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Are you paying your cleaner during lockdown?

(154 Posts)
PamelaJ1 Sun 19-Apr-20 13:26:35

There is an article in the paper about cleaners who can’t work and aren’t being paid at all.

I’ve talked to mine about this and I am not paying her, perhaps I should? She is self employed and declares everything she earns and pays tax and NI. I am also self employed, am earning nothing and am not sure if I qualify for the 80% because I am a Ltd. company.
She says she will get the 80% and is fine.

I am in a much better position than her to weather this storm and after reading the article am feeling very guilty.
I think I will pay her the 20% she won’t be getting, does that seem fair?

jasmin14 Thu 08-Oct-20 09:28:19

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jasmin14 Thu 08-Oct-20 09:24:16

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jasmin14 Thu 08-Oct-20 09:23:24

PamelaJ1

There is an article in the paper about cleaners who can’t work and aren’t being paid at all.

I’ve talked to mine about this and I am not paying her, perhaps I should? She is self employed and declares everything she earns and pays tax and NI. I am also self employed, am earning nothing and am not sure if I qualify for the 80% because I am a Ltd. company.
She says she will get the 80% and is fine.

I am in a much better position than her to weather this storm and after reading the article am feeling very guilty.
I think I will pay her the 20% she won’t be getting, does that seem fair?

The Best Way to Clean Dishwasher
There are so many different ways to clean your dishwasher that sometimes it can be difficult to decide which method is the best. Here are some tips on how to clean your dishwasher so you know you are getting the most out of your dishwasher cleaning equipment.
cleaninglounge.co.uk/best-washing-machine-cleaner/

Jane10 Thu 23-Apr-20 16:00:41

Win win PamelaJ1!

PamelaJ1 Thu 23-Apr-20 15:41:38

I transferred the money yesterday. She rang to query it, was very cross but we got over that.
Now she is going to cook lots of food for us, I’ll pay for the ingredients. In a previous life she worked in a restaurant and made most of the puddings so I think I’m onto a winner.???

Jane10 Thu 23-Apr-20 15:00:38

I hope she does come back Elizabeth1. Our lady is Polish too and she's lovely. I hope she's OK too. We text and generally keep in touch.
You sound like you're much better these. Good news. sunshine

Elizabeth1 Thu 23-Apr-20 14:56:21

jane10 I don’t know if my lovely cleaner is returning back from Poland we have not had any communication with her since lockdown . I’ve a feeling we will give her some form of remuneration on her return if she does return back to us. She helped us out in our time of need.

Alishka Thu 23-Apr-20 14:30:18

My cleaner doesn't clean any more since lockdown sad , however she DOES do shopping for me and delivers itsmile
I'm in the 'shielding' group BUT only my friends, and I consider my cleaner in this group, know the importance of garlic,herbs and chilies (specially chilies) to my daily dietgrin She's coming round tomorrow. smile...

Paperbackwriter Thu 23-Apr-20 12:56:02

Hetty58 Paying someone in cash isn't illegal. If they then don't declare it to the revenue, then that is. Turns out my cleaner does declare her income and pays tax, which means she will (I gather) get some government support but it'll be a while coming. Hence I'm paying her. If she was with an agency, I think that would be different - they'd be her employers and presumably there'd be a furlough arrangement (though of course not always - some of those agencies aren't entirely above board)

kittylester Wed 22-Apr-20 12:09:29

My cleaner isnt a stranger any longer - she was for the first few times but no longer.

GreenGran78 Wed 22-Apr-20 11:52:57

I would love to have someone else do my cleaning.........but I would hate to have a stranger wandering around my house.

As I can’t afford to have a cleaner anyway, it’s a quandary I don’t have to solve.

Magrithea Tue 21-Apr-20 18:25:55

Ours is self employed (aren't most?) and we are giving her half pay for the duration. I hope her other clients are doing the same

PamelaJ1 Tue 21-Apr-20 17:37:49

I don’t think that I realised that the government payment won’t be paid until June. I thought giving her the 20% would make it up to normal. I will pay her the whole amount and she can pay me back if she is reimbursed.

