AITA for reducing my cleaning lady’s pay?
A Redditor sought advice about whether they’d be wrong to reduce their cleaning lady’s pay after investing in advanced robot vacuums for their three-level home. Although the cleaning professional has been reliable and valued for five years, the user feels that having her clean the already spotless floors is unnecessary.
While the original poster still needs her for tasks like bathroom cleaning and linen changes, they believe it’s unfair to pay the same rate for reduced work. However, they also feel conflicted, knowing they are better off financially and worried about the confrontation. Read the original story below…
‘ AITA for reducing my cleaning lady’s pay ?’
I live on my own in a 3 level house. For the last five years, I have used the same cleaning lady on the same schedule. She followed me from my condo to my house when I moved two years ago. She doubled the price she charged for cleaning a house vs condo, which of course makes perfect sense.
She is good and reliable, and I value her services. I also know that I am one of her best clients. I hardly ever make a mess and the house is pretty easy to clean once every two weeks at $200 a pop, very regular. I think the rate is reasonable. However, I have recently been gifted a top of the line robot vacuum.
I had a robot vacuum 10 years ago when they just came out and wasn’t impressed. I never bothered with it afterwards. Well, the new robot was amazing. It vacuums, it mops, it auto washes and dries itself, it auto empties and it can clean under beds and furniture, something the cleaning lady cannot do.
In fact, I like it so much that I went and bought two more identical robots for each one of my floors. So now I have an app on my phone that controls a fleet of those gleaming cleaning beasts that are worth 3K. I run the bots almost everyday just for fun and you can imagine that my floors are pretty clean.
The cleaning lady still vacuum and mop my floor when she is here for her biweekly cleaning, and that takes up a really good chunk of her time. I do feel that her cleaning the floor is a bit wasted at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I still need her for other stuff, like wipe down the counters, cleaning the bathroom, change the linens, etc.
and it would be nice to have the floors hand cleaned once in a while, but I really feel her cleaning the already super clean floors on a regular basis is kinda pointless. I was thinking of telling her to ignore the floors going forward except for maybe once every couple of month, but then I will be paying her the same for doing less work which doesn’t seem right to me either.
I wonder if I would be the a**hole if I approached her about reducing the cleaning frequency (to once a month, perhaps) or just asked pay her less for doing less for each cleaning. I do feel somewhat bad though, I am obviously a whole lot better off than the cleaning lady, but I also think I am kind of wasting my money here if I don’t speak up.
I like her, but she is not impossible to replace. If she doesn’t accept the reduction proposal, I could easily find someone else to clean everything except the floor at a lower rate but that someone may not be as satisfactory in other ways. I also hate confrontation, so I have been putting off the discussion but I have been thinking about it. WIBTAH I go through with this proposed reduction?
Here’s what the community had to contribute:
Gobraves1919 − How about giving her a raise to account for inflation by letting her keep the 200 and do a bit less work? Have you offered her an annual raise as “normal” employees would?
Shionoro − YTA. I mean, sure, if everything in life is transactional, that would be reasonable. But would it kill you if you are that well off to just let someone who cleans for you since 5 years just keep their job and pay?
It is not a big difference for you whether you pay 200 or 100 in your 3 level house, it might be a far bigger difference for them if you are a good client. Be happy about your bots and keep paying her the same as long as you still do rely on her services.
KK232023 − Switching it to less frequency wouldn’t make you an AH…asking her to lower her costs would.
Beginning-Cup-6974 − Do not suggest lowering the price but if you don’t want the floors done suggest another task which she can alternate as needed, organising a closet; cleaning oven; cleaning out fridge etc.
Just_River_7502 − Stop being cheap. You’ve paid the same rate for 5 years and now you want to pay even less just because? 🫠
Gattina1 − No judgement, but if you can afford her, I would leave things as-is. Good help is hard to find. You could always find occasional other things for her to do so you’ll feel like you got your money’s worth.
yahumno − YTA. $200 for a three level is a steal. She is most likely giving you a loyalty discount. She could drop you as a client and make more money elsewhere.
Those robots do not do the baseboards and corners. The reason that you don’t notice this, is because your cleaning lady does.
bubblesthehorse − Has her wage been reflecting the inflation is what i want to know too. ?
Strange_Shallot8833 − The headline and first paragraph got my hackles up, but for once I’m pleasantly surprised. This sounds like a totally reasonable discussion to have with your cleaning lady.
I’m curious how payment is structured historically – if she charges a flat rate fee for her services, I think it’s more respectful to reduce frequency than ask for her to adjust her rates for you. If pay was negotiated with your input in the first place, I think it makes sense to re-negotiate a fair price.. NAH
Was it fair for the user to propose a pay reduction given the change in cleaning needs, or should they honor the relationship built over the years? How would you balance respecting a worker’s value while adjusting services? Share your thoughts below!