Cleaner

My god. Give the woman a break. I wouldn't have thought she is getting off on exotic holidays. She's.probably barely surviving. Whether she pays tax or not Is her respobsibility

I have a cleaner now (hadnt for ages) but now osteoarthritis too bad, had her clean before lockdown, she gave me special slightly lower price as she knows a family member, thats how i heard of her- but now after lockdown shes put mine to £10 per hr- (some pay more i think) however, it is a valid cleaning business she started up on her own and she raised price on advice of her accountant- who also helps her on paying tax so its all above board.

I pay my cleaner and hairdresser cash. Both poorly paid jobs. Everyone is struggling to survive.

I pay £14 an hour to a single person business. I am invoiced and pay by bank transfer. I prefer to do this as it protects me and gives her a reasonable income. £7 an hour is not enough.

What an absolute disgrace. Paying anybody £7.00 an hour. And then having some ‘moral scruples’ about tax! Unbelievably poor attitude. X

Paying £7 an hour for a cleaner, you should hang your head in shame. You don't want to clean yourself but you expect someone to it for a pittance. As for being on benefit and not paying tax that is none of your business.

Being above board is surely at least paying the minimum wage ,

This lady is probably not earning enough to pay tax, though she should be declaring her earnings to her local job Centre as effects benefit payments, having said that I don’t blame people sometimes for not declaring all their income (yes I know it’s wrong !) but sometimes very small amounts of extra money make such a huge difference when one is really struggling to make ends meet. Me, I’d mind my own business

Like many others here, I stopped my cleaner at the beginning of shielding. She came through an agency and we paid her £13 per hour, which is the London Living Wage.
The agency covered absences and breakages etc (not that there were any).

I don’t condone the scenario of paying someone £7 an hour and then questioning whether they are behaving in a manner that is “above board”!

My cleaner is £13 an hour but supplies everything. I feel this is a fair wage as she doesn’t get holidays, sickness etc. She is a hard worker and I don’t ask if she pays tax etc. That is between her and the tax office! I think it is wrong to only pay £7 per hour, could you exist on that? Really it is exploitation of someone’s circumstances if nothing else.

If your paying someone well below the national minimum wage and cash in hand, it's your morals that need a double check, never mind the cleaning lady.

We pay £12.50 an hour, holidays and sick pay and have had our wonderful cleaner for 24 years. I am putting her pay up in the new year from £50 for four hours to £60. We would trust her with our lives and our last penny and feel so lucky to have her supporting us now we are old and less able.

I'd take her on and pay her minimum wage. Being a single mum she'll be limited as to what hours she does anyway so very unlikely to be breaking the law and needs all the extra she can get. You can always ask her.

I got my excellent cleaner through an agency. I pay them an amount every month for having her registered and insured by them and I pay her in cash. I've paid her through lockdown and look forward to when she can come back. She came back for a short time when lockdown eased a bit and brought me a lovely bouquet of lilies and a box of chox for continuing her pay. I was so surprised. After all my pension continued to be paid and it wasn't her fault we weren't allowed people in our houses.

£7 is slave labour - although I think that's what they pay in McDonald's - not sure ...

My brother pays his cleaner £12.50 per hour, ( I used to do it for nothing) she is an excellent cleaner who earns every penny she makes. Not my business if she is on benefits or not.

It's not about judging someone on benefits - to me it's more about judging someone who is taking advantage of the fact that there are those who have to work for such a dreadful wage, without any legal protection and without the chance to accrue a pension or rights to sick pay etc.

I'm not saying that this is what the OP's sister is doing, as we don't know all of the circumstances, but in principle I think it is wrong.

Not true JenniferEccles. When you register as self employed with Universal Credit, you have to earn a basic amount, if you declare you are working 16 hours a week for example, you will be deemed to be earning 16 hours at £8.45. There is no way that the benefit system will condone illegal practices.

I expect the low rate is somehow tied in with the woman not wanting to lose any benefits.

Your sister's cleaner may well be working part time while on Universal Credit, but either way the only law breaker here is your sister by paying £7 an hour. Whatever someone's situation, whether the income is being declared or not, exploitation is never right. I do hope that you will pay your cleaner at least the minimum wage when you do employ one!

I pay my 14 year old grandson £10 an hour! We're helping him out as he likes to buy his (first) girlfriend flowers and sweets (how cuuute is that?) so find him jobs to do.

So I totally agree that £7 is unfair payment for a cleaner.

I’d be too embarrassed to pay a cleaner £7 an hour That’s a disgraceful wage. I pay my cleaner £12.50 an hour. I paid her during lockdown until she informed me that she was now receiving support from the government because she declares all her earnings.

I know a single mum who does cleaning 'on the side'. She charges 10.00 per hour and does a brilliant job. She has a little one at nursery so unable to take a 'proper job' as all the issues with school holidays , inset days and child sickness cause her problems. Whether or not she declares it i have no idea. All i know is the elderly people who rely on her each week are happy to see her and pay her. She will also do their shopping collect prescriptions and if able too will take them to gp appointments and the hospital. This takes so much off their families , and takes the fear of being a nusiance off the people as they see themselves as being independant as they pay as she supports them so well. Two sides to every story i guess.

I pay £12.50 an hour for my cleaner - £7 is below the minimum wage!

The cleaner may be on benefits but she is allowed to earn a nominal amount before she has to declare it, sorry I do not know how much that is.
Perhaps that is why she charges £7 pounds an hour so she does not go over the limit of what she can earn.
Sometimes people are quick to judge a single parent and the woman is probably just trying to earn that few pound to help herself out. Being a single parent can put people in a Catch 22 situation and it can be a vicious circle to get out of.