I think that we on here value our cleaners enormously and pay them properly. I’ve just been on holiday for 2 months, NO not to a top hotel on an exotic island. To my DD in Australia. I paid her whilst I was away. My choice to go away, not hers.

Let’s hope that I can get back to work at some point and replenish the coffers. ?

GrannySomerset Tue 21-Apr-20 17:26:57

Am obviously very spoiled as we have had a cleaner since I was a young housemaster’s wife in 1968! I grew up with working single mother who much preferred doing the Telegraph crossword to housework. As a very conventional child, I took it upon myself to dust etc and do like an ordered home. I worked full time after doing a degree as a mature student so felt cleaning help was justified. No such excuse now, but I must be something right because we have only had four cleaners in over 50 years.

Having spent much of today doing what my wonderful domestic help does in four hours, and to a rather lower standard, I repeat - I can’t wait for her return!

Fennel Tue 21-Apr-20 17:18:09

We're in our late 70s, early 80s and have done our own cleaning until this year. Mostly husband as he's more particular than me.
But now we've given in and found a young Romanian woman who works very fast and does a good job. She's a single mother with 2 young children.
We agreed on a fixed sum a week and said we would pay her until she can come back to work.
Hopefully not too long as the place is looking neglected.

TerriBull Tue 21-Apr-20 17:02:43

I agree SirChenjin, no one should be above cleaning their own shit residue marks left behind in the loo, something I always impressed on my own children, it's a step too far to expect someone else to do it for you! I hate the way some people leave public lavatories shock

SirChenjin Tue 21-Apr-20 16:44:36

Do people need to learn how to scrub the bog? confused Surely you just do that as you go along as required - it ain’t hard - rather than leaving it for a cleaner to do just once a week?! envy <- not envy

TerriBull Tue 21-Apr-20 16:34:35

My husband has carried on paying our lovely cleaner, he was the one that hired her. She texted us today saying she is ready to work for us again, but I think we should leave it for a couple of weeks at least.

Jane10 Tue 21-Apr-20 15:44:05

Why should we be 'taught to clean' any more than we should be taught to drive buses or operate on patients or trade on the stock market? These are all jobs that people can do and earn a living doing it.

coggie Tue 21-Apr-20 15:17:14

Why would a man need a cleaner more than a woman?

Paperbackwriter Tue 21-Apr-20 15:04:12

GabriellaG54 I hope you assume men should have been taught how to clean their homes thoroughly as well as women? Goodness, my parents were busy with their careers while I was growing up and weren't over keen on housework themselves. They also considered my education far more important than showing me how to scrub the bog. There are lots of things I know how to do but (thanks to that education) can afford to pay others to do. I really loathe cleaning - there isn't a lot that's delightful about mopping the kitchen floor! Gulia the cleaner does it much better and is worth every penny!

maryhoffman37 Tue 21-Apr-20 14:27:43

Yes.

SirChenjin Tue 21-Apr-20 10:31:04

Is it? My salary (and everyone else I know) is X based on a 37.5 hour week. I can’t go home early if I’ve finished the work before then and neither do my staff. If I could do the job in 30 hours then my employer would quite rightly be looking at my contract. If my contract with the cleaning agency if for X number of hours per week why would it be OK for the cleaner to leave early? Surely it would be a case of reviewing the tasks she was doing in her contract as per other workers?

Gizzy48 Tue 21-Apr-20 10:25:00

Sir Chenjin - paid by the hour or paid to get the job done is the difference between wages and salary, isn't it?

Gizzy48 Tue 21-Apr-20 10:20:48

Greeneyed Girl - agreed, up to a point. If they're our "employees", doesn't that make us their bosses? The person who cleans for me refers to me as a client. Just as my hairdresser and my podiatrist do. They aren't our employees.