Paying Cleaning Help/Babysitters during this time

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Forum -> Household Management

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amother

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:21 am

Hi,

I’m unsure what to do about my cleaning help/babysitter whom I generally employ full-time, but who has not come in a month because of coronavirus, as mutually agreed upon. I paid her full pay for two weeks, partial pay for the next two weeks. I am unsure how to proceed further. BH our household income has stayed the same, we both work remotely now (and do all the cleaning and childcare of course). She relies on this income to live, and I want to do the right thing. At the same time, I can’t pay her indefinite sick leave for services not provided. I have my own emergency expenses I need to save for should our financial status change. For context, she has worked for us for about six months. She won’t be eligible for any government stimulus packages.

What would you do? What are you doing? Please provide context if you respond regarding what you are doing in reality - whether your income has changed etc.

Cookiegirl

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:27 am

My income hasn't changed, BH. My husband's business is "on hold" (no orders/payments are likely for the time being). So far, I have been paying for our cleaning help for the past 4 weeks, but asked her not to come. I hope to continue. I am guessing it is less than what you are talking about as we don't employ her full time.

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:27 am

Does she still agree that she doesn't want to work right now?

heidi

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:27 am

Our income hasn't changed.
Paying our very part time housekeeper her regular salary.
I think till May.
After that will probably pay half.
As important as I think it is to realize she still has bills to pay, it seems ridiculous to continue indefinitely

amother

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:31 am

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

Does she still agree that she doesn't want to work right now?

I don’t think she is willing to come, regardless I would not want her to come until conditions are safer. It’s possible if I stop paying her completely she will become desperate and find a job with someone who is willing to employ her now, but I don’t really know. I imagine she would try to go as long as she could without working.

amother

Puce

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:33 am

If your income is unchanged, paying her is the right thing to do. This isn't going to last forever.

amother

Aquamarine

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:36 am

I have a cleaning lady who comes - or came - once a week.

She has been coming to me for over two years but since she cleaned for my friend for many years, I have "known" her for many years.

I asked her not to come - her last day was March 17. She takes public transportation and lives in an area of dense population so I would be taking a chance in terms of her bringing in the virus. My home has been completely self quarantined for almost a month at this point. Sad

I have been paying her so far and will continue to pay her.

My rationale is that I would be paying her if she came and so I would be spending the money anyway since it's in my budget. She needs the money to live and paying her the money doesn't impact my finances except of course it is *weird* (can't think of the right word) to pay someone when they aren't doing anything. However, I very much admire businesses or owners of businesses who are doing everything possible to support workers whose services they don't need so why should I be different.

If I were paying someone else to perform services because they were critical to me, then I would be paying double for the services - e.g. paying her NOT to come and paying someone else to come. Then I might handle it differently as well.

In terms of income, I haven't lost income but the value of my assets has declined painfully. I am sure the value of my home has taken a real hit AND the value of my savings/retirement savings etc. has declined so much that I haven't checked since the market crashed.

Anyway this is how I am personally handling it. I would say that since my actual income hasn't declined I feel that I can afford to pay her more than she can afford to lose the income.

amother

Aquamarine

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:49 am

I am amother Aquamarine and am curious/confused as to why someone hugged my response.

If it is really a hug because you are sorry for me, I am okay because so many other people are in far worse conditions than I am. It's nice if you offered sympathy but so many others are in far worse straits than I am and I completely recognize how lucky I am. Very Happy

If it is a passive aggressive hug, I am curious why my post merited it?

Not trying to be confrontational but I really am confused by the "hug"

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 10:50 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I asked because it was in the premise of your post. The longer this goes, more people are changing how they feel about isolation. (My nanny feels comfortable working now as long as she has private transportation).

If she's willing to work - and you aren't willing to have her in your home, you need to formally let her go.

mommy3b2c

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 11:07 am

I do not pay mine when she doesn’t come. My husbands income is fine. I lost all my work. Regardless, I would love her to come and then I’d pay her. She doesn’t want to come, I’m not paying her.

amother

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 11:11 am

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

If it comes to that I would definitely understand if she took on a new job. As of now I don’t believe she is willing to work.

baby12x

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 11:23 am

If you can afford to pay then I think its the right thing to do.
Think of it as paid sick leave- you are one of the few employers who are doing that. Good for you!
Or you can see it as charity- without the income, she probably will be in trouble.

If you can't afford it- that's a different discussion

tichellady

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 11:53 am

I’m continuing to pay mine. It just feels right to me but it’s also hard to do the right thing

notshanarishona

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:01 pm

I think to pay for 2-4 weeks for a long term worker is menshlach If you can afford it . After that I think I would stop . No one gets indefinite paid leave for doing nothing

amother

Scarlet

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:16 pm

I had my cleaning lady a year over a year and a half. She works 30 hours a week at my house. DH is not paying her, and BH my husband's income stayed the same. We have seriously increased our giving to Jewish people. Right now that's our priority and likely to stay that way. There's so much need in our community right now.

Maybe those who feel funny paying someone not to work can pay their cleaning lady to help other Jews who have recovered.

amother

Indigo

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:18 pm

a cleaning lady or babysitter is not on payroll. you are not a bank, I dont see why anyone feels pressure to pay when they are not working. the arrangement is a per diem one

amother

Amethyst

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:23 pm

We have a cleaning lady every two weeks we skipped our last time and paid her she takes her own car and we might take her tempature if she decides or we decide for her to come in she wears a mask

amother

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:46 pm

For those continuing to pay - how long do you anticipate doing that for? Indefinitely? Another month? What’s your plan if we need to social distance through June, July? No one knows when life will go back to normal, even partially. The first step of reducing social distancing may be for those who have recovered to resume work, and neither my family nor my cleaning lady have had it, as far as I know.

It’s the indefinite part that makes me uncertain. Yes I don’t want her starving on the street, and I want her to remain committed to me as her employer, so I’m happy to pay her something until she can come back. But I’m not sure doing that for months on end is reasonable, nor would it be worth it to maintain her loyalty.

I don’t think there’s one single right answer in this situation. I’m curious to hear different perspectives.

amother

Black

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:56 pm

I’m not paying mine. My income didn’t change and I am doing all of the cleaning. I had mine for less than a year, just a little over 6 months. I don’t view our relationship as employer/employee - she only comes once a week and has missed a few weeks over the 6 months for random reasons such as her birthday party. I view her as an independent contractor and I’m pretty sure that’s how she views herself as well. I’ve been in this game for 15 years and I have gotten screwed over many times even though I am nice and pay a ton. So I think it’s a mistake to pay (unless the person works only for you, and has done so for multiple years, and plans to come back).

amother

Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:58 pm

amother [ Black ] wrote:

She only works for me. I haven’t had her for multiple years but as long as I can afford to I would love to keep her on.

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