Unreasonable request from boss

[monty0703]

My friend's hubby works as a cleaner in a call centre. His boss has said that she wants each worker to take 2 cloths home each day and wash them in the washing machine for the next day! Surely they can refuse to do this and she has no right to ask this of them?

[4getmenot]

well I would refuse or want paying for it. I put on 2 washes a week, whites and darks. there is no way I would be running the washine machine every night

[ummmm]

How would they know if they'd been washed in a washing machine or not?

[monty0703]

He's been told not to wash the cloths with anything else - just the 2 cloths. He thought she was winding him up when she told the workers.

[LoftyLottie]

Blimey, not just the detergent, water usage etc. but also wear and tear on the machine. Might be worthwhile putting this in the law section. It surely can't be right!

[monty0703]

Good point Ummmm...

[ummmm]

Again.....how would they know?

[dothawkes31]

Maybe they are trying to cut down on expenses, which of course rings alarm bells, and so if washing a couple of cloths (by hand) on the odd night meams your job is secure and you're not facing a cut in hours, then do it.

[dothawkes31]

To me an unusual request from your boss would be him asking you to scrub his back with a wet fish whilst wearing sussies and a cowboy hat .

[monty0703]

I'd just like to add that this is a bona-fide cleaning company that has contracts with numerous companies. He will totally refuse to do it but was wondering if there was some sort of employment regulation he could cite rather than just telling her where to stick her cloths if she insisted!

[LoftyLottie]

That's why I suggested putting this in the law section! There are some legal bods that regularly go there ;o)

[rowanwitch]

Could they not take turns each taking all the cloths once a week instead,
I suppose for cleaners cloths are 'tools of the trade' and it might be suggested a workman would be expected to provide and maintain their own tools... seems odd though

[dothawkes31]

well if it;s a big company then the boss is being unprofessional, it sounded like it was some penny anny set up

[yinyang]

I'd be tempted just to wash them in a basin every night.

Alternately, could the workers not suggest a system whereby A washes all the clothes on a monday, B does them on a tuesday .. and so on. Don't think most people would mind running their machine once or twice a week for a decent size load, rather than every night for 2 things.

[monty0703]

They want the cloths washing for the next day so once a week wouldn't do. I don't think they should be made to do it anyway even if it was once a month. Other than the self-employed, I can't think of any business where it is expected for workers to take home tools and maintain them out-of-hours at their expense.

[yinyang]

Sorry monty, as usual my idea sounded clearer in my head than on paper.

What I meant the was at the end of a shift on Monday, A would gather in everybody's cloths, wash them and bring them back ready to be used next day, on Tuesday it would be B's turn to do the same and so on; so throughout the week the cloths all got washed and were ready every day.

[rowanwitch]

From a hygeine point of view wouldn't it be better if they switched to disposables

[monty0703]

I see what you're getting at yinyang but I stand by my argument that other than the self-employed, I can't think of any business where they expect their workers to take home the work's 'tools' and maintain them out-of-hours at their own inconvenience and expense.

[monty0703]

A good point Rowan as one of the cloths is used in the toilets, not the pan I don't think though (the other is used in the office). Surely from a health point of view this is another reason why he can refuse.

[stonekicker]

i wouldn't put anything that had been down a work toilet in my washing machine (yuk! - what about the hygiene issues for your home?), let alone run a washer once for work. tell them to get stuffed. x