Housekeeper bonus

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Madeleine

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If you have a housekeeper (or if you worked as a housekeeper) what sort of bonuses do you give/would you want for really good work/good work ethic?
Last time I jumped the gun and gave a raise and it came back to bite me when the work declined.
I'd like to give this kid a bonus for being quick, efficient and quiet.
Not sure how observant she is as I haven't seen anything egregious that she missed.
Will know better next week when I'm doing the cleaning when she's off.
 
I am not the one for experienced advice but:
Consider offering a end of the month bonus for doing things you feel they are going above and beyond the norm. This will be an incentive rather than a given such as a raise.
 
A gift card or cash. For younger people, if they are on Apple then iTunes. Otherwise we have done different things, like movies or groceries. Sometimes it's a few extra bucks or let them have first shot at stuff we donate, etc.
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
.
TheBeachHouse said:
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
I said that, too, but we got with the program quickly! Yes, we have a tip CARD, not an envelope. Nice little note in it about the housekeeper and it's ok to tip. (Lots of people think the young housekeepers are our kids.)
We used to put the card in an envelope addressed "to our guests". The tips were better with the envelope but I'm running out of envelopes!
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
We do an end of season bonus. There is also the tip card in place.
I want to do something now to say we appreciate the help.
 
A gift card or cash. For younger people, if they are on Apple then iTunes. Otherwise we have done different things, like movies or groceries. Sometimes it's a few extra bucks or let them have first shot at stuff we donate, etc..
Movie tix would work. Good idea. Maybe a pass to the state park beach in the summer.
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
.
You are wrong. We bought a box of envelopes from the dollar store. We designed a nice front for them with the house logo. They say "For Housekeeping" and they are in each room. Some people leave nothing and some leave very nice tips. A few have handed us, as innkeepers, tips right to our hands or sometimes they have given us gifts.
When asked what the usual tip is, we say that we leave it up to the individual, but the standard is about $3 a day. Often guests will leave their "silver" which around here can easily be a few dollars.
We did, at one time, have to tell guests not to leave pennies, but that isn't a problem any more. Some guests didn't realize that leaving pennies in a tip has a meaning around here.
 
The bonus is a great idea, rather than a raise. My last housekeeper has two kids so I gave her a dollar an hour raise last year (along with paying her for times she had to leave to go to kid games which were bonuses in my opinion as I certainly didn't need to pay her) and she then started leaving early. I asked her what was up and she said "Now that I make more an hour, I can work 4 less hours a week and make the same money." Stupid me, I was trying to help you get ahead and be able to take your kids to the movies or out for dinner here and there.
Maybe if the housekeeper has to have a day off for a reason, you can give her that day with pay in lieu of a different bonus.
 
The bonus is a great idea, rather than a raise. My last housekeeper has two kids so I gave her a dollar an hour raise last year (along with paying her for times she had to leave to go to kid games which were bonuses in my opinion as I certainly didn't need to pay her) and she then started leaving early. I asked her what was up and she said "Now that I make more an hour, I can work 4 less hours a week and make the same money." Stupid me, I was trying to help you get ahead and be able to take your kids to the movies or out for dinner here and there.
Maybe if the housekeeper has to have a day off for a reason, you can give her that day with pay in lieu of a different bonus..
I used to like sick days at work but now when someone has a sick day it means I have to work! ;-)
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
 
The bonus is a great idea, rather than a raise. My last housekeeper has two kids so I gave her a dollar an hour raise last year (along with paying her for times she had to leave to go to kid games which were bonuses in my opinion as I certainly didn't need to pay her) and she then started leaving early. I asked her what was up and she said "Now that I make more an hour, I can work 4 less hours a week and make the same money." Stupid me, I was trying to help you get ahead and be able to take your kids to the movies or out for dinner here and there.
Maybe if the housekeeper has to have a day off for a reason, you can give her that day with pay in lieu of a different bonus..
I used to like sick days at work but now when someone has a sick day it means I have to work! ;-)
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
.
Tips on days that no one works but us are put in an envelope. If there are no tips that week left in the rooms, we can pull some of that money and give it to the housekeeper. Also, we don't have tip envelopes but a nice mounted photo of the Lodge saying that our housekeepers (with their names) work really hard to ensure that their room is ready for them but if they find that they need anything, please let us know. This way the guests know that we have housekeepers and the tips have greatly increased since we added those - which they appreciate.
 
