My cleaning person works for another woman. That woman sets the rate. So far her rates haven’t gone up , but I would wait for her to decide. It’s their business and I am the client. I do tip my cleaner at the holidays, a weeks pay.

Mine also works for a service. I always tip her and more generously at Christmas.

My housekeeper sets her rates. In the beginning, she charged say $125. When gas prices went down, she dropped her price $25.

Holidays, I gave her a good bonus.

I'll give her a raise if she ever actually properly cleans my house. She hates dusting and just does a truly lousy job of it. She hates mopping and often doesn't do that, either. I hate her but have no other options. Don't get me started....

OTOH, I give my yard man a raise yearly - just a couple of dollars an hour. He is now earning $18 an hour. He's never asked me for more but he's worth every penny.

Most services set their rates at what they think they should receive. Anything more than that should come as a tip. You can of course just pay the person more each time which is what I did for one person several years ago.

Anglo, I feel about my cleaning gal the same way you feel about your yard man. I love, love, love her! It was the best thing I ever did when I decided I needed help.

Glenda, mine was here today, also. She has been with me almost two years now and I was thinking it was about time for an increase in pay. The last time I had a cleaning woman was about 40 years ago and she only lasted about 2 months. I decided after picking up the house and getting it ready to clean, if I just put in another hour and a half, I could have the house cleaned. That's not so anymore! :-))))

Anglo, have you thought about asking your yard man if he knows of anyone that cleans?

Men clean too. My cleaning person works for an agency. I can't give him a raise, so I tip generously.

I love my 2 cleaning ladies, mother and daughter. I am paying them the same amount here at this much smaller house as I was at the other house so they kind of did get a raise. I give big bonus for holidays and birthdays. They are wonderful ladies. They check up on me daily which I really appreciate. They are very willing to help me with what ever we may need. They now work for many of my friends too.

My sister has her own cleaning company. She sets her rates so when she needs a raise, she'll inform her customers ahead of time. A co-worker also has a cleaning company and she too, sets her own rates.

Yes, I have asked my yardman. He has told me i sure wouldn’t want to hire any of the women who work with him in housekeeping at a local hospital!

I have two lovely women. We agreed on a price and she hasn't raised it. I also give a Christmas bonus, and now when I am away, I pay her in advance the full price as if I were here. She never asked for this. She comes ever other week and so I usually try to plan when I go on vacation. If I go longer than three weeks, she would miss one cleaning. In the beginning I didn't pay her and she didn't set any protocol.

What I like is that since there are two, they go through my home quickly. She might even bring a third person.

Mine is the live-in for my next door neighbor. She started charging $X/hr and was here 6 hours. She’s shortened the time she’s here, but I never cut her pay.

Then about a year and a half ago I started paying her more. Next going to have her cut a couple things she does every week - which will shorten her time - and still pay her the same. I might bump it up a little as well. I value what she does for us sooo much!

Georgiesmom, the lovely people who clean my house once a month have never given themselves a raise, so I have to do it. I give them +$5 every year or so; we're up to $125 now, but that's for only monthly and I live in a high cost-of-living area.

I am fairly happy with my cleaning ladies, a mother and daughter, who come every other week. When the one can’t come for some reason, her sister fills in which is fine. A big thing with me is their trustworthiness. They worked previously for my neighbor so I knew I could trust them and in our rural area, it is very hard to even find someone. My previous housekeeper had quit to take another job and be home more with her then early teenage boys (didn’t blame her one bit). None ever asked for a raise, and I give a good sized bonus at Christmas or if they do anything extra.

As an employee, how often do you expect a raise out of your employer? Many people expect something yearly, or even sometimes twice a year for some employers. Most employees are dissatisfied if they aren't given a raise after two years working for an employer. This can be offset if an employer gives out decent bonuses if they are not giving raises. In many cases, a lack of raises or bonuses can cause an employee to become less motivated to do their job.

If an employer asks if they should give their employees raises, the fair and decent answer is yes. The amount of the raise may depend on factors like job performance and attendance. A yearly raise is a nice standard that many employers use.

Housecleaners and other home workers are usually not subject to minimum wage laws. These jobs are unskilled, require little training, and (at least in my area) may be filled by people who are undocumented and have little education. It's nice to expect raises, bonuses, and other factors common in mainstream employment but many of these people are on the fringes of the labor market and are happy to earn what they can. The free labor market we have means anyone in any job is free to find a different job if they think they can do better elsewhere.

Having said that, in our high cost area, we pay our weekly household service providers well above the minimum wage. In my mind, what I'm paying for is reliability and honesty - my expectations are not for anything more than average performance. I'm fair with them and they're fair with us in return.

Yes, not all cleaning people are female. One on our recurring team of two is male, a very nice fellow who does a much better job than the woman who works with him.

I've had female and now this guy. He's much more thorough than any female cleaner I've had, he's faster, and gets the job done without constantly chattering away. I had a woman cleaner once, and after learning her life story during two visits, I asked the agency for a different cleaner. The guy I have comes and cleans, and then leaves. I do talk to him, but I don't know his whole life story.

I had a house-cleaner from a professional company. Only lasted about a year. i tipped her every week, I think $25. She did a good job, but my own standards are higher, I'd wind up cleaning up after her. Like she left a glob of dried jelly on the fridge door and set a cold drink on a butcher-block table and it left a ring.

We have a woman who comes monthly and doesn't accept tips. I suspect she'll let us know when she decides to increase her fees (we've only had her about 6 mos.). In lieu of tips, I bake her things, offer items we're about to donate (a near new slow cooker, new in box pan, etc.; IOW, not junk), donate to her FB birthday charitable cause, etc.

I am paying a woman $60 for 1 hour and 20 minutes to clean my 5 room 2 bath house. She comes twice a month. She uses a Swiffer to dust the furniture and runs a vacuum on the carpeting and bare floors and Swiffer wet mops them. She only cleans the commode, tub, mirror and sink in one of the bathrooms. Nothing but the floor in the other bathroom. In the kitchen she wet wipes the counter tops.

She is moving so fast that everything on the furniture is left just willy nilly out of place. I do have a few figurines on most surfaces. They don't get dusted at all. When wiping the counters in the kitchen, she doesn't dry it before putting things back. So later I have to pry the toaster oven, knife block, Kitchenaid loose.

My question is, am I paying her too much for such shoddy work? She has been with me for a year. I would be ok to pay more for better cleaning if I could find someone who I could trust and that would do things right.

Mine starts work when she feels like it, doesn't do the jobs I have lined up for her to do, takes a break whenever she wants to, and thinks she deserves a raise! I should fire her....oh wait, that's me! Lol

Marylmi, that was me, too until I turned 80. After that, it became quite evident that I wasn't doing the job at all and had to break down and get someone in here. :-))))

I don't have a cleaning woman. If I did, it would be a cleaning man, and I'd give him a raise if he did a good job over a long period of time.

lgmd, ours cleans one level of our home; I'm guessing about 3,000sf. It takes her 3-4 hours and is usually around $100. She does a great job!

I've had one who was absolutely great; however, her husband passed and she moved out of state to be with her daughter. I tried a couple (man and wife) who I ended up letting go because they did not do a good job, broke things, and a few items disappeared. I am now looking into hiring someone again. I did have one lady hired, but she didn't show up and I've never heard from her. The Nextdoor site is a good site to ask questions about this and a lot of people do; thus, I have collected some names and contact info. I would rather do it myself; but alas, I no longer can do it. Wish me luck!

Marylmi, unfortunately we must have the same cleaning lady :-(...and at my house, she does not deserve a raise...