Dirty sink.

[Flowersforyourchocolateprettyplease]

If you're a cleaner or housekeeper, how do you feel about this:

Stay at home mum of two, kids at school all day. Very capable, no medical issues.

Leaves milk out opened, dishes on the side of the sink, teabags in the sink.

Dirty kitchen towel on the floor.
Obviously have to pick the towel up to clean the floor but clearing the rest seems to be enabling her to do more mess.
Easy option is to get another job of course, which I'm looking into, but how to deal with this day to day.
First thing when coming into work is being confronted by this scene everyday.
YABU- just clear up.
YANBU- An adult should be able to do bare minimum and put stuff back/bin.

So are you a daily housekeeper or not?

I agree, lazy and entitled. Similar to clients who leave a pad in their underwear or shit stains down the loo, used condom on locker.

I've heard it all.

Some people are just rank, they lack respect, money cannot buy manners. They employ a cleaner not someone who deserves crap treatment.

There has been times that I've left teabags in the sink, knowing I was be picking them up.

I always do a pre-tidy before my cleaner comes. She's there to clean, not put away my mess. I'd be mortified if she had to clean teabags and other crap out my sink (and I'm a pretty messy person!).

Some people leave the teabags in the sink until they are cool. Not wanting to put hot ones in he recycling. It sounds like you are expecting her to do your job.

You are not cut out for this job.

you don't know what her mental or physical as health is like, nor is it your place to know or judge.

she PAYS you for your time to HELP, not judge.

just give notice & let her find someone who wants to help, without judgement.

You don't know that. If I paid someone to clean they wouldn't know how unwell I am because unless we became friends I wouldn't tell them.

I don't leave teabags in the sink, but it's hardly like leaving her sec toys out for you to wash is it! Get a grip ( of he tea balgs)

It would be helpful to know how many hours you are employed. Lots of elements of working grate on people but you are being paid. Just find a different job although I’m sure cleaners come across more worrying things than teabags in the sink.

I don’t understand your problem. Tidying is well inside the ‘cleaning’ brief and she’s hired you precisely because she can’t be arsed to clean and tidy. If I knew there was somebody coming to clean up after me every morning I wouldn’t waste a second doing anything either!

Maybe she is just a lazy person.
It doesn't have to be complicated or deep.
Some people just can't be bothered.

Again, there's a difference between a weekly cleaner & someone you pay daily to help.

No op, I wouldn’t leave dirty dishes/teabags for my cleaner or a mess in the sink. I’d clear it out but wouldn’t wipe it down or clean it if cleaner was due the next day?

I don’t have a housekeeper but I have a cleaner. She does a fantastic job and evening before we give the house a quick tidy, put things away etc so I can come back to a tidy and spotless home. Cleaners aren’t hired to pick up your mess they’re there to do a really good intense clean which is entirely different. Of course, none of the above applies if you’re a housekeeper.

This, what is your job role exactly?

I don't see the point of hiring a cleaner if you have to clean up before they arrive.
If you don't like the job, quit, but I don't think your employer is unreasonable.

Remind her you are Cleaner, not a Tidyer.

She could choose to do everything she’s paying you for, but she’s choosing to pay you instead.

I often leave teabags on the sink. I do clean them up at the end of the day, but if I had a housekeeper or a cleaner I wouldn’t be rushing to clear them up before they get there, as I’m paying them to do the clearing and cleaning.

It’s hardly like she’s running around creating a mess for you to clean (and even then, it’s not that unreasonable if you’re paying the person to clean it…)

Though if you were my cleaner I'd probably sack you if you kept leaving the teabags in sink.

@Flowersforyourchocolateprettyplease you're a very sensitive soul. I've worked as a cleaner in the past (of holiday homes) and believe me when I say a teabag left somewhere in the kitchen is really not a problem.

Maybe being a cleaner is a bit too much and you need to find another type of work.

OP hasn’t clarified if she’s a weekly cleaner or a daily housekeeper.

They are two very different things. A daily house keeper - absolutely put the teabags in the bin, thats the sort of thing you are paid to do.

There is a distinction between cleaner and housekeeper. early in my career I used to feel like this about a couple or so women I used to work for as a nanny who had a daily cleaner and therefore did nothing for themselves. Then I realised one I was judging who didn’t work also had a husband who hardly worked he was just excessively paid for consulting very occasionally and had family wealth. The mum was working more hours for the PTA and doing all house admin but in my head I judged her for the laziness not him?!

as a nanny I learned very fast not to take nanny housekeeper jobs. Nanny and a set number of hours cleaning was different and ok but there is such a thing as a housekeeper which is essentially a paid mother picking up after everyone and doing the cleaning and organising.

now I’m older if I had the money to employ a housekeeper I’d absolutely do it! It’s better to spend your money that way to lower paid workers than line the pockets of CEOs by spending in different ways

You should have explained in advance which services you offer and agreed a plan with your client eg. clean only of already tidy areas; or tidy away surfaces and clean; or a housekeeper role which might cover more picking up after, and laundry/ironing, and general sorting out of anything domestic.

Then you can refer back to your original agreement, and give a warning period for improvements to be made, or use as grounds to leave, or renegotiate your hours and pay to include the additional work.

Your personal values and judgements have no place in this professional arrangement. Feeling 'red mist' etc is usually associated with family members not pulling their weight - it is worrying that you feel this about the domestic habits of a complete stranger. Maybe you need some support for other areas of your life? Or maybe just not the work for you.

There is no right and wrong to this question. She has hired a housekeeper, with cleaning and tidying being a natural part of the job. Some people would put their teabags in the bin, towels on the peg, to free up time for the housekeeper to do different duties. This lady doesn't. If you don't like the job, then find a household that suits you better. But there's no point getting judgemental about it.

Good luck in finding a new job quickly. In the meantime, roll your eyes and bite your lip, to make sure you get a good reference.

What time do you start? My kitchen might look a bit like that immediately before the school run, but then I clear up when I get back (SAHM). When my cleaner used to start at 8.30 it would probably be like that when she arrived, but not usually when she gets here at 10 now unless I was dealing with some crisis. My cleaner does occasionally do washing up for me if there's bits (a couple of times my dishwasher has failed to run properly the night before so there has been a pile waiting) and she sometimes offers to help me with stuff outside of her general jobs, like when I was doing a utility room clear out while she was here. So I'm a bit on the fence really.

Shit stains, period pads and used condoms all have something in common - bodily fluids. I agree that it’s disgusting to expect anyone else to clean those up except yourself. I usually take off the bed sheets in Rentals even if not asked for same reason.

A huge tea bag feels a bit less egregious. I put our used teabags either in the compost bin or on the teabag caddy bit. I have a few friends who put teabags in our sink. I find that kind of gross but as they are otherwise ok people I can only assume that’s how they have been brought up. If I had a cleaner, I would tidy away used teabags, but I wouldn’t expect her to be professionally insulted if I didn’t.

Used not huge teabag, although OP may have a point if it was an outsized one .

If you're willing to earn money by cleaning someone else's loo I don't see why you've got an issue with the teabag.