do u ever let ure cleaning lady herself in ure house?

Tehilla

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:11 am

my cleaning lady is never here alone without me, except for 10-15 minutes while I am downstairs waiting for the bus to drop off my kids.

I don't leave her alone for many reasons, even if I trust someone I don't want to tempt them. not to mention kashrus reasons.

cuteson

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:16 am

I for instance would never leave one in my house herself, though I have a few neighbors that do leave their cleaning ladies alone, I asked them how they do it they just say cause she's there for a while and they feel she can be trusted. I just told one of my neighbors about my grandmothers story, my grandmother has a lady for I'd say about 7-8 years and never took anything, this year one day she was in the house and my grandmother was taking a shower, she nicely took a few pieces of jewelry. And that's with a trusted cleaning lady.

sky

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:27 am

I will leave her for a maximum of 15 minutes.
My bedroom door is always locked and I don't have too much valuables in the house for her to take anyways. I give her to eat and drink regularly so I know she does not help herself. (I did check with a rav before doing this and was told it is okay)
I only do it once I've had her for a while and know her.
The only problem I've had is with non-mevushal wine. A few times I've forgotten to lock it up and each time I was told to spill it out. I know there is a question with Kedem grape juice wether it is mevushal enough to be left open in the house with the cleaning lady, although it is not as strict as the non-mevushal wine.

yo'ma

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:30 am

sky wrote:

The only problem I've had is with non-mevushal wine. A few times I've forgotten to lock it up and each time I was told to spill it out. I know there is a question with Kedem grape juice wether it is mevushal enough to be left open in the house with the cleaning lady, although it is not as strict as the non-mevushal wine.

That's why I'm always careful to only buy mevushal. I always check before buying.

Clarissa

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:32 am

I do leave my cleaning women alone in the house. I had one who stole from me (nothing major, more like small amounts of money) whom I had to fire, but I've let everyone since be alone in the house. I trust them or, if given reason not to, I'd let them go.

NativeMom

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:37 am

When I had a cleaning lady I'd leave her alone in my house...What if she takes something? well thats a risk you have to take. I can't be on top of her and stay home while she's working. I have a life, I have things I need to get done. I did have one case where a cleaning lady stole from me (a couple of steak knives.... Rolling Eyes

) and I fired her. You can look into hiring someone with references, thats how I hired my last two.

heffer569

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:40 am

My Dh hates it but not only do I let her stay by herself in my house. I work so she has the combo she comes cleans and leaves all without me being there. Once in a while my mom will come into check saying she needs to get something for the babies but other than that she is on her own I havent had a problem yet with this one but my one before this I had arrested and she is in jail now. My Dh walked in and found a garbage bag filled with a bunch of cleaning supplies that she was trying to steal along with a few articles of my clothing. When Dh questioned her she said I had given her the clothing. Well I had just worn the shirt the day before and had put it in the dirty laundry I did not give it to her. We only hire american's who work on the books so I had to call the police to report it.

rachel6543

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 12:11 pm

My husband and I finally got a cleaning lady during my last month of pregnancy - we just couldn't keep up anymore . She was referred to us by a neighbor who has used her for 5 years. We have her come just twice a month; we're not messy and we can't afford more often than that.

The 2nd time we used her, we had to leave her alone in our apartment. I had just given birth to our baby and was still in the hospital. It was just 2-3 days before Pesach and we hadn't been able finish all the Pesach cleaning since I was going crazy having false labor for a month, with several false runs to the hospital. Mostly the kitchen still had to be finished for Pesach. The cleaning lady did a good job. I don't know what we would have done without her. Since then, we've left her home alone at least once or twice when we had to go somewhere. We've had no problems so far and have been very happy with her.

Marion

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 12:46 pm

Easy...I have a cleaning lady because I have to work, full time, outside the house. (No, not in order to pay for the cleaning lady, but to put food on the table.) Therefore, I found someone I can trust, and she has a key. She comes after I've gone to work and leaves before I get home. Sometimes it's really convenient...like when the daycare calls that one of the kids is sick, she's able to babysit, even if no cleaning gets done. It's a trade off. I wouldn't do it with just anyone, but with her it has worked out.

amother

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 6:34 pm

my aunt had a cleaning lady who she left at home by herself once she started going back to work. hse had a funny story. every week my uncle drank "lechyaim" on shabbos and he would comment that something was wierd. one week it was so bad. they figured out that the cleaning lady "helped herself" to schnaps and in order to hide the fact, she would add water. therefore, she was watering down the schnaps every week.

I'm amother since I might have realitives here.

flowerpower

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 6:39 pm

I do not feel comfy leaving anyone in my house alone whom I do not know. I do go out to the bus stop for a few minutes and I'm not thrilled. It's not the stealing since she can do that when I'm there but just to make sure she's on the right track with things.

Rutabaga

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 8:21 pm

My cleaning lady started working for me when I was pregnant and had such terrible morning sickness that I could barely get out of bed. I figure if she didn't take advantage of me then, when I couldn't supervise her, then she certainly won't do so now. She cleans decently, she does my laundry (and irons!), and nothing has gone missing. She even bought presents for dd. I don't give her a key, but I have no problem leaving her alone for short periods of time. I never tell her exactly how long I will be out though.

cassandra

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 8:24 pm

heffer569 wrote:

She is in jail for stealing your cleaning supplies?

mumoo

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:08 pm

My ladies (2) let themselves in (we leave our front door open) and are alone the whole time. Nothing has ever been taken. Sometimes things are missing, but its always a matter of it being put away and eventually found.

Many times I forget to leave a check; they are as nice as can be and wait a month or 2 (they come only every other week). When I am having a special occasion, or right before Pesach, they come an extra day and don't charge me.

When the lady at my work can't come, they rearrange their schedule to do the cleaning there that day.

When my friend was moving, they went to her house and cleaned up after the packing

And no, you can't have their number

deedee

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:29 pm

sure I leave the back door open for her, I feel like I can trust her. I do some shopping but am always home b-4 she leaves.
'sides don't got nothin' to steal! well I guess I do have knives... Wink

amother

Tue, Sep 16 2008, 11:40 pm

chavy wrote:

I cant understand how ppl do this, who knows what she'll take from u..
how do u ppl let?

Did you know that not all cleaning ladies are theives?

I've had the same cleaning lady for nearly 15 years. I can leave cash and jewelry and my checkbook laying around and she wont touch it. She is a very honest woman.

A better question is, if you think your housekeeper is such a ganif why let her into your home at all? You think she needs to be home alone to steal from you?

goodheart

Wed, Sep 17 2008, 1:08 am

I never trust any cleaning ladys in my house alone even if shes by me for the longest time
I dont trust anyone not only for stealing but also she can mix up the milichig and flieshig stuff.
my sis has the same lady and she trust her alone .she thinks im crazy that I don ttrust her.

Mrs. XYZ

Wed, Sep 17 2008, 1:22 am

Just wondering, isn't there a kashrus problem with chicken and meat? Do you have it all locked in a freezer? or are they all double-wrapped and sealed?

I know someone who was told to put in a video monitoring system in her kitchen for this reason, and the lady knows she is on camera.