house cleaner asking for raise

[Anonymous]

Look around and if you find someone who will do it for less you can say no to her. But she sounds worth $170... I pay $140 for a house 1/3 the size and have been thinking about offering a $10 raise!

[Anonymous]

I pay $140 for a $2000sq ft house, you are getting a very, very good deal and it's not just gas prices, it's everything. The price of everything has gone up. Be a decent person, OP, and give her the raise. It's not easy work.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious - how many raises have you given her in the 10 years she has worked for you? I would do it, just to keep someone that does a good job and that I trust.

[Anonymous]

It’s up to you OP. You’re the employer. Counter with whatever you want and be prepared for her to walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, I think $160 for a 3800 square foot house is low. I pay $200 for a smaller house.

I don’t think you just go by sq ft. Go by number of hours she spends and the hours seem low to me. I’d be ok paying more for the day, but she needs to stay longer. How does she actually clean your house that quickly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, I think $160 for a 3800 square foot house is low. I pay $200 for a smaller house.

I paid $220 for 2800 square feet for several months two years ago when my house was in the market. So the house was cleaned every day by me anyway and no clutter but she did a deeper cleaning before weekend showings - and I bargained her down to $220!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, I think $160 for a 3800 square foot house is low. I pay $200 for a smaller house.

+1. House is 2500 sf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really bothering me. I just gave my weekly house cleaner a $10 raise last month - as in 4 weeks of the new pay rate- and last week she asked me for another $10 a week raise because of gas prices. She tells me she has a 30 minute drive and it is getting too expensive to come every week. She said she could either come every other week, but then have to charge me $60 more each time, or she can come every week with a $10 raise. I currently pay her $160 for a 3,800 sqft house. It takes her 3.5 hours, so it comes to $45 per hour, which I think is a good rate. I pay her when we go out of town and I give her a 2 week pay bonus at Christmas. When she goes out of town, she has a friend come clean instead, which I really appreciate. I just can't get past that she wants a raise so soon after I gave her a raise, and I can't think of how to respond, but it really upsets me. She's been with us for 10 years and I really like her. I just feel like I will resent her if I give in to this random increase. Obviously she's not paying an additional $10 in gas every week to drive to our house, so I'm not sure why she said that. OK DCUM, tell me I'm being petty.

Tell us where you live so we can tell if you pay enough. I can't imagine someone charging that little in the DC metro area.

[Anonymous]

You are being cheap and tacky. You pay her just $160 to clean your nearly 4000 sq foot McMansion and you can’t stomach adding $20 over two months?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pay $140 for a $2000sq ft house, you are getting a very, very good deal and it's not just gas prices, it's everything. The price of everything has gone up. Be a decent person, OP, and give her the raise. It's not easy work.

Same $140, 2100 sq foot house every 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, I think $160 for a 3800 square foot house is low. I pay $200 for a smaller house.

I don’t think you just go by sq ft. Go by number of hours she spends and the hours seem low to me. I’d be ok paying more for the day, but she needs to stay longer. How does she actually clean your house that quickly?

This. Mine comes weekly for three hours. The weekly part means lighter cleaning each week.

[Anonymous]

OP, how far away from you does she live?

[Anonymous]

How about you agree to pay her a flat $100 (or $50) gas stipend each month until gas prices drop back?

But also: what's your history of giving raises? Was the earlier raise long overdue?

[Anonymous]

How is it possible to clean a 3,800 sq foot house in 3.5 hours? I think the people saying they have a smaller sized house have cleaners who spend the same or more time cleaning. To really clean a house that size should take a whole day. OP do you have kids? Or live alone?

[Anonymous]

Here is my test for how I feel about possibly having over tipped: Will I regret this on my death bed? The answer invariably is no.

Will you regret having paid her $10 more on your death bed? If the answer is no, pay her the extra $10.