I pay my new biweekly cleaner well and will tip the price of one cleaning at Christmas this year. Tipping the price of one visit is standard practice.

I tip at Christmas - the amount of one cleaning ($260). She comes every other week and it's one person. Also pay when we aren't home (3 months over the summer) - she still comes, but there isn't much to do. It's over $7k a year, which seems like plenty.

No-only at Christmas. Ours is just one woman and she raises rates whenever she wants.

Tipping culture is out of control. Nothing weekly but a tip at the holidays.

I only tip at Christmas

I tip at Xmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and 4th of July. It's a bit random, but once a year doesn't seem like enough. I figure they may want to buy more food or treats for the holiday.

I use a cleaner who works for herself. I don’t tip. She sets a rate and I pay.

I don’t tip my lawn service weekly either.

Anonymous wrote:I assume those of you who are tipping use a cleaning service with different random cleaners each time? Otherwise, aren't you just increasing the rate by "tipping"? Which then has to be taxed too.

Yes, I'm PP. The service sends a different set of cleaners almost every time. However, even if the same ones, I don't consider it raising the rate. The amount I pay the company is the same. I'm guessing these women see maybe a third of that money. They make much less than me for a job that I don't want to do myself, therefore, I feel that they deserve a little more. I understand that not everyone sees it this way.

Yes, there are 2 ladies that I tip $20 each.

We tip 20% each time in cash (regular fee is on credit card) They haven’t raised rates in a long time, and we want to be sure the cleaner herself is paid adequately. We include it in our budgeting.

No, we have a woman who owns her own business and pay her well, including a raise we initiated this year. At Christmas we tip an extra session's rate.

Only at Christmas. But it's two individuals and we pay them directly (it's not part of a company) so we know they are getting the full amount.

Anonymous wrote:Huh, we do - and it's very expensive!

Then stop. You are paying them hundreds of dollars. You don’t need to tip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At first we didn’t because it was the owner of a small cleaning business actually doing the cleaning. She took on a few employees, and another lady in her company now does our cleaning. We started tipping her rather than a raise since we don’t know if the raise would result in an increase in our cleaner’s pay. We’ve had the same person for many years and they haven’t raised their rates.

So you haven't offered a rate increase with the last two years of inflation?

We did do a pay increase the two years ago. We were going to offer another one but then decided to give it in the form of a tip to ensure the actual cleaner gets it.

I know this is slightly off topic, but do other people give a raise every year? It’s awkward territory since it’s a small company vs. a self-employed cleaner, but I want to make sure our cleaner gets a raise not her employer (a husband/wife team).

I tip 20% every time, but do not give extra at the holidays. The tip is more than I'd give as a lump sum once a year.