Cleaning lady asking to leave early/I pay by day..

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:13 pm

My cleaning lady was hired to work 3 days a week and I pay her by the day. Last week I hired her for an extra 2 days bc I was having company for Shabbos and she worked and I paid her for those days. On Friday she approached me (after a crazy day getting ready for company, I didnt even sit down till 3ish for the first time all day) and asked if she could leave an hour early because she worked extra days this week and needed to run errands. I felt terrible but I said no - I really needed her there and I didn't find that fair to me.

Today she came in and asked if she could leave early today once she finishes her work so she can do those errands. I felt trapped and said yes but this is not at a decrease salary....it made me so mad. I let her leave an hour early.

She's also my babysitter so having her around helps free me up so even when she finishes house work I like her to help me still....

I'm really upset...this is more a vent but what would you do?

greenfire

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:16 pm

I would think it depends on how often she does this ... also remember you asked her to work 2 extra days - she obviously needed some of that time for her own stuff ... an hour in the scope of things is not that much ... especially if she does a good job ... overworked and not happy - doesn't make a happy worker - or boss ...

Maya

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:19 pm

I agree that the question is how often she does it. Every employee sometimes leaves an hour or so early, without having their pay deducted. It's normal in a business relationship.

sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:21 pm

She's actually pretty new to the job!

Chocoholic

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:24 pm

If she's new and does this a lot, calculate hour wage and pay her by the hour.

sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:32 pm

its the 1st time I asked her to work extra but the second time she left early - first time was a holiday for her religion

Raisin

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:34 pm

if you are paying her $x for y hours (what is a day? 5 hours? 7 hours?) then you should be able to ask her to make up the time another day. so if she asks if she can leave early, so no problem, make up the time tomorrow.

Barbara

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:39 pm

She was kind enough to accomodate you by working the extra days (albeit for extra money) when needed. If she's otherwise reliable and doing a good job, and if (as she claimed) she was finished with her work for the day, I wouldn't nickel and dime her by docking her an hour, or by asking her to make it up. Otherwise, she's be within HER rights to stick precisely to the clock, eg refuse to stay an extra 5 minutes if you're stuck somewhere.

greenfire

Mon, May 04 2009, 4:42 pm

or extra 2 days as in the op's situation ...

sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:19 pm

I know she did me a favor by working extra days but she also made more money because of it.....

I also know one hour isn't much but if I am paying her to be here it's not fair that she isn't. And I could always use extra help even on a "slow day:. She's been working for me for a very short time, you all don't think it's not a great precedent that she is leaving early already?

sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:22 pm

And by the way, on Friday, I guess to prove her point that she was done with her work, she went in to my den and took a magazine and started reading! I could have thought of a few different things she could have done with the time but I said nothing and when the baby woke up I just told her to take care of her for me so I could get ready for Shabbos.

ss321

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:29 pm

I do undersand how you feel, kinda BTDT. ive come to realize though that good help is hard to come by. if she is your babysitter and is good with ur dd that is more imp than anything (as hard as that is to see when your kitchen is a wreck and u have laundry piled 6 feet high), and I would just let it go. she just started for goodness sake! she did you a favor last week = working 2 extra days (even though you did PAY her for that favor), now she asked you- not for a day OFF, but for an HOUR off, and after she finished all her cleaning work, mind you! I wouldnt start docking her time (again- speaking from experience) and counting every hour, if she is doing an ok job altogether and is a good babysitter. if this starts to be a frequent thing, or (and "BTDT" with this one too), she starts finishing her cleaning stuff earlier and earlier and 6 turns to 5 turns to 4 and she wants to leave earlier every day, but you hired her as a quasi-babysitter + houskeeper, then it is definitely something you need to address and deal with appropriately. Leaving early on a day you asked her to stay for at the last minute (last friday) isnt that crazy in my mind (she probably had stuff planned, is used to working 3d/wk and it became 5 and it was the end of the week- and you mentioned it was a holiday for her- not sure which one but whatever...), nor is leaving one hour early ON ONE DAY when she finished early. if this becomes frequent, then you have to discuss it. I say leave it alone for now.

