How much to pay teenage house cleaner?

[Nan]

Yes. but... That would hold true of most people you'd hire to do a job. That one may be an ex-marine has little bearing on that, imo.

Nan

[Nan]

On 06 Oct 2003 12:17:42 GMT, [e-mail] (TOM KAN PA) wrote:

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[JDB]

A pro service is 20-25/hour up here in the north. If you get pro level work, pay that and you'll have a dedicated person forever.

[Vox Humana]

Is that for a single person or a crew?

[Frogleg]

See "Nickled & Dimed; On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Maid/cleaning services pay workers minimum wage or very slightly above. And "skilled" isn't in the job description.

For the OP, what's it worth to you? What would *you* ask to be paid for the service? Are you willing to spend time training the neighbor's kid in exactly what you expect and how to do it? The best estimate would be to do everything you want done, clock the time it takes, and pay *at least* minimum wage for that time period.

Unless you make it clear (and have a good understanding yourself)

*precisely* what's expected, you will be disappointed.

Your neighbor's kid won't have the added expense of travel or (I presume) bringing her own supplies, so minimum wage should be a starting point. If you mean to include laundry, pet care, window & woodwork washing, etc., I'd buck that minimum up a bit.

[Frogleg]

Don't agree. A "cleaning service" makes money by organizing and delivering workers. Some highly reputable ones even manage benefits, social security payments, taxes, etc. The going rate they *charge* may be far more than an individual worker receives. Cleaning involves more work than, say, casual baby-sitting. The most ethical solution would be to offer minimum wage and do the SSI/tax paperwork and payments. Many of these jobs, however, are "off the book," and more or less just direct cash payment. Still not a reason to exploit the worker. Something *between* minimum wage and what a cleaning "service" charges would be reasonably fair.

[570-622-6441]

Bill,

Save yourself some trouble: Just give her some McDonalds gift certificates, and forget about getting the house cleaned because:

1) "Monthly house cleaning" is like "weekly tooth brushing". There is not a chance in a million that a weekly tooth brushing will make your mouth fresh, or prevent tooth decay. Try going for a month without a shower, then DON"T USE SOAP AND WATER, try to clean up with a wet-nap from kentucky fried chicken. OR, have the neighbor girl try to clean up your house after a month.

2) "Impersonal cleaning services" are just that, AND THAT IS GOOD. They do not care aboout your sex toys, visa bill, check book register, or where you keep your weed. Remember the three most efficient forms of communication: telephone, telegraph and tell-a-woman.

3) Your pay-rate will not keep her from quitting. Teenagers have the attention span of a crayon. She will likely quit when cleaning interferes with going to the mall, or when she discovers that "cleaning is haaaaaard". Hire yourself someone with two kids and a car payment. they will be there because they HAVE to, and they will do the job because they NEED to.

Jacob the cleaning guy

[Nan]

Your bigotry against women aside, I have to say there is just as much (if not greater) risk in hiring someone with 2 kids. When the kids get sick (and they definitely will), the cleaner will cancel. When the kids have an appointment, or mom has to run to the school for a conference with the principal, the cleaning will get cancelled.

In short, there are no guarantees that one will be a better cleaner simply because they have 2 kids, a car payment and a mortgage.

Nan

[570-622-6441]

certificates,

Dearest Nan,

There certainly is no guarantee, but let's go with the obvious. There is no guarantee that you will not be abducted by aliens, and morphed into the body of Elvis. No guarantees, but it is not likely.

The sex of the teenager does not matter. Teenage boys have the attention span of a crayon. Giving unlimited access to your house to your neighbor's CHILD of ANY sex is just stupid. Teenagers of ANY SEX (remember it was Bill who set up the "girl" idea) will likely quit when cleaning interferes with going to the mall. I hope that you get the point.

Idiots of ANY SEX cancel work for an appiontment. Non brain-dead people of ANY SEX will schedule appointments around work.

We don't hire someone to do our proctology, just because they have an interest in putting their thumb up there. We hire a professional. Someone who has a dedicated stake in getting the job done will find a way to do it.

I would also recommend againt hiring someone "inbetween jobs", "just need some money", on public support, or the spouse (of any sex) of a fully employed person.

[Nan]

If you could manage to post beyond your condescending tone, perhaps others would pay attention to your advice.

