pay half.

full amount yo be paid

I can't even believe you are asking this - you want to dock her pay for a mistake someone else made? She could have worked for someone else that day not her fault the key was not there.

You pay her the full amount - she wasn’t at fault. The cleaning service we use has a rule that if you cancel the clean within a certain time frame you still have to pay - this would fall under that rule. You’ve effectively cancelled the clean because she couldn’t get in.

The truth is that OP’s dh has very little respect for the cleaner .
I am almost hoping that she decides to quit

Her wasted time was the entire duration of the clean, so warrants full pay. How would your DH react if he turned up for work, couldn’t gain access and then had his pay docked ?