The bonus is a great idea, rather than a raise. My last housekeeper has two kids so I gave her a dollar an hour raise last year (along with paying her for times she had to leave to go to kid games which were bonuses in my opinion as I certainly didn't need to pay her) and she then started leaving early. I asked her what was up and she said "Now that I make more an hour, I can work 4 less hours a week and make the same money." Stupid me, I was trying to help you get ahead and be able to take your kids to the movies or out for dinner here and there.
Maybe if the housekeeper has to have a day off for a reason, you can give her that day with pay in lieu of a different bonus..
I used to like sick days at work but now when someone has a sick day it means I have to work! ;-)
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
.
Tips on days that no one works but us are put in an envelope. If there are no tips that week left in the rooms, we can pull some of that money and give it to the housekeeper. Also, we don't have tip envelopes but a nice mounted photo of the Lodge saying that our housekeepers (with their names) work really hard to ensure that their room is ready for them but if they find that they need anything, please let us know. This way the guests know that we have housekeepers and the tips have greatly increased since we added those - which they appreciate.
.
We have a picture of the inn, also, with what sounds like the same blurb you have!
We only have the one girl so she gets all the tips even if I do the cleaning. Unless, like I said, she doesn't come in, then it's all mine!
I have no idea if she's getting tips as we've told her not to tell us or we have to take taxes out. My guess is no tips yet.
 
The bonus is a great idea, rather than a raise. My last housekeeper has two kids so I gave her a dollar an hour raise last year (along with paying her for times she had to leave to go to kid games which were bonuses in my opinion as I certainly didn't need to pay her) and she then started leaving early. I asked her what was up and she said "Now that I make more an hour, I can work 4 less hours a week and make the same money." Stupid me, I was trying to help you get ahead and be able to take your kids to the movies or out for dinner here and there.
Maybe if the housekeeper has to have a day off for a reason, you can give her that day with pay in lieu of a different bonus..
I used to like sick days at work but now when someone has a sick day it means I have to work! ;-)
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
.
Madeleine said:
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
GOOD ONE!
 
The bonus is a great idea, rather than a raise. My last housekeeper has two kids so I gave her a dollar an hour raise last year (along with paying her for times she had to leave to go to kid games which were bonuses in my opinion as I certainly didn't need to pay her) and she then started leaving early. I asked her what was up and she said "Now that I make more an hour, I can work 4 less hours a week and make the same money." Stupid me, I was trying to help you get ahead and be able to take your kids to the movies or out for dinner here and there.
Maybe if the housekeeper has to have a day off for a reason, you can give her that day with pay in lieu of a different bonus..
I used to like sick days at work but now when someone has a sick day it means I have to work! ;-)
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
.
Madeleine said:
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
GOOD ONE!
.
Joey Bloggs said:
Madeleine said:
We've already told her that if she doesn't show up all the tips for that day are ours.
GOOD ONE!
We say that right after we tell her all the tips are hers even on her days off. Give and then as they are realizing how generous that is take away if they think oh boy, I get the tips even if I don't show up!
 