Actually, I don't get the point because I know several teens who are very responsible, and I would hire them in a heartbeat if I needed to farm out work.

I'm not sure why you're ranting about gender. I've not made any specific statements wrt that, other than to type "the mom" in my post to avoid the impersonal term "the cleaner".

Okay, so you're a bigot about women and teenagers. Fair enough.

Nan

[570-622-6441]

The Other Harry is right.

When you pay too much, you tend to create a fat and lazy employee that feels that (whatever their sex) deserves even more. Underpayment is bad, but overpayment causes you to loose in the wallet, and in performance.

[570-622-6441]

Perhaps you forgot that your first words of reply to me were "Your bigotry against women aside,"

I am responding to your unfounded attack. My post was neutral about the sex of the cleaner, except BILL SAID HIS NEIGHBOR WAS A GIRL. Why not say I am bigoted against "people named Bill", because I thought he had a baaaad idea?

I have hired dozens of people to do my private house cleaning, professional house cleaning, and office cleaning. Generally, people that do not need a job, tend to be less dedicated to that job. Sure you may know of someone, who heard of someone ,who was an exception to this, but really.... I know several people that have survived lightning strikes. PLEASE DO NOT SUGGEST THAT PEOPLE GO GOLFING IN THUNDERSTORMS.

Your use of "the mom" instead of "the cleaner" might show that you are the one with the gender bias.

[Nan]

Oh sorry, it's not unfounded, nor was it an "attack". You said, and I quote...

" Remember the three most efficient forms of communication: telephone, telegraph and tell-a-woman."

Hahaha, yeah, sure. No, I'm just well aware that more stay at home parents happen to be female, and the stay at home parent is likely to be the one seeking part time or temporary employment.

Bzzt! Try again.

Nan

[570-622-6441]

"Well" (as you might say) " I once heard of a man that stayed home"

As you know it is the exception that proves the rule. The fact that you know of a few teen agers that you would ask to do farm work, shows that almost all of them, you wouldn't hire. If you would hire only a few of them to work in your barn, how many fewer would you allow to handle your great-grandmother's wedding vase?

The telephone joke is imbedded in our society. It was old when I heard it 30 years ago. (notice the word telegraph) Quoting it is no more sexist than tha lady at our post office who insists on being called postmaster.

Who said anything about stay at home parents? You have inadvertantly stumbled to the very core of my point. Part-time, temporary, or, just people that do not need to do the work will be less likely to be dedicated to the job. (except, of course for that one person that you heard someone tell you that they heard that somebody elses second cousin once say that they heard about.)

professional

[Nan]

I happen to know several, but the majority are women. You chose to make an issue of my saying "the mom".

The phrase was "farm out" work, not "farm work". Your arguement is pointless considering I don't know "all" teenagers.

Of course it's sexist. Only a sexist idiot wouldn't think so.

You've been carrying on about hiring an adult over a teen. There just aren't that many adults around that can afford to take on cleaning jobs such as Bill was proposing. The pay rate would be too low, and the income not steady enough. Hence, my comment about it being only part-time work.

Nan

[570-622-6441]

Dear Bill,

Hiring unstable people of any age, sex, ethnicity, waist size, or eye color is bad

Unstable people are generally easy to spot.

1) They don't need the money for any number of reasons, like a)Someone else is taking care of them financially 1)parents 2)welfare 3)spouse 2)They don't take the job seriously,like a)They call it temporary b)you are the only client

[Nan]

On the other hand, someone with 2 kids, a car payment and a mortgage can't rely on sub-wages to meet those bills, and may be more likely to find other, better paying work.

Nan

[570-622-6441]

Dear Bill,

A high quality, full time cleaning person (of any sex) won't under charge you. If they need $19.00/hr to make ends meet, they will charge you at least $19.

Someone who dabbles in cleaning, for fun, or for a while, will make up a good sounding number, and probably be upset about it later.

Look for someone who cleans, and has done nothing but clean for a few years now. they got that way by showing up.

[Nan]

But you already know Bill won't pay that high. He didn't want to shell out the $$ for a cleaning service, and didn't want to "overpay" a teenager to do his work.

You're wasting your typing.

Nan

[Barbecue Bob]

They wouldn't charge so much if they knew where to buy affordable appliances.