How would you have paid me?

[Halloweenbecominglikehristmas]

Asked last week to work this week daily fir a couple of hours during school holidays. Set time every day from X to X, fixed amount of hours and my price given. Organised working week, prepared for the work etc.
Today told only needed for half that time for today and tomorrow they have an appointment they forgot about.
Very pleasant person, paid for the hours i'd done

Would you, or would you pay for whole week as it was you who changed the days/time needed very last minute.

I reallse all the I should have had this and that

I'm just curious from an almost moral aspect, would you have paid? What is the correct thing to do, instinctively?

Oh, well. They didn’t get wealthy through generosity, I guess. I’m self employed so I know how little people consider how their cancellations impact the small business. Honestly, OP, a contract will save you a lot of hassle in the future. Then everyone knows the score.

I would have paid. They booked you for set hours for the week and agreed a price. They should pay that price but they don’t sound like they will. So next time they ask I would say sorry no, I rearranged my plans for the week and you cancelled me for part of it at short notice. I could have taken a job with someone else for the full week or just had a week of my own things planned so I won’t be putting myself in that position again.

If you feel that strongly that you should have been paid, you should have said that at the time. You're being underpaid because you meekly accepted it instead of saying "hang on, I rearranged whole week to fit around what you promised, so you owe me for the week".

I have someone that does this kind of work for us and I wouldn't cancel / change hours without at least a week's notice. It sounds like you need something more formal with these people if you work for them again, but unfortunately not much you can do now.

I think as it was only arranged last week and seems a very informal/ favour thing I would pay for what you did not what was booked.

If this was someone's proper job like a regular cleaner or childminder I employed I would pay the booked rate if less 24 hours (or probably more) notice given.

I think for an informal one off job I probably wouldn't pay for something I hadn't had but it comes down to what was discussed/agreed. It would be different if this were a regular or formal arrangement and you cancelled last minute. You should have Ts and Cs though if you want to charge for cancellations (whether this is regular work or one off work). But no I think unless you are contractually obliged to pay for services you don't have, I think most people wouldn't pay.

I think you will get a broadly 50 / 50 split of answers. In my house I know I would have probably paid you for all the hours we discussed as you committed to being available. My late DH (accountant and lawyer ) on the other hand would have shrugged his shoulders, pointed out there were no T&Cs in place and wanted to only pay you the hours you worked.

I would pay for the time booked, but yes, the moral of this thread is that you need a contract.

When I’ve booked a carpet cleaner for a day or a one off deep clean they have always given me a contract. So I don’t think it would be considered unusual for you to do the same.

I would stick to contracted terms.

If it’s undeclared cash in hand then morally you’ve no legs to stand on.

I guess in a way they've saved you money and trouble in the future. ❤️

I wouldn't have entered into a business relationship with someone who doesn't use contracts. It's as simple as that. If you choose to run your business without professional boundaries in place then things like this will happen.

I would have paid. I would have assumed you kept that time clear for me and had or would have turned down other work. I think it's pretty poor behaviour not to though I agree you need a contract even for ad hoc bookings.

I go on the basis that if I cancel, I pay and if the provider cancels, then I don't pay, unless otherwise stated.

YANBU and neither are they!

In the past, I've paid my cleaners for times I was away from home and didn't need them - I also paid for their reasonable time off. Nowadays, I'm not so well off and probably need the money more than they do, so would be more inclined to pay only for the service I'd used.

Cruel lesson though for OP as she had paid for childcare/called favours in.

You had a verbal contract which is just as binding as a written one so the employer should have honoured it. Much harder to evidence though.

I would have paid you the full agreed amount, recognising that it was too short notice for you to get other work in.

I would’ve paid the full amount as would any decent person. Don’t work for them again.

I am self-employed.

I would expect someone to have clear terms and conditions with a cancellation policy. I would honour these without a second thought.

If you don't have T&C, I'd probably assume you were so run off your feet with offers of work, that you'd easily be able to recoup any deficit with other gigs. Hence, no paying of the full fee.

You need to think about the message you're sending out to potential clients, one-off or otherwise, by not having a T&C policy. Not ruminating on the 'morally' correct course of action for the client would be.

I would have paid you. But more importantly, you had a choice, and when they changed the hours, you could have told them that it was now not worth it for you, so they might have then offered the full amount.

I was only told today when I turned up

I would pay but I would attempt to negotiate if role was possible such as cleaning for you to do an extra hour the days you were there.

If I could afford to, I'd pay what I booked and I'd tip on top to show appreciation of your work.
But I won't lie, if money was really tight, I'd probably only pay what I was contractually obliged to pay.

Yes if I cancelled you having asked you to make yourself available (and therefore preventing you maybe doing other work etc) I would have paid out of courtesy.

I would say for whatcI had booked ... though I'd ask if I could use 'lost time' some other time in the future.

I would have paid yes and been embarrassed about it all. A chancer pays what u worked and hopes u don’t speak up. You should have said actually I’ve made myself available for you and can’t fill it at this short notice so would still expect to be paid.
They would be on the blacklist now for sure but maybe in future as someone suggested and insist on payment upfront. I mean I don’t get to pay for my childcare after. Infact I often have to pay weeks before for school holiday club.