debs123

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:40 pm

It's so interesting how everything is cultural. Where I live, being kind, especially in the beginning, is interpreted by the worker as a weakness and the employer is set up for disaster. Rules have to be firm and lost time must be made up. It took me a while to learn that firmness but it works.
Good luck!!

sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:40 pm

No, I wasnt clear, sorry....her holiday wasn't this week it was a month ago. She came in one day and said its a holiday and asked to leave a few hours early and I said no problem. She was VERY new then, maybe just a few days on the job.

sporty

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:44 pm

I hired her for Mon Wed Fri. I asked her last week to work Thurs and Sat too.
She told me when I hired her that she works Tues and Thurs somewhere but then she offered to work extra days during the week if I needed her. I am not sure what happened to her other job and I didnt ask but when she offered more days and I realized I could use her, I asked if she would work Thursday too. That is what happened....

ss321

Mon, May 04 2009, 5:58 pm

sorry sporty, I am speakiing from expeirence here. I know sometimes when you ask a question about something expensive on imamother (such as: full time help) you will get somewhat mocking replies, or people will just blow it off.
I understand why you are upset, but it seems like, now that you explained teh holiday was months ago, that this is not a daily occurance. she wanted off for a holiday, that is totally normal, even if its not your hoiday, and even if it makes your life more difficult. You would want the same as an employee, right?
she finished her work and asked to leave early - next time, be more assertive, say, if you need to, then please by all means, otherwise, there is x y and z to do, and also, I would relaly appreciate it if you could go give the baby a bath before you leave and do blah blah with her too. is that ok?
she was sitting and reading a magazine? with all due respect (and I am not putting you down, please let that be clear), if I came home from the hosp and my housekeeper was finished with e/t and was reading a magazine on a fri afternoon and the kids were sleeping, I would be kissing her feet, not annoyed that she found a spare second to relax!! if my higher ups were that hard on me at work (school), I wouldve lost my job (aka been expelled) long ago! for all the times, I leave to go take a phone call, take a nap, spend 10 extra minutes in the cafeteria, etc! that is part of a job...no one works for ...8 10 12 hrs straight, good she found time for a break! if you had stuff for her to do and that is what annoyed you- then again, my ans= be more assertive....nicely say, when youfinish reading, would you mind just putting away the laundry and the dishes and blah blah before you go? I dont want to disturb you but I dont want to forget to ask you! Thanks again for taking such good care of dd.

cassandra

Mon, May 04 2009, 7:04 pm

ss321, I agree with everything you said. If you have help and especially if you are home a lot of the time you want the best possible relationship. Life happens. Treat her like you would want to be treated. If she starts to do it too much then say you have to reduce her pay.

koalamum

Mon, May 04 2009, 8:39 pm

I had my share of cleaning ladies so I understand your concerns. I personally prefer to pay by the hour in order to avoid the problem you are having. Let her leave early but it will be docked off her pay.
If she is very good and you are really happy with her (and you don't want her to leave you) then you can sometimes close your eyes to these once - in - a- blue moon mishaps.
I paid mine on the 25th of December even if I gave her off. Then the next week she told me she needs to take off on New Years as well. I told her ok, but I will not pay her. My DH later disagreed with me and told me we should pay her b/c she is usually very reliable and good. Sometimes these bonuses are an investment!

Aribenj

Mon, May 04 2009, 10:24 pm

Honestly, if she's only asked to leave early once or twice, I'd say just do her the favor. Especially since you already said no once.

In my experience, when you give a finger they take the whole arm. And if you don't put your foot down right away, they get insulted later on. But you told her no already, so you already put your foot down. Sometimes it's good for them to feel like you do nice things for them. Kind of like brownie points.

But if this starts happening often then tell her you have to pay her by the hour.

mammala120

Sun, Jun 07 2009, 1:16 am

Aribenj wrote:

I think its more like...when you give finger they ask for hand, and then when you give the hand they ask for arm...so on and so forth.

op, I would pay attention and see how often and how well her job is done when she is present. if she does alot in 3 hours instead of 4 (same job), then don'w stress it. it is hard to find trusting cleaning help plus babysitting as it is. believe me.

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