Can anyone explain in simple terms what support should be available to a cleaner?

[HJ40]

Hello, I have a weekly cleaner and when lockdown started last March, the furlough didn't apply as she is self employed. I know there was talk of the scheme starting in June, but we chose to continue to pay her throughout rather than leave her with short term cash flow issues.

DH and I also had to cut our own hours to share childcare for our toddler when the nurseries closed. As I was pregnant then, it was right at the time we were hoping to save as much as possible, but as our situation was not as bad, we felt it right to continue to pay her and we were saving a bit unexpectedly with nursery closed.

At this time, we set up a standing order as we obviously weren't seeing her and had previously paid cash each week. This means I have also subsequently paid her when she had a week off in August, and the two weeks at Christmas just gone, when previously she wouldn't have been paid. Perhaps I should have stopped the standing order but I don't know how to bring it up.

Now she has (asymptomatic) covid and is unable to come yet again for at least two weeks. I am on mat leave and having to be very careful with every penny. I have budgeted to pay her, but when I am making choices about what I can spend on, I'm really keen to understand background on what might be available to her before having a chat with her.

Sorry that's a ridiculously long background. Questions below, I've tried to have a look on gov.uk but it's bloody complicated.

1. Shouldn't she by now have had the support which was made available to the self employed during the first lockdown? (She has an accountant and does things properly, I am told).

1. Isn't there a payment now to cover people who have to isolate?

Not every self employed person qualifies for any help. I don't get a single penny for example.
I don't know of anyone that has been successful in claiming the isolation payment.

If the majority of income on her tax return for the past two years was from self employment (eg: she has submitted the paperwork each year and doesn't also do a few days in a shop each week etc) then she would be eligible for the self-employment support from the govt in periods when the govt has closed her business. As cleaners can still work (despite increasing scrutiny of work where people go into each others houses), I'm not sure if that actually applies at present anyway.

We are continuing to pay our cleaner although she isn’t coming at the moment like lockdown 1.0.

Could you not reduce the standing order while she is not cleaning for you?

She may not qualify for the self employed help
She may qualify for the isolation grant

It's not actually clear if she's still been cleaning for you during lockdown, but if not I'd say the bigger issue is why you're still paying at all. I get the rationale of doing this for a while when you could afford it, and obviously it's good to be kind, but hasn't the time come to prioritise your own family now money's getting tighter?

I've no specialist knowledge around what her entitlement to help would be, but as she's sellf employed isn't this for her to address rather than yourselves?

the self employed help is based on her last 3 years profits (not just earnings but only profit) so she'll need her tax returns and info to claim, and should have (I think) been contacted if she was eligible. Maybe she can call to check but depends if she earns enough to pay tax and is on the system etc

Thank you very much, very helpful replies.

• she doesn't have any other jobs, she cleans five days per week

• she has been doing this for years so should have a long history with HMRC

• the standing order has been in place since March. She has been back with us since it was allowed last summer (June?) and has continued since

• not the point of this thread but I guess I've got into a pickle of a precedent of paying by continuing the standing order when she doesn't come and now she can't come again now she's got Covid, on top of just having been paid for two weeks off at Christmas

She is not your employee and therefore you have no obligation to pay her sick or holiday pay. Her higher hourly rate should reflect this.

Whether she is entitled to any covid related support will depend on her self employment status. Have you asked her?

She is allowed to work now (save for fact she is isolating). Would you have her if she wasn’ isolating?

We are paying cleaner in full as we can afford to and it is our choice not to have her as I personally think the govt should have mandated no domestic staff in home.

Thanks @Jangle33 I don't really know what to ask her, hence asking here as I don't want to come across as assuming the government is making 'everything ok' when I know that's far from it.

You make a good point that her hourly rate should reflect holidays.

We were nervous about her coming back after Christmas with all of the new variant stuff, but with DS at nursery (we have to continue that as we need the place for when I return to work) thought we were the greater risk to her. We've been quite shocked she's caught it.

All she's said when I said we'd still pay her was that she didn't get any grants and thanked us that she didn't need to worry about it.

How did you pay her Pre-Covid?

Is she a brilliant cleaner that does what she should and more under normal circumstances? If so carry on paying her as brilliant cleaners are hard to come by.
If she isn’t then terminate her contract with you.

If she is fully self employed, was trading in 18-19 and 19-20, she is intending to continue to trade and her business was affected negatively by covid-19 she will have been eligible for the first, second and third SEISS grants. However you can’t claim the third if you didn’t claim the first and second, and the deadlines for first and second are way past. The fourth is supposed to start next month I think.

She can continue to work and be paid and still be eligible for the SEISS grants, which are awarded if there has been a negative impact on her business.

Not sure how she’s self employed
Does she come when she chooses?
Can she send someone else?
Can she take on other clients?
Does she use her own equipment?
If the answer to all these is no then she could claim to be employed by you

I've got into a pickle of a precedent of paying by continuing the standing order when she doesn't come

Easy to slip into, but also easy to step back from - just tell her truthfully that your circumstances are changing and that it'll no longer be possible

Surprised that she "didn't get any grants", especially as she's done this for years so should have a good HMRC track record, but perhaps she's just not needed to apply for any yet?
Anyway, in the nicest possible way it's not up to you to ask her anything about this ... if she's self employed it's really her own business