Tipping a cleaning lady....

mypasswordwontwork

I have a cleaning lady in my crib right now, cleaning her ass off. She's doing a fab job, she is polite and has a sweet personality. She came from an agency but I'm hoping to hire her "off the books" in future. The overall cleaning is costing $90. My crib is a bad mess so she really has to put in work. How much should I tip her?

idlewild

You don't. If you hire her afterwards, off the books just keep it at the same price or give her an even $100 per job. Otherwise she will expect a tip after every job. Xmas is when you throw her a bonus, maybe 200%, but that's up to you.

mypasswordwontwork

Idlewild wrote: You don't. If you hire her afterwards, off the books just keep it at the same price or give her an even $100 per job. Otherwise she will expect a tip after every job. Xmas is when you throw her a bonus, maybe 200%, but that's up to you.

In the end I tipped her $20. She seemed really really pleased. These women only get $8 per hour for their hard work from the agency, it seems mean not to tip.

alafairnadia

mypasswordwontwork wrote: [quote=Idlewild]You don't. If you hire her afterwards, off the books just keep it at the same price or give her an even $100 per job. Otherwise she will expect a tip after every job. Xmas is when you throw her a bonus, maybe 200%, but that's up to you.

In the end I tipped her $20. She seemed really really pleased. These women only get $8 per hour for their hard work from the agency, it seems mean not to tip.

if you do hire her away from the agency, do not tip her. make her pay structure clear and make it clear that you'll tip her for christmas. also make it clear that above and beyond projects (say, cleaning out all the kitchen cabinets, or cleaning the ceiling fans) will get an extra $20 per job, but are only going to be available once a month or once every two months.

one of the amusing parts of american middle class living is the inability to deal with "help". we are, and I include myself despite the 'training' I received from my non-american family, hesitant to be firm about money and payment to self-imployed service-oriented individuals, like cleaning folk.

gigi

alafairnadia wrote: [quote=mypasswordwontwork][quote=Idlewild]You don't. If you hire her afterwards, off the books just keep it at the same price or give her an even $100 per job. Otherwise she will expect a tip after every job. Xmas is when you throw her a bonus, maybe 200%, but that's up to you.

In the end I tipped her $20. She seemed really really pleased. These women only get $8 per hour for their hard work from the agency, it seems mean not to tip.

if you do hire her away from the agency, do not tip her. make her pay structure clear and make it clear that you'll tip her for christmas. also make it clear that above and beyond projects (say, cleaning out all the kitchen cabinets, or cleaning the ceiling fans) will get an extra $20 per job, but are only going to be available once a month or once every two months.

one of the amusing parts of american middle class living is the inability to deal with "help". we are, and I include myself despite the 'training' I received from my non-american family, hesitant to be firm about money and payment to self-imployed service-oriented individuals, like cleaning folk.I know what you mean alafairnadia (re: "hesitant to be firm about money and payment")

A couple I know who live in the Dominican Republic half the year have a contract (in the US and the DR) with the house staff that outlines duties, payment, vacation, pay, days off, etc. It seems to work well for them. No misunderstandings, emotional stuff involved that sometimes sours that relationship.