We used to start our housekeepers at $1 dollar per hour LOWER for the first month, then give them a raise to the going rate if they were performing. I had a few who never got the raise.
We did an annual holiday bonus of $200 or $300, depending on average hours worked and performance. This was usually a slow paycheck time of year so it was appreciated.
We didn't touch the tips except on the rare occasions where we turned a room, and then we just held them for the housekeeper.
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
.
You are wrong. We bought a box of envelopes from the dollar store. We designed a nice front for them with the house logo. They say "For Housekeeping" and they are in each room. Some people leave nothing and some leave very nice tips. A few have handed us, as innkeepers, tips right to our hands or sometimes they have given us gifts.
When asked what the usual tip is, we say that we leave it up to the individual, but the standard is about $3 a day. Often guests will leave their "silver" which around here can easily be a few dollars.
We did, at one time, have to tell guests not to leave pennies, but that isn't a problem any more. Some guests didn't realize that leaving pennies in a tip has a meaning around here.
.
My mom works as a housekeeper still and was occasionally getting pennies, even from guests that she had nice conversations with and for those rooms she had worked hard on. She's a very detailed, thorough housekeeper! It made her curious though and she looked it up online. Apparently some people leave Housekeepers pennies as a way to say "sorry, can't afford a tip but thank you anyway!"
Anyone else heard of this? I know in restaurants, it's sort-of a slap in the face to leave a server a penny.
 
I've been thinking about giving our housekeepers a gift card for a massage or facial or something nice and relaxing like that. Figure they could definitely use it after working as hard as they do!
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
.
You are wrong. We bought a box of envelopes from the dollar store. We designed a nice front for them with the house logo. They say "For Housekeeping" and they are in each room. Some people leave nothing and some leave very nice tips. A few have handed us, as innkeepers, tips right to our hands or sometimes they have given us gifts.
When asked what the usual tip is, we say that we leave it up to the individual, but the standard is about $3 a day. Often guests will leave their "silver" which around here can easily be a few dollars.
We did, at one time, have to tell guests not to leave pennies, but that isn't a problem any more. Some guests didn't realize that leaving pennies in a tip has a meaning around here.
.
My mom works as a housekeeper still and was occasionally getting pennies, even from guests that she had nice conversations with and for those rooms she had worked hard on. She's a very detailed, thorough housekeeper! It made her curious though and she looked it up online. Apparently some people leave Housekeepers pennies as a way to say "sorry, can't afford a tip but thank you anyway!"
Anyone else heard of this? I know in restaurants, it's sort-of a slap in the face to leave a server a penny.
.
"Sorry, can't afford a tip" is BS. What's a tip for housekeeping? $2? If you're that broke go camping.
It's an insult is what it is.
 
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!.
Joey Bloggs said:
and END OF SEASON bonus.
A TIP ENVELOPE is a great bonus.
thumbs_up.gif

I am happy for ours to show up, and she has a great attitude. Cleaning DEEP is not happening. I have a quilt I had to SHOUT out today, and spiderwebs and more. She has put two quilts on a bed, on top of a blanket. I could go on but I won't bore you. She shows up! THAT is half the battle!
My hubby wanted to put out tip envelopes and I said they were tacky. Am I wrong? We don't see too many tips.
.
You are wrong. We bought a box of envelopes from the dollar store. We designed a nice front for them with the house logo. They say "For Housekeeping" and they are in each room. Some people leave nothing and some leave very nice tips. A few have handed us, as innkeepers, tips right to our hands or sometimes they have given us gifts.
When asked what the usual tip is, we say that we leave it up to the individual, but the standard is about $3 a day. Often guests will leave their "silver" which around here can easily be a few dollars.
We did, at one time, have to tell guests not to leave pennies, but that isn't a problem any more. Some guests didn't realize that leaving pennies in a tip has a meaning around here.
.
My mom works as a housekeeper still and was occasionally getting pennies, even from guests that she had nice conversations with and for those rooms she had worked hard on. She's a very detailed, thorough housekeeper! It made her curious though and she looked it up online. Apparently some people leave Housekeepers pennies as a way to say "sorry, can't afford a tip but thank you anyway!"
Anyone else heard of this? I know in restaurants, it's sort-of a slap in the face to leave a server a penny.
.
From my years in the restaurant business, a penny heads up is a thank you for great service. heads down the other. don't know if it's still the case or not.
Riki
 
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