New cleaning rota at work feels sexist

[Kayleigh1234]

The company I work for has a fairly small office space within a bigger complex. We were told last week that as there’s lower office attendance due to WFH/hybrid, our company is no longer paying for the site cleaning service and we will be responsible for cleaning our small kitchen space and bathroom ourselves.

Fwiw, I believe the real reason is because of cost cutting and the price of that service increased in April which I’d heard the bosses moan about previously.

Anyway, our (male) manager emailed round the cleaning rota today and the first 7 slots are ALL females (every female on the team is named consecutively). 4 male colleagues are then named, before it reverts.

The manager and his usual step up/deputy, are not named despite them being in the office as much as the rest of us. His deputy is the same job level as me and a couple of others, and when he was asked why he isn’t on the rota, he said ‘he hasn’t got time for that sort of thing’.

Am I wrong to feel like this is all a bit off?

Very sexist.

I had similar years ago where we had a kitchen cleaning Rita where we all agreed to take it in turns but the men would just move some pots about and then go back to work, made me rage, so I just stopped using the kitchen and brought flasks/bottled drinks in and said I’m not cleaning what I don’t use. I know if it’s general cleaning it’s harder but honestly I’d refuse to do it

What about the rest of the office, who is goi g to vacuum and dust. Who is going to mop the floor in the kitchen and toilet. Honestly, I think they have not thought this through at all. So they will have to buy all the cleaning equipment, store it, maintain it, replenish it. Who is going to do all of that. It becomes a full time job haha

Good point. I'm guessing cleaners now bring their own stuff, so the cleaner's cupboard of back in the day doesn't exist. The fact that they have a unisex toilet argues a likely lack of space anyway.

It's seems sexist.

They should start by listing (on a visible sign) how EVERYONE who works in the office can clean up after themselves, at the time of eating/drinking/going to the toilet/replacing loo rolls, discarding wrappers etc.

Then the roster is for weekly clean of kitchen and bathroom surfaces, toilet soak and scrub, rubbish into main bin collection, replenish loo rolls and detergent, and vacuuming and mopping floors. It could work better with one employee being responsible for one of those aspects. Then that person is accountable and can, in turn request that people leave the toilet in a cleaner state, remember to wash their cup etc.
Jobs could swap every two months or whatever.
Alternatively, include only those who volunteer to be on the cleaning roster, paid their normal rate. If no one volunteers??-Maybe offer it as extra paid hours to a keen person.

It is logical that employees who are being paid a lot more than others (the office manager) do not participate as it makes the cleaning more expensive, though they should be who you report to for purchasing more soap, loo paper, bin bags etc.
The lowest paid employee could be paid to spend time making up the roster.

Your business still pays for cleaning, indirectly, so I'm not sure that it is more efficient financially. You would all do less of your other jobs.

My dad used to own a small grocery with about 10 full time staff. There were employee washrooms in the basement and a public washroom (single toilet) upstairs next to my dad’s office. I remember interviewing him about his job for a school project once and was very amused when he proudly listed “cleaning the customer toilet” as one of his daily tasks. He’d said that he didn’t feel right asking the employees to clean up after customers, and by doing it himself, the male staff wouldn’t dare complain about taking their turn cleaning the staff areas.
So OP, if your boss were a real leader, he should be taking a turn too.

Have they thought through the risks of this? E.g. are they supplying gloves and training to people who will potentially be wiping up the bodily waste of other people? What happens if someone has one of the diseases that can be spread via faeces etc? Are they sure everyone knows which cloths are for the toilet vs the sink, and that these are being hygienically cleaned between uses? Do they know that if the wrong combination of cleaning chemicals are put in a toilet it can explode? Are they supplying aprons or spare clothes to prevent work clothes being damaged? The kitchen is one thing, but it's a hard no to toilets.

OP just realised that your post says you only have the one unisex bathroom. Workplace regulations requires 2 toilets and wash basins (in individual rooms if unisex) for 6 - 25 employees. Just another arrow to add to your arsenal should you need it.

FFS cost cutting? How much is it for a cleaner to do 2-3 hours a week to clean a business properly £40-£60 a week? If they can't afford that then the business must be in such a shit state it may aswell be wrapping up now.

I'd refuse and say its not your responsibility and just leave that there. If others want to act the hero and scrub the toilet to look like a team player then more fool them. Let them crack on.

Also... what about general cleaning? Who's doing the hoovering and dusting? The place is going to become a shit hole.

No way I’d do it, even if it wasn’t sexist and even if fairly distributed. If you let this slide what else will they ask you to do? It’s a slippery slope. It’s the company’s job to ensure the office facilities are safe and clean- not your problem to manage their cleaning budget or take on that role.

I'd think it normal that everyone keeps the kitchen clean. I get some don't & some were awful at my last job (large company). We'd call it out if we saw it happening.

I'd flat refuse to clean toilets. In fact, I made it clear in the interview for my current job that I don't mind going outside the scope of my role if required but I don't clean toilets. (They have a cleaner but just making it clear.)

Most cleaners only spot clean carpets & don't dust anyway. They get minutes to clean a huge office.

This happened in our office without the rota. Cleaner left and not replaced and we were just expected to pick it up. Now we work in a shit hole. Place hasn't been hoovered in months and can't remember the last time the toilet was cleaned bar from chucking a bit of bleach down.
I used the give the kitchen a good clean but no one else did so I stopped bar from washing my own dishes and wiping my mess.
It's depressing but I know if I do it it will be my job tomorrow

No it’s not in your contract that you will be cleaning, especially the toilets.

If you do it when it’s your turn work out how long you have based on the hourly rate based on the cleaner cost i.e if you get £25 per hour as a cleaner cost £50 a day then spend 2 hours cleaning.

No it’s not in your contract that you will be cleaning, especially the toilets.

If you do it when it’s your turn work out how long you have based on the hourly rate based on the cleaner cost i.e if you get £25 per hour as a cleaner cost £50 a day then spend 2 hours cleaning.

If feels sexist unless your names happen to be the first 7 alphabetically or something like that.

I do however though think that suddenly adding cleaning to your task list is inappropriate in itself. I get you need to adapt etc but cleaning probably wasn’t part of the job description. But it depends how long it will take - 5 mins not so much an issue, an hour then push back on it.

So to add insult to injury, they're expecting you to this in your own time? Hell no.

The rota isnt inherently sexist (other than maybe the manager not being on it)....

But comments like that are.

Agree with others, if it isnt in your contract, then nobody should be doing it. If they want to have a contract variation agreed or pushed through, fair enough, but then it's paid work, and people have the option to leave.

This. The plan is totally illogical on many levels. Contact acas. Refuse to participate. They haven't thought this through.

^I tink you need to ask your manager all these questions in writing.

By the way I don’t think there is anything sexist in this decision, it’s just wrong as it’s not in your job description plus I suspect that insurance won’t cover it if a problem arises. It’s also unfair decision in terms of manager and the deputy. - they should do cleaning as well if it’s a part of being in the office.

I came to say this but someone found the actual legislation!

This.
Check your own job description and in your situation I would be approaching the company owners for clarification that what your manager is doing is by their instruction. Manager might have a set budget for cleaning which evidently is not being used correctly.
it is one thing collecting up a few cups but mopping floors and cleaning toilets is an entirely different ball game……..and I wouldn’t be doing it for sure.

This is purely speculative, but I bet it's sexist in so far as the (male) boss has considered cleaners an unnecessary expense, and has cut it because 'how hard can it be/it doesn't take that long' - bonus points if he has a wife at home because 100% she does it all.