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View Full Version : Updating arrangement with cleaner - what should be in it?



Threore
7th October 2012, 13:46
I hope this is the right subforum, I wasn't sure whether this one or the Practice & Propaganda one was better, neither seem perfect.

I live in a building with 30ish other people, and some of the common spaces are cleaned by a cleaner we collectively pay. She recently asked for a raise (apparently the first in 20 years!) and in a few weeks we're having a meeting where among other things our arrangement with her will be discussed.
Until it came up I wasn't aware we had a cleaner, but since it I've been thinking about what the arrangement would be. I'm going to propose what I come up with at our next meeting, the people I live with are somewhat left from average so there's a decent chance I'll get it accepted.
I want to make it as fair as possible so she doesn't have the uncertainties and exploitation with us that normally come with being a wage worker. Sadly searching the internet only resulted in a thousand tips on how to exploit your cleaner...
What should I put in my proposal for our arrangement with the cleaner?

Slavoj Zizek's Balls
10th October 2012, 11:10
My first thoughts are:

What are her living conditions like?
What clothes does she wear (condition of her clothes tell a story)?
Does her lifestyle cause her too much stress or is she relaxed?
Does she have a family and more than one child?
Is she the only "breadwinner" or earner?
Does she do her job well (e.g. takes a pride etc)?

All these points provide a general picture concerning her standard of living. By analysing this, you can then decide whether she requires a raise or not.

Danielle Ni Dhighe
10th October 2012, 12:52
If she hasn't had a raise in 20 years, she clearly is long overdue for one.

piet11111
10th October 2012, 14:08
paid vacation days and a 10% wage increase over what she has now linked to inflation ?

Threore
11th October 2012, 20:44
@Grey Scholar
I don't really know anything about her household since she works when I'm not home so I've never had a chance to speak with her.
However I do believe that if anything was obviously wrong, like wearing worn out clothing all the time or looking depressed, people would have noticed and I would have heard about it.

@Danielle
I talked about the 20 year thing with someone else, and it might be a hyperbole I took literally. :|

-------

Based on what I thought of in the past days and what you mentioned, this is the list of things I want to achieve:

- make sure she is paid per hour (or otherwise guarantee the workload won't get too high)
- set her hourly wage to be the average hourly income of people living here (should auto-adjust to inflation)
- paid vacation time in the ratio to working time that is average
- paid sick days / emergency days (funerals and such)
- if she isn't insured try to get her to be, because I'll never be able to convince the others to keep paying her if she gets ill for a long time

Thanks for the replies, I would never had thought of some of those questions I need to ask.