If you have a cleaner would this bother you?

[Gymmum82]

We’ve had a cleaner for maybe the last 6 months. I pay her for 2 hours a week. She’s great. Does everything I ask her to and does a really nice job, I’m very happy with her.
However in the beginning she’d stay the full 2 hours and now today she was here 1 hour and 10 minutes. Most weeks it’s between 1.10-1.20.
I know because we have a doorbell camera so I see her come and go.

Would this bother you?
Part of me thinks I’m paying for 2 hours. But the other part thinks why should she be penalised for being efficient?

YABU she’s taking you for a mug and you should sack her

YANBU she’s doing a great job and good on her for being efficient

This is really normal for cleaners, I think it is rare to find one who does not.
I’m very surprised that this is considered normal. I have been a private cleaner for 14 years and not once have I left early or asked to leave early apart from once when I became ill during the clean. Mostly my clients are there whilst I’m cleaning (not all) so I know that makes it less easily to slip away but I wouldn't dream of doing that even when they're not! I do my full 3 hours as I charge hourly and if I finish early I find something else to do. I do love cleaning so am on the lookout for areas that I don't normally cover, mission creep I suppose, which need a clean.

It’s really unfair, op, to pay for a number of hours and only get part of it if you are being charged by the hour. I would ask her to do extra things you need doing.

I mean, it sounds obvious, but, is the work getting done?

I’d be very upfront and give her more jobs to do. I can’t believe she can do everything in 1hr 10. We have daily household help of 2 hrs and there is always more to do.

I'm in when my cleaner is here.

She stays the two hours but we chatter away quite a bit. If I was out I reckon she'd be done in quite a bit less than that.

Which would be fine with me. She does all that I want and very well. She's cleaned for a friend of mine who is quite particular and she was impresed. I like and trust her.

In the end I'm the employer and if I am happy with the work for the money paid then that's that.

I’m wondering how a full house can be clean in an hour and 10
mins!!

may be I’m just really slow!!!

This. Haven't voted as neither had a middle ground option!

@FurForksSake You are kidding? No one could do all of those jobs in two hours. No one. Ridiculous.

The way I work it is approximately how long would it take me to do the same job? So if I was to give a bathroom a thorough clean - everything, shutters, windowsills, under toilet, etc, it would take me 1.5 to hours at least. But obviously that kind of clean doesn't happen every week.

This is exactly why cleaners should charge for the job, not the hours. I suspect you need a bi monthly clean if she can do it in such a short time

It's not about being efficient.

You are paying her for 2 hours of cleaning.

If she is that efficient and good at her job then she would charge a higher hourly rate.

I do what I've agreed I'll do I don't need to find extra things to do or 'use my initiative'. I'm self employed and know how to manage my time effectively. I don't have to fill the time. I make it clear when I take a client on it's a minimum charge of 2 hrs wether it takes me 30 mins or 2hrs. They can take it or leave it. They chose to take it because I'm good and I'm reliable. My schedule is full with long-standing clients.

I'm guessing you pay £13:50 an hour or some other crap wage

I should do this really, but I squirm myself inside out just thinking about it.

No shutters but I can clean my bathroom in 20 minutes. How the hell can it take an hour and a half?

I’d start leaving notes asking her to do extras ‘if she has time’, and then check what time she leaves. You’re paying per hour so it’s very cheeky to leave so early.

@MrsPinch I make sure Everything is very tidy so she can just clean. This week she deep cleaned all my plug holes and that’s not an every week job. It’s three shower cubicles, two bathtubs, four sinks and four toilets and obviously floors / mirrors and things. Kitchen is a kitchen and family room space, she doesn’t do inside of cupboards or oven.

She doesn’t walk into a filthy place, the kids and everybody is au fait with a bog brush and toilet cleaner. We do hoover mid week, though she seems to pick up a lot more than me.

She isn’t massively detailed and some jobs are done monthly, but that’s all good.

oh and she does my utility, but that’s not very big really.

Mine does this. I tolerate it and every now and then I give her something extra to do and she can't complain.

My lady's been with me for a while now and is reasonable. She's also honest so there's a bit of give and take really.

I wonder the same

@Blossomtoes I typed out the size of the bathrooms and the shower screens and just looked like a total nob so scratched that. Anyway, it's a big house with proportionate room sizes. One bathroom is 15' x 15'. When I clean the floor, which admittedly isn't often, I use a cloth rather than a mop, because I like to rinse it often (gosh I've practically nodded off myself at how boring this is/I am). I'm one of those people that gets carried away with a job. I mean, I'll be cleaning the floor and decide I need to get in between the rungs of the radiators. Don't get me wrong, I can't say I enjoy it, but I just figure the nooks and crannies have to be done once in a while.

I get my cleaning lady to do the kitchen floor twice a week then she rotates around other rooms, so that hopefully everything gets a turn within a reasonable time frame. Not really but it will have to do.

I would question how she could clean your house in just over an hour? Unless you live in a Wendy House. Surely even the smallest house to clean a kitchen, bathroom, one bedroom and a sitting room would take longer than that if done properly.

If I agreed to pay a cleaner by the hour then I think they are being dishonest for leaving before their time is up.
I’ve had cleaners for 40 plus years now and have always had cleaners stay with me for years. My last cleaner had been with me for 16 years and only left as she was going back to her home country to retire. I pay £17 an hour which is a normal amount for the town I’m in. I’m clear when I get a new cleaner that I expect them to work for the hours I pay them and with the exemption of one person all work their hours and have been conscientious and hard working. They have been amazing. I told the one that kept leaving early that I no longer needed a cleaner.

Some people like to hire cleaners by the job but I don’t.

I disagree. I think if you want her to work her full hours you need to clearly tell her. I wouldn’t mess around with asking for extras. You don’t want to leave any room for confusion. You don’t need to be rude just say that you noticed she was leaving early and as you are paying by the hour you want her to work the full hours.

This

also a cleaner and agree it’s a piss take. The thing that I don’t like is it’s essentially dishonest and honesty is an integral part of being a good cleaner

Is she still cleaning to the standard you expect? Are you happy with the cost of getting your cleaned to that standard? If the answer to both of these is yes, I would not be bothered about this.

I think an hourly rate for cleaning is a pretty poor way to properly reward the work. There's no benefit to a cleaner to get better at the job, or even to work that hard. I'd prefer a piece work type of deal - she cleans to the standard you have agreed, how long it takes her is immaterial.

This. ^

This. ^