questions to ask cleaner

sarahking_2

Hi, I am a cleaner (self employed) for private houses and have been for the last 3 years. I have a CRB, Insurance, file of references and use my own products, hoovers etc whenever I take on work ( I work alone and i never have to advertise all word of mouth) i do mention when speaking to clients that I am a mum and occasionally may have to change days which all my clients are fine with. I would ask to see references and what holidays she would be taking, also ask if she would work set times/days and if other tasks such as ironing etc and how payment is to be made,also confidentiality (you dont want everyone knowing your business). hope this helps :-)

Pollycat

pippa80 wrote: »

I definitely don't want to exploit someone/ask too much! There's just the one bedroom plus a study/spare room.

Sorry if it sounded a bit critical, I didn't mean it to.

So you don't scare any potential cleaner off, could you estimate how long it takes you to do the jobs and see if the timings are realistic?

Do you have lots of ornaments/clutter on the windowsills and other places you want dusting?

I find cleaning windows quite time comsuming.

pippa80

Pollycat wrote: »

Sorry if it sounded a bit critical, I didn't mean it to.

No problem, it's better to hear advice here rather than scare the poor woman off! Nothing on the window sills, no ornaments really. Just some book cases with books, tv stand with tv, desk with computer etc.

To be honest we're not very fussy with the cleaning, we just want someone to come in give it a wipe over, vacuum and do the kitchen and bathroom (and maybe some bigger tasks ocassionally). It only takes me a couple of hours, but it's probably not to the greatest standard

Plenty to think about with this self employment / legal stuff though!

rachbc

I think your list is a lot for 2 hours. The treating of the floors sounds like a specialist job tbh and not one I would expect a cleaner to do - however I would expect any hard floors to be mopped every week.

societys_child

pippa80 wrote: »

Hmmm, this is trickier than anticipated! Would it be better to ask her to provide her own equipment/supplies then? I thought private cleaners were usually (always?) self employed!

It's only as complicated as someone makes it :whistle:

Dippypud

pippa80 wrote: »

Thank you, that's a very good idea to have a list I think! This is what I tend to do when I blitz it on a weekend. It's quite a small flat. I've never actually 'washed' my floorboards, but am vaguley aware that they should be cleaned/treated occasionally?

How is this for a job description/list of tasks? Does it seem reasonable? Am I missing something obvious?

2 hours per week at £8/hour.
We will supply cleaning materials (detergent etc and vacuum cleaner) – please leave a note to let us know when we are getting low on any supplies. Tasks are weekly unless otherwise stated.



Hallway:
· Vacuum floor
· Dust front table
· Dust skirting boards
· [once per quarter, wash/treat floorboards?]
Spare room/study:
· Vacuum floor
· Dust surfaces
· Dust window sills
· Dust skirting boards
· Once per month clean inside of windows
· [once per quarter, wash/treat floorboards?]
Bedroom:
· Vacuum floor
· Dust surfaces
· Dust window sills
· Once per month clean inside of windows
· [once per quarter, wash/treat floorboards?]
Kitchen:
· Mop floor
· Clean surfaces
· Clean sink
· Clean cooker top
· Clean inside microwave
· Once per month clean inside fridge
· Once per month clean inside cupboards
Bathroom:
· Mop floor
· Clean toilet
· Clean bath/shower
· Clean basin
· Dust window sills
· Once per month clean inside of windows
Living room:
· Vacuum floor
· Dust surfaces
· Dust window sills
· Dust blinds
· Once per month clean inside of windows
· Once per month clean under sofa cushions

Does the time allocated include the emptying of the said cupboards or will you be doing that beforehand.

jinky67

Take off treating the floor and doing the kitchen cupboards and I think its do-able in 3 hours a week easy, IF she put a bit of effort in

grey_lady

Good grief, what's with all the scare mongering? Op hires local mum to do a bit of cleaning for two hours a week, surely not a big deal? I'd suggest leaving a list of specific jobs and getting the cleaners agreement that it's fesible. Op talk to some agents if you are worried but if your happy that the person is hints, hardworking and reliable then that's all that matters. Tax is the self employed cleaners business, not the ops.

Blackpool_Saver

grey_lady wrote: »

Good grief, what's with all the scare mongering? Op hires local mum to do a bit of cleaning for two hours a week, surely not a big deal? I'd suggest leaving a list of specific jobs and getting the cleaners agreement that it's fesible. Op talk to some agents if you are worried but if your happy that the person is hints, hardworking and reliable then that's all that matters. Tax is the self employed cleaners business, not the ops.

What are hints?

Are you sure you wouldn't bother with insurance, that bit worries me

Tropez

grey_lady wrote: »

Good grief, what's with all the scare mongering? Op hires local mum to do a bit of cleaning for two hours a week, surely not a big deal?

Tax is the self employed cleaners business, not the ops.

Pointing out potential legal pitfalls is not scare-mongering. The "self employed" cleaner has to satisfy the criteria of being self-employed and taxable as such in order for the tax to remain their business. As in this case, it is very likely that the "self-employed" cleaner may not be satisfying HMRC distinctions between employed and self-employed, it very much becomes the OP's business to be certain of where they stand with regards to taxation, should an enquiry, either selected or random, by HMRC unearth any issues with an individual's employment status.

As all the cleaner likely need to do is fund their own operation in order to satisfy self-employment regulations, which in this case would be to provide their own cleaning products, then it seems reasonable to make such a recommendation.

I just ran the information on this thread through the HMRC's Employment Status Indicator and it came out that the cleaner, in this case, would be classed as an employee, not self-employed. Obviously, the OP will be privvy to information that I am not, which may or may not have a bearing on the employment status of the cleaner, but based solely on the information on this thread it certainly appears that it would be in the OPs best interests to know where they stand.