Do you pay your housekeeper when you go away?

banana123

Sat, Jan 30 2021, 5:45 pm

amother [ Silver ] wrote:

I am also paying my cleaning lady since March but I haven't used her services. I just sent her money for January and February. I am due for my second dose of vaccine in mid-February so I am optimistic that I will be able to have her come to me in March when full immunity kicks in.

For those who questioned Goldenrod (and presumably me by extension) I pay her because the money is in my budget whether she cleans or doesn't clean. It was my choice to not use her services since she was willing to come. She and her family need the money far more than I do - for them it buys food and pays the rent and for me it is disposable income. I am lucky in that the pandemic didn't negatively impact my finances and if anything I have more disposable income since there is nothing I can spend it on except basics - I don't need clothing; don't travel; don't eat out etc.

She is a wonderful woman and I couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't help her through what is a terrible time for cleaning women.

And I doubt she is making "double" money during the pandemic since people are generally not using cleaning ladies and housekeepers - at least in my circle. If I didn't pay her, she wouldn't earn the money.

You are amazing. May Hashem bentch you with wealth and may you always be on the giving end.

amother

Silver

Sat, Jan 30 2021, 10:06 pm

banana123 wrote:

You are amazing. May Hashem bentch you with wealth and may you always be on the giving end.

Thank you for your beautiful thoughts.

I have been up and down financially in my life and so I know what it is like to lie awake at night and be terrified about bills coming due and not enough income. I consider myself so lucky to not have financial worries now K/H. I consider money sent to my cleaning lady to be money spent to help someone with food and rent and necessities during this year of terrible hardship for so many people.

I always think - there but for fortune and try to treat people as well as I can.

amother

Magenta

Sat, Jan 30 2021, 11:14 pm

I'm with Silver on this one. We had a housekeeper that came to me three days and week and spent the other 2 days by my close friend. When the pandemic hit, my friend was laid off. I paid our woman for the full week, even though we only had her for part of it. I'm severely immunocompromised. I stopped having her come mid-March and continued to pay her in full until July, when a friend of mine hired her full time for double what I could pay (I actually found her this job because it didn't look like we would need her again.) This was the right thing to do. She didn't go work elsewhere during that period. Heck, she was terrified to leave her apartment for groceries. She couldn't get unemployment and her bills didn't stop either. I've had this woman working for me for over 10 years. She's honest, dedicated and helped me raise my children from birth. It was the right thing to do. Bh, we got her a great position when the timing was right with a good family. My kids are all too old for a full time nanny / housekeeper anymore but we always paid her when we went on vacations or for time off during yom tov.

amother

Royalblue

Sun, Jan 31 2021, 8:45 am

We usually have our cleaning help come and do other jobs while we are away - deep cleaning etc. During the first 5 months of Covid we didn’t have her come and we paid her half. We’ve done the same thing any time my kids have been put into quarantine from school- since both she and us are being careful.