Cleaner working less time than I pay her for…

[Teddicus]

I have a cleaner who works 2 hours a week. She always turns up at a slightly different time - she’s supposed to start at 10am but sometimes it’s 9.30, sometimes 10.15 … So I never really noticed at first that she wasn’t working a full two hours though I suspected it. But it’s clear now that she normally does 1 hr and 40 mins or so, sometimes a bit less. I haven’t said anything and the house always looks as clean as it did when she first started working for us, but it’s starting to annoy me. Is this normal? Maybe she feels she just works quickly and if I said something, she’d go slower and achieve the same result. Or should I be insisting she works the full 2 hrs…? There’s always more that could be done! Thoughts?

My cleaner sometimes leaves a bit early and sometimes leaves a bit late (up to around 15 minutes) so it works out roughly even. She occasionally has to leave 20 -30 minutes early and she always tries to deduct for that but I refuse as she does an amazing job. If, for whatever reason, she feels she needs longer to do the clean on a given day (e.g. when she came back after lockdown) she will check with me first and then do the extra time which I pay her for.

Previous cleaner wasn't anywhere nearly as good and would also leave early. I just didn't get her back after the first lockdown.

Same @Gardenwalldilema if it gets really bad I figured I could always get a one off emergency deep clean from a company.

Also used the money saved to by a robohoover which cuts a lot of time.

My cleaner is very random - she's paid for 2 hours, sometimes she's here for 2.5 sometimes 1.5. The house always looks clean so I have stopped asking questions!

I usually leave a note asking her to do something that doesn't need doing every week on rotation: clean the fridge, or the oven or do some ironing.

@Teddicus

I have a cleaner who works 2 hours a week. She always turns up at a slightly different time - she’s supposed to start at 10am but sometimes it’s 9.30, sometimes 10.15 … So I never really noticed at first that she wasn’t working a full two hours though I suspected it. But it’s clear now that she normally does 1 hr and 40 mins or so, sometimes a bit less. I haven’t said anything and the house always looks as clean as it did when she first started working for us, but it’s starting to annoy me. Is this normal? Maybe she feels she just works quickly and if I said something, she’d go slower and achieve the same result. Or should I be insisting she works the full 2 hrs…? There’s always more that could be done! Thoughts?

I used to have a cleaning business. I cleaned for the full time and did not leave early I also turned up at the correct time unless I had something to do (dentist or doctor) which would have been arranged beforehand.

When you engage your cleaner you should make all these things clear and tell him/her you expect two hours cleaning for two hours pay.
It's that simple and your cleaner will be happier knowing she has boundaries.

Another good idea is to leave a note for your cleaner asking her to do something she has not done before/or done properly just so she knows that you are aware she is not cleaning everything.

It can all be done politely.

This happened to me and I got a different cleaner.

All cleaners do this

Er no they don't. Our cleaner starts and finishes at the arranged time and she is paid for those hours.

This always annoyed me too.

Cleaning is never ‘finished’ especially not after just 2 hours, she could always clean out the fridge / bread bin / microwave / bins etc.

If she charges £15 an hour then that 20 minutes each week is £250 per year she’s falsely charging for.

I had cleaners before via an agency, paid for a 3 hour clean but they came in pairs to stay 1.5 hours. They used to leave 10 then 15 minutes early so that was 20 or 30 minutes I was paying for and definitely there were still things to do in the house. I don't mind some give and take but they left early 3 times in a row and when I said they were leaving early they said they'd mopped all the floors and couldn't walk over them again so would have to go so I stopped using them. This was pre pandemic.
Now looking for a cleaner again and think I will prefer one cleaner for a set time. Have been looking at local agencies and hoping to get someone reliable.

I used to clean houses and I don’t understand why people are so accepting of this. If I had finished the tasks that needed doing earlier I would clean out the fridge or find something else to do. I would never walk out the office once I finished everything I would find something else to do until my shift was over.

It would annoy me as I pay her for two hours. She could do something else for the remaining 20 minutes or you pay her for an hour and 40 minutes!

My sister's cleaner loves to chat so my sister, who works from home, always pretends she's incredibly busy!

No, from experience in the cleaning profession-
She should arrive and leave on time.
If she finishes early she should be telling you and offer to either work 1.5 hours or use her initiative and fill the time e.g by deep cleaning a room at a time.

If the agreement wasto clean your house and your cleaner is satisfactorily cleaning your house but is quicker at doing that than when they first started - fair enough.

But your agreement is for an hourly rate. If she arrives at eg. 10.30, I might say 'Ok, so you're here until 12.30 today, are you? If you get through the normal cleaning quickly, please could you do the inside downstairs windows? Thanks'.

If she says she has to go at 12, say 'Oh, so do you want to come half an hour earlier next week, or stay half an hour later?'