Should I give my cleaner a Christmas bonus when she is having a long holiday ?

Brighton_belle

oystercatcher wrote: »

I prefer to employ a cleaner than ask my family to do my regular housework, they all lead very busy lives. When they visit I don't want them to spend time cleaning.

Got to agree with you Oyster: my elderly mum employed a cleaner so that our time with her could be spent with her, companionable chatting or cooking her a meal/taking her to appointments/shopping, rather than with our hands down her toilet.

I think you should give a financial bonus as you did last year - a loyal and good cleaner is worth their weight in gold and will always go the extra mile if shown respect & appreciation for what they do. A gift that isn't cash is of little use IMO - 99.9% chance it is of no use to her at all.
Perhaps you could ask her if she could recommend anyone else for that 4 week period, or ask friends if they can?

oystercatcher

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Got to agree with you Oyster: my elderly mum employed a cleaner so that our time with her could be spent with her, companionable chatting or cooking her a meal/taking her to appointments/shopping, rather than with our hands down her toilet.

I think you should give a financial bonus as you did last year - a loyal and good cleaner is worth their weight in gold and will always go the extra mile if shown respect & appreciation for what they do. A gift that isn't cash is of little use IMO - 99.9% chance it is of no use to her at all.
Perhaps you could ask her if she could recommend anyone else for that 4 week period, or ask friends if they can?

I think this is spot , thank you Brighton belle. My family do loads for me as it is.

I agree, gifts can end up being useless tat , I don't know what would be appreciated but I do know extra money can help so I think an extra weeks pay will make a nice bonus , and I still save by not having to pay her for the other weeks she is away.

I don't really want anyone else coming in while she is away, it's quite intrusive having a stranger come into your home to clean, one of the reasons I want to keep the cleaner I am used to.

Scrimps

oystercatcher wrote: »

Family and visitors will be helping, we will manage while she is away , it's can't be worse than before she started !

I think she does deserve a little extra just to show my appreciation. I think money will be more welcome than a gift which may not be of use to her. It just seems strange when it is so far before christmas.

I would give a bonus and just say: "I know this seem a little odd as its so long until Christmas, but I wont see you before and wanted to make sure you got this [hand over envelope containing Christmas card and bonus]. Thank you so much for your work this year and have a lovely Christmas off"

That fact that you have given so much thought to it, this far ahead of Christmas, shows that you're a very thoughtful person and value the positive impact her work is having on your life. Its a good thing not a strange thing :A

Lily-Rose_3

oystercatcher wrote: »

She is away for four weeks, three of them before Christmas, we have three dogs so the house needs regular vacuuming and dusting which I struggle to do.

I prefer to employ a cleaner than ask my family to do my regular housework, they all lead very busy lives. When they visit I don't want them to spend time cleaning.

Edit, she is too busy to do extra hours.

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Got to agree with you Oyster: my elderly mum employed a cleaner so that our time with her could be spent with her, companionable chatting or cooking her a meal/taking her to appointments/shopping, rather than with our hands down her toilet.

I think you should give a financial bonus as you did last year - a loyal and good cleaner is worth their weight in gold and will always go the extra mile if shown respect & appreciation for what they do. A gift that isn't cash is of little use IMO - 99.9% chance it is of no use to her at all.
Perhaps you could ask her if she could recommend anyone else for that 4 week period, or ask friends if they can?

(Both these.) ^ :T

I don't think it's at all fair to expect family who visit to say hi, and have a coffee with you, to start vacuuming and washing up, and cleaning the loo and bath and kitchen. They do have their own life, and their own commitments; often their own family, their own job, their own home.

I personally would never start asking family to do things. Maybe the odd spot of mowing the lawn, but that is it. People have very busy lives - and sometimes live far away. It's not like it was many years ago, when people lived closeby, and half the family didn't go out to work.

jansus

I was a cleaner for 10 years and believe me you remember the people who were kind hearted and offered you a drink whilst you were there, and the people who wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire!
Likewise a tip at Christmas is so very much appreciated when all year you have scrubbed and cleaned and done much more than the job description.
I say give her a nice gift and she will return in the new year ready to do a fabulous job for you again.

Knightsuntold

I would definitely give her a bonus, as she's made such a difference to your day-to-day living and you've been pleased with her work for the year. As she's taking a month off, she's likely to really appreciate it. I can understand how frustrating it must be for her to be disappearing at the time when you need her around the most, but it's not a deliberate act to upset you. At the end of the day, the family are coming to see you, and they know you have dogs. Yes, there might be a bit of dog hair, but I'm sure the majority of people won't be bothered about that - it's you they want to spend time with.

missbiggles1

oystercatcher wrote: »

She is away for four weeks, three of them before Christmas, we have three dogs so the house needs regular vacuuming and dusting which I struggle to do.

I prefer to employ a cleaner than ask my family to do my regular housework, they all lead very busy lives. When they visit I don't want them to spend time cleaning.

Edit, she is too busy to do extra hours.

Apologies if I've missed it but who is "we"? I'd assumed you lived alone but it sounds if you don't so won't the person who looks after and walks the dogs be able to do some cleaning?

paddy's_mum

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Apologies if I've missed it but who is "we"? I'd assumed you lived alone but it sounds if you don't so won't the person who looks after and walks the dogs be able to do some cleaning?

Post 24. "My husband is a tax inspector..." which kinda answers the self-employed question at the same time :T

missbiggles1

paddy's_mum wrote: »

Post 24. "My husband is a tax inspector..." which kinda answers the self-employed question at the same time :T

Thanks, I'd missed that.

So really no need to choose between getting another cleaner in, struggling to do it herself and asking relatives to do it.;)

helcat26

I think you should give her a bonus because her past work was good and you want her to continue. Having someone you can trust is important and not to be undervalued.


Is there anything you can do while she is away to help you, such as
1. keeping animals out of certain rooms
2. buying a robot vac like a Roomba (cheap on ebay and good with fur) or a very light hand held vac
3. Buying a few packets of anti-bac surface wipes for quick clean ups in kitchens and bathrooms


oh by the way if I was one of the 5000 I would really want to help out and feel rather uncomfortable to put you in your disabled state to this bother if I could not help