Having a cleaner. Or not.

You say she sits for a coffee "afterwards "..she might think you need the company and she is doing you a favour. We all have very different standards when it comes to cleaning so you really do need to be extremely clear ( what, how often, priority ..) as to what you want done.She possibly thinks she can arrive anytime too, that as you haven' t said anything, it doesn' t make any difference to you. If you like and trust her , you could set those boundaries as of now, otherwise you might as well just say it' s not working out. She will find somewhere else quickly enough. Don' t worry yourself with it.

This is making me worried- my husband's COPD is so bad now he cannot help with housework anymore, and I have arthritic knees. I was thinking of getting someone in for a couple of hours a month to do the heavier work such as mopping and vaccuming. I'm now worried that I will get someone lazy - I don't have the poster's issue as I would be, shall we say, blunt about poor service but my husband is a very nice man and lets people take advantage of him. I'd have to lock him in the bedroom lol, to avoid him being too nice. I am reluctant to hire a cleaner, as a working class woman (my mother did it), but our flat is getting like a pigsty because I can't keep up with the housework on my own.

Are you paying her to drink coffee? Talk to her, and tell her that unless she does what she is paid to do, you will not be employing her any more.

I think the kindest (and you are clearly a kind person, watermeadow, otherwise you would just tell her the harsh truth) would be just to say ‘thank you, you’ve helped me through this difficult time, but now I can manage my own cleaning.

I have become more disabled over the last 3 years and I found a cleaner via age UK. Like yours she was coming later and later, I asked repeatedly if she could please come on time as I used to have a visitor later in that day and I needed time to have my lunch before they arrived. In the end I found another lady and this one comes on time and boy is she thorough, i pay her 4 2 hours every other week, she has got my step ladder and cleaned on top of the kitchen cupboards, I dont think they have been done in the 6 years I have lived here, I can't use a ladder. Her first week she stayed 3 hours instead of 2 so I paid her for the 3, she said NO, it was my choice to carry on, you did not ask me to stay., she has been 3 times up to now and has always done over her time but will not accept extra. She says it is her choice and once she gets it up to her standard she will be able to do it in 2 hours. So try age UK, they are all DBS checked as well