Housekeeper left iron on

[Chelseacoffee]

I have a housekeeper who comes in a couple of times a week to clean, change bedsheets , iron dc uniforms, etc. she came on Friday and left around 6 pm. She irons in a small laundry room we don’t use much. Today I went there to take some laundry and found that she has left the iron on and it’s been on for about two days. Now I am at odds whether to keep her or ask her to leave. What would you do? I am so shocked. We could have burned down.

I left a heater on on Friday after I'd left the room. I also switched the coffee machine on without a mug underneath it this morning. Anyone could do either or both things, we're all human and I'm tired.

I have a pretty basic iron but it still beeps & switches itself off after a certain length of time.

Your response seems utterly disproportionate. Do you usually overreact so heavily?

Human error. Mistakes happen.

Letting her go would be a massive overreaction. Put yourself in her shoes and imagine getting sacked over an innocent mistake.

this

Don't sack her for a simple error, you didn't even notice it was on for two days.... so you're not the sharpest pencil in the box either.

Let it go.

She forgot, which you should let her know about . It's hardly a sacking offence.

Sack her for leaving an iron on? 😂

She’s not a housekeeper OP she’s a cleaner and if you fire her over one incident you’ll have to do the ironing yourself until you find a new cleaner.

It’s as much your fault for not going into one of the rooms in your house for 2 days.

Just remind her to turn it off and hope there are no further issues.

Exactly this. I chose my iron because it has an auto switch off after about 20 minutes. And yes, I have pretended to leave the house then snuck back in to test it. It works.

I've done it myself more than once. Which is why I have an iron that shuts itself off if I forget. But people make mistakes and I think you are over-reacting. Perhaps do your own housework if you think that making a mistake is so heinous a crime?

It's shocking you would consider firing someone for a one-off error. The issue here is your system. You need to either go in that room daily, get a better iron, or keep the iron outside that room so you can see it's switched off.

Imagine if everyone who forgot to do something at work got fired!

Calm down and either buy a more modern iron or do some basic checks about the house yourself when she's been.

It’s an accident that happens to us all. First let her know, and explain that you’re going to do something to ensure that you, her or anyone else can’t do it again

then go on internet or wherever and invest in either a timer socket. They aren’t a lot, plug the iron into the timer socket. In order to turn iron on you have to then press a button to give you 1 hour , 2 hours or whatever up 5 or 6 max. At which point socket turns off

problem solved and fool proofed

I have a lot of clock sockets or timer sockets around my house. They ensure things aren’t left on stand by or don’t forget something is turned on . I use whichever is best fit , so for chargers it tends to be clock ones, but for things used instantly like iron, toothbrush chargers, tool chargers, microwave I use the timer charger types. We’ll worth spending out on until we’ve all got smart sockets everywhere

Yes you should fire her immediately and never tell her why. Terrible when the underclass make human mistakes uh! 🙄

I’ve been guilty of leaving the iron overnight. It was an accident. I’m sure it was also an accident made by your housekeeper, I doubt she did it intentionally. It is easily done unfortunately.

If it was me, I would probably pull her up and tell her about it and just ask her to be more careful in future and that she checks it is turned off before she leaves. I honestly wouldn’t sack her if she is a good worker. It’s a mistake that she will most likely be very sorry for and feel bad about.

Exactly, you don't export responsibility for household health and safety to a part time worker.
Get a better iron and take responsibility on a nightly basis for checking all sockets.

I have an iron and straighteners that both have auto shut off for this very reason.

How lovely to have a laundry room! An iron left on won't cause a fire unless it falls over. And you can get an iron with an automatic cut-off function from about £20 upwards.

Potentially dangerous but very easy mistake to make. If you just tell her she'll likely be mortified and never make that mistake again.

I am surprised however that your iron doesn't automatically switch off if unused for a certain amount of time. Mine was a cheap, rubbish model about 10 or maybe even 15 years ago and even does this.

Just tell her. It’s an honest oversight.
I wonder though, how comfortable she would feel about continuing to work for you if she read you were considering sacking her this.
If you’ve never made a mistake, I’m sure you’d want to be treated reasonably.

This!
Are you really that perfect OP?

Good grief - what a complete overreaction. Buy an iron with an automatic shut off, give it to her to use next time she’s in, and move on with your life.

😂

Unless it’s left face down on fabric a modern iron is unlikely to cause a fire if it’s left on. It’s not good but certainly not worth firing someone for. Put a smoke alarm in the laundry room if you like though?