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

Pay the full amount. No question about it.

Why on earth would you only pay her half? She came to do her job as normal and couldn't get in - that's not her fault!

I'd pay her fully... and perhaps even give her a bit more for the stress and inconvenience.

Pay her in full. She could have e done other work but couldn't due to your friend. No her problem!

In full because this wasn’t her fault

In full then round it up to the nearest full denomination just to show her HOW MUCH SHE IS APPRECIATED.

I was more thinking common decency

You should pay her the full amount

Full amount ik its frustrating as no clean but it was not her fault she turned up for her shift she could have taken on other work had u of cancelled in advance but this was a sheer accident of ur friend forgetting to put back the key

Pay her the full amount and tell your friend that she's got to give you the money. Or at least a portion.

This!!

I had almost exactly this scenario happen to me and I paid the full amount as they arrived at work able to do the full time and an issue which wasn't their fault stopped them. It was irritating but just one of those things.

No, don't do this! Friend was doing you a favour. You don't charge people if they accidentally mess up whilst doing you a favour! Just pay the cleaner in full and don't think about it again.

Well her wasted time is 3 hours, so she gets paid for 3 hours.

Hi friend, thanks so much for taking care of my pet for me (rather than making me pay full price for a registered pet sitter), however after your innocent human error that harmed nobody il now charge YOU rather than pay my cleaner myself.

Yeah that’s not absolutely CF territory at all.

The point is not how much time it took her to get to yours and go home again. The point is that she'd reserved three hours (plus travel time) for working at yours, and that's time she couldn't be working elsewhere. It's not like having not been able to get in, she could just magic up three hours work somewhere else instantly.

I'm self employed in a similar situation (regular weekly hours for regular clients) and I'm always surprised when people need this explained to them.

This seems super obvious to me. It’s not like she could quickly get another job, she’d set aside the time for you. Absolutely pay her - and apologise!

Can afford a holiday. Doesn’t pay for professional pet care. Quibbling about a couple of hours pay for a cleaner. It’s not a good look.

does he not understand that all the time she should have been at yours was wasted? She can't just get another job to fill that time so she is out of pocket.

You should pay her in full. We pay our cleaner even she is on holiday. We value our cleaner and don’t want to loose her.

She allocated the time,turned up and your friend incompetence meant she couldn’t access to work her shift .Pay her fully

100% your fault therefore you pay 100%. Then you apologise for the inconvenience you have caused.

Yeah, same.

Presumably you budgeted to pay her for the full amount and she likewise was counting on earning the whole amount so I think you just give it to her. If I had to go into my office and the door was locked I couldn't get in so they told me to go home they would still pay me for the day.

Cleaner allocated you a time slot making her unavailable for earning potential anywhere else, you pay her fully. She can’t be expected to lose income because you friend denied her access

I would assume from your comments that you are unfamiliar with the concept of common decency.