Cleaner who works 6 hours per week preferring cash in hand weekly - holiday pay? Is this a thing?

[Catwhispereroo]

Hi, we have a cleaning lady who is generally lovely. She comes for 6 hours per week, £20 per hour, so £120 per week. She always prefers cash in hand weekly.

Today she asked if we will pay her 4 weeks holiday pay as, according to her, 'everyone else does.'

I had a think about it, but have had to tell her this is not possible. I feel bad though. AIBU?

My reasoning is -

1. A cleaner is already quite a luxury, as I'm no longer working.

2. We have had lots of cleaners over the years and all preferred cash and none ever asked for holiday pay for cash in hand work.

3. I don't want the hassle of a contract setting out holiday pay or sickness pay (will that be next)? We are a just a private household, not a company.

4. I will give her a few weeks pay as a Xmas bonus anyway.

5. She seems to go abroad for a month each year. If we gave her 4 weeks pay, that would be almost £500. Then, if I got a replacement cleaner in for those weeks, that would be another £500!

6. When we go away I'm happy for her to come as usual (even though we don't really need this) so that she doesn't lose out financially. But I can't pay 4 weeks holiday as week.

Again, AIBU? Thanks!

Agreed, cleaners don’t get holiday pay. If my cleaner’s day falls on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, I’ll pay that. And I pay when I go away as that isn’t the cleaner’s fault. But no way to her holiday pay. Sorry.

I don’t pay my cleaner holiday and never have done ! Cheeky of her to ask , considering she’s probably not declaring it either

It's lovely that you give a Xmas bonus, we do the same 🙂.

Holiday pay? Bloody cheeky of her to ask, I'd politely decline but also wouldn't be surprised if she moved on/or standards dropped so I'd be looking for another cleaner to replace.

Absolutely not.

Paying her holiday pay is one of the indicators that she is your employee rather than a self-employed person you have contracted. Not only does this cost you money, it means that you could be committing several criminal offences and civil wrongs.

If she's an employee, she's entitled to maternity leave/pay, holiday, sick leave, pension contributions, for you to be paying NI and you're responsible for ensuring she pays tax, a fair dismissal process... You need to make exceptionally clear she is not an employee - she is self-employed and only paid for the hour she works on your home. She is responsible for her own tax obligations, and the Christmas "bonus" is a gift that she is not entitled to and is entirely at your discretion and is not related to performance.

Cash in hand isn’t illegal.

If you don't have an employment contract with her why would you pay her holiday pay...sorry, she's just trying it on 😫

No she’s self employed so no holiday pay, the £20 covers everything. I insisted on invoices, did immigration checks etc too when I had a cleaner

This!

Not a chance 😂

she is self employed. I am self employed too and that means you don’t get holiday pay. She is a cheeky fucker.

It's perfectly legal to pay someone in cash.

To add - being paid in cash does not mean she is dodgy though.

Since she demand cash in hand I doubt very much that this cleaner is actually declaring her earnings to HMRC. £20 an hour is a good rate for a cleaner and ‘a few weeks pay as a Christmas bonus’ is bonkers OP, far too much money. Surely, self employed people do not get holiday pay?

Working and not paying tax= no holiday pay/sickness benefit. Simple

Just to confirm "everybody does NOT do it". Three different cleaners over the years, all the same situation as you, never been asked for holiday pay. They are self employed.

Cash. Ok but no holiday pay. I’ve had a cleaner for 32 years and no holiday pay. My previous one had 8 weeks a year off! If I go away, no pay either!

We pay our cleaner 4 weeks holiday per year and bonuses. She’s never been off sick.

Earning £20 an hour isn’t glamorous, they work a few hours at a time for each family travelling to and from different houses.

Please treat your cleaners properly.

Perfect response here - on point and actually really helpful to OP.

So you get an invoice

It doesn't mean she is definitely dodgy... but there's a very high chance! Why else, in modern day, would you not want your earnings to go through a bank? It's also inconveniencing a client by expecting them to get cash out every week so poor customer service... why would you deliberately inconvenience a client... unless it benefits you somehow.

@GrimDamnFanjo my cleaner runs her business legally ,she pays her class 2 NI and tax (I know because she occasionally asks me to look at her accounts, as she's not too confident) but I still pay her in cash, and yes, I've seen my payments declared in her accounts.

I never paid my cleaner holiday pay, and she never asked for it. Just say that you’ve told her she can come as normal, even though not really needed, which is generous of you. But to want to be paid for 4wks and not come, sorry but no. Cleaners aren’t employees. Same as my dog walker, if any of us cancel or are on holiday, we don’t pay.

I used to pay my cleaner in cash, because she was my friend, so I was happy to do that so she could avoid putting it through the books. Actually we used an app, so we didn’t have to mess about with cash but also didn’t go via bank account. She put all her other jobs through, just my £60 a fortnight she didn’t.

Wow.

I work as a cleaner. I don’t get holiday pay, don’t get paid when they go on holiday either! I’ve had to have time off to be in hospital and don’t get sick pay either, just hassle from clients who are cross I can’t clean their house. And it’s quite normal for me to get a text the morning of the clean saying they want to skip a week 🤷‍♀️

I think I need to up my rates as I’m definitely not charging £20 an hour!!

Most cleaners round here £12-15 ph. None paid holiday pay (London Surrey area)

My cleaner is cash in hand. I don’t give her holiday pay apart from Xmas week.
If she doesn’t come she doesn’t get paid.