Would you work as a cleaner 2-3 hours a day for free accommodation but no pay?

[ShittyGlitter]

I need a bit of perspective here as I'm not sure of what I’m looking for is reasonable.

I’m drowning in gardening and cleaning, I currently take a half day off a week to try get everything done including g laundry and prep for the week ahead.

My job is becoming more demanding as I have new projects starting this year but also we’re renovating our house so time is also spent covering DIY tasks and running around after our two children. My DHs job is also demanding, but we’re generally good at splitting tasks between us.

we’re both burnt out and skint for renovation costs.

what I’m wondering is, I have an annex separate from our house that’s fully self contained. Would it be reasonable to advertise a live in position for someone to help out with gardening and cleaning tasks? I’m thinking 2-3 hours a day say 5 days a week, rotating around some household tasks. just to help us free up some of our life’s for work or family!

The problem is I can’t afford a cleaner for so many hours, and I thought maybe it would help someone out or am I being daft?

Bills would be covered and there are loads of jobs locally specifically in hospitality as week live in a touristy spot. So someone could have another job to work around it or if they were remote workers anyway.

thoughts would be appreciated!

I think that you need to consider thr legal aspects of this. Insurance, minimum wage, contracts etc. You could find yourself in a hot mess if things go wrong with this arrangement. I would dig into this carefully tbh.

Just a thought, what about an au pair??

So you’re looking for a slave, basically

So, more than an annexe, really? As pp have said, you could rent it out and use the money to pay for a housekeeper.

An au pair could be an option, but I feel that would be a young person looking to be part of a family and I’d feel obligated to host them I guess rather than have a sort of working relationship.

Yes, I think an au pair wouldn't suit your situation.

I can’t believe I had to read so many replies before someone had the common sense to post this!

This isn’t right OP, you cannot do this

It’s illegal OP. You cannot legally substitute wages, at NMW rate, for free accommodation.

It's a nice thought, but if you're in England, it's illegal. You must pay workers at least the NWM. The value of accommodation can be offset against salary, by only by about £10 per day; the rest has to be salary.

Would I do it? I'd be sorely tempted but, experience, tells me that when people think they're being generous towards you (i.e 'I'm giving them a free home and all I'm asking for is 2hrs cleaning a day'), they tend to start taking the piss/expecting more and often become resentful. The relationship and requirements are much clearer if you just establish a salary from the start. I agree with another poster's suggestion, that you get a lodger/tenant and use the income to pay a cleaner.

i mean ideally I’d prefer to avoid criminal activity or tax issues. I guess it seems weird to charge someone rent then give it back as wages I suppose.

I know someone who has this arrangement. A couple of retirees, living in their beautiful annex, in exchange for gardening and housework.

Don't know how they found them, but it seems to work well for them.

It’s not “weird” it’s quite literally the law- to prevent against modern day slavery. That honestly should not seem crazy to you at all.

I think you would be putting yourself at alot of risk. You could be accused of slavery if comparable rent of a small annex is less than what they should be paid for the hours worked. Would you be including utilities, food etc. Plus they may refuse to work and leave then you're stuck with a tenant to evict, and you need to take into account the new renters rights.

See I think this was my rose tinted glasses idea, a retired couple or some artists who paint all day and lift a few weeds in between or something. One can dream I guess.

I think 3 hours a day every day would be an awful tie for somebody to work another job around not to mention a social life. I agree with renting it out and paying for a cleaner.

Friends did this and it ended very badly - the people in the garden cottage just stopped doing any work after a while and refused to pay rent. My friends got them out after a protracted legal battle, but they vandalised the place before they left, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. I think Workaway might be the place to try, as they have structures in place to protect both parties.

Where are you? I’d be interested!!

Life is not a Jilly Cooper novel.

It would be easier and make more financial sense to just rent out the annex and pay for a cleaner.

Are you proposing slavery? You can reduce NMW by accommodation is by £77.77 per week so you can offset that but still need to pay National Minimum Wage…

Because it’s not slavery!

they would be free to leave or change the agreement at any time. Slavery is where they are forced, coerced or prevented from leaving.

think about it- half the women on mumsnet are modern slaves if they are sahm. They’re getting free accommodation in exchange for housework and childcare…

I was thinking it sounded a bit modern slavery at first, but tbf if it's a seperate 3 bed property I (and my now husband) would have been up for this in our early freelance years as artists (shortly after graduating) both do an hour and a half of graft cleaning every morning and then just crack on with our work assuming it was big enough to have a spare bedroom as an office/studio.

Would have worked better than the first 6months after graduating crammed in my old bedroom and then a dilapidated rental working retail jobs whilst I/we were trying to get our careers going.

Although we probably would have "flown your nest" too after a couple of years when we started to make a bit of headway and got our foot in the door of the industry.

Oh for fucks sake it’s not remotely the same as a marriage

It’s not remotely the same as slavery either 🙄

Modern slavery- from the Salvation Army.

this is a voluntary agreement to benefit both parties, which either can leave at any time. Not MS

What is Modern Slavery?
Modern slavery is when someone loses their freedom and is controlled and exploited by another person or people for personal or commercial gain. It is an umbrella term for many forms of slavery including but not exclusive to human trafficking.
Modern slavery can take many different forms, but usually includes tricking, threatening or physically forcing people either into work for little or no pay, committing crimes or sexually exploiting them all to profit the trafficker