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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Cleaning lady payment on bank holidays

27 replies

Feebo · 14/05/2023 07:29

Hi,
Looking for some advice.
My cleaning lady who has worked with us for 5 years and does ten hours a week (over 3 days) has just informed me that it's her legal requirement to be paid for bank holidays (she does 4 hours on Mondays) even if she chooses not to come to work.
If I do want her to come - which she has never offered, then she is entitled to double.
Given she is part time. I don't think this seems true but could I please get some advice from other people on what they do for bank holidays.

Note: when we are away we ask her to come and spring clean so always pay her if our holidays impact her days.

OP posts:
SusanMaria · 19/05/2023 05:18

Feebo · 15/05/2023 05:30

We don't have a contract with her and she works for 4 other people too

4 other cleaning jobs? Or 4 various part time jobs doing whatever eg a shop or waitress etc?

If it's lots of different types of jobs and she's an employee there, it's possible she considers herself your employee too. This doesn't mean she's correct!

If she's got lots of cleaning clients it's probable she's self employed but has no understanding of employment law or her rights and responsibilities as a self employed person.

She's possibly working cash-in-hand which is illegal. Not the being paid cash part. Cash-in-hand means not registered anywhere as a company, not paying tax or NI (in other words, defrauding the HMRC). It's not uncommon.

Especially if she is on the payroll somewhere (ie she's somebody's employee), HMRC won't be looking at what she's up to the rest of the time.

Same if she's claiming any benefits, unless reported for benefits fraud (grassed up) nobody official will be looking to see what she's up to. Of course some benefits don't preclude a person from working, I'm not accusing her of fraud here.

If you don't want to be involved with employing someone who works cash-in-hand insist on an invoice before you pay for work done. At the beginning, insist on a written contract stating their company name and their terms and conditions. Pay by bank transfer into the company's account, or by cheque made payable to the company, or by card via a card machine/phone app like you would for any other online or bricks and mortar shop.

If she has grounds to be considered in law to be an employee of yours, you've been breaking a lot of rules. No deductions for tax and NI, no employers liability insurance, no contract of employment, no holiday pay, no pension arrangements etc etc etc.

SarahSmith2023 · 19/05/2023 06:00

iTunes are hard for a lot of people, so I guess that's why she's trying this on now. However, there's no way I'd be putting up with her trying con on. I'd no longer trust her & wouldn't have her back.

if she needed more money she needed to put her rate up, not try to con you.

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