Nit picking by HR manager

[Cavend]

I work as a part time contracted cleaner, I have completed just 7 shifts at work since I started, less than 2 weeks ago. the HR manager has complained twice in that time, that I have not cleaned her office properly, as I" have not moved anything in the office." I have dusted desk and filing cabinet using anti bac spray, emptied bins, vacuumed chair seat and back, vacuumed carpet, wiped hand prints off perspex screen around the bitch's desk, wiped dust off base of chair and cleaned window sill and glass in office door. This office is cleaned twice weekly, all other offices are once weekly, as it is well known to my colleagues that this individual is FUSSY. My predecessor left in tears because of her, but made no individual complaint, as it was thought she would not be believed. I am dreading going back to work tomorrow, as this office is on my remit, and i think the person wants blood. If I receive another complaint I would like to raise a grievance, but who is over HR in a large company? I need this job, after struggling to find suitable work since the pandemic.

Well the fact that you refer to her as a bitch is a pretty poor reflection on you. Why don't you just clean properly which means moving things out of the way, rather than cleaning around them?

If that is honestly not necessary then speak to your line manager or the person the HR manager complained to.

I was with you right up until you called her a bitch, TBH.

Just to be clear, there is nothing on the desk except computer & keyboard and pen container, there is a clear desk policy. Other than disinfecting every individual pen in the container, I do not see how my work can be improved, other than applying for jobs elsewhere, which I just have done.

Might be a crazy idea, bit what if you took video footage of you cleaning her office next time you're in? Then if there's a complaint, you have a record of what you did.

Are you moving these items to clean underneath, or cleaning around them?

If anyone get a complaint about their standards of work they are able to ask their manager to clarify what they have done wrong in order to get it right next time.

Speak to your manager, but do it right.

I'm amused about using word Bitch.
Maybe you could film yourself cleaning & she can review the film & say what you missed? Ask for her feedback. Honestly, play along. And make a point of lifing & wiping. Do not let yourself be actually upset about this.

I've been known to grab hoover off our cleaners & vacuum some patch, with apologies since I was one who tracked mud in. Always grateful for the cleaners.

This

I used to make a point of moving the keyboard, mouse, phone and pot of pens and leaving the chair at an angle that showed it had been moved out to gain access to the desk.

Then (again, it was an HR director - what exactly is it about them?) moaned that I moved things too much.

Just move everything against the wall and if she complains, then tell her she wanted it moving

Our cleaners wherever I've worked have always been told to NEVER move anything, paperwork or whatever around while they are cleaning. They are instructed to clean only the clutter-free areas of people's desks and other surfaces, not to touch papers, computers, or anything else. The only exception being if there is a desk phone. They can give that a wipe over and clean underneath it.

So this HR manager is being utterly foul if you ask me.

Perhaps you need to bring this up with your manager, OP, and ask them to clarify what the rules are at your place of work?

Once again I see the knives are out.

Do this. Fuck with the height and angle of her chair and screen. Drive her mental with everything being slightly off.

Do you have a checklist of what to clean in offices? I work in a university which has worse cleaning than the NHS so I'm very pleased to get my bin emptied! I'll bet I'm more senior than your HR person too!

Thankyou everyone. I apologise for the use of the b word, just mega miffed.
Yes maybe I should video cleaning routine for this particular office, I may hear feedback from my very recent job applications though !

But what did your manager say? Are you following the instructions you were given for the room?

Or you could address it head on, talk to her, explain your cleaning routine for her office, and ask what else she would expect to be done.

I would take evidence of how the place looks after you have cleaned it:

• take pictures or a video of before and after with your phone
• log that with your manager and state that you will do the same thing every time you clean that office (keep photo evidence)
• ask your manager based on the visuals whether there is anything else you should have done in term of how you clean that office.

Do that in an email so you have a trail to refer to should that woman try to cause problems again.

She might work in HR but she will be answering to a director or a CEO so you can lodge an official complaint if the odd behaviour continues.

And don't worry about calling that woman a bitch. Someone who picks on cleaners, the people likely to have the less power in an organisation and to be paid very little for a hard job, and who caused someone to leave her job ''in tears'' is exactly that...

If she has genuine issues about the cleaning she could have raised that politely and suggest what she would like you to do instead. Bullying cleaning staff is never acceptable.

And don't worry about calling that woman a bitch. Someone who picks on cleaners, the people likely to have the less power in an organisation and to be paid very little for a hard job, and who caused someone to leave her job ''in tears'' is exactly that...
Even if that is all true, it does not necessitate using the term bitch to describe a woman. But you don't know if it's true or not. The individual has complained that the cleaning is not up to an expected standard - a complaint is not the same thing as "picking in someone"; having lower pay or a hard job is irrelevant if the job is not done properly; and someone leaving their job or being in tears does not make a complaint wrong or unreasonable.

People have different expectations and standards of cleaning, and complaining that someone hasn't met those expectations does not make someone a "bitch". If there is a difference of opinion then that is what the OP's manager is there to resolve.

@Jalisco

I think some people on mumsnet seem to live in a perfect world where no one ever gets angry, never uses a swearword and never gets into conflict with anyone...

Back in the real word there are unfortunately people higher up the food chain who delight in making other people lives' a misery and who pick on people who have the least power just because they can and so they can make themselves feel better.

This woman seems to have already bullied someone else and she is doing the same thing again with the OP.

If it was simply about cleaning, this would be resolved quickly: the HR manager calls/emails the OP's manager to ask whether next time her office can be cleaned in such and such a way. Manager agrees that there is an issue and speaks to OP and the problem is solved.

If this woman keeps finding that the cleaners hired are not up to her standards but no one else is complaining about the office cleanliness. The problem is with her.

You seem to be awfully quick to think that person is right simply because she happens to be a manager and the OP is a cleaner and has used a swearword....