Dear Mary: How much should I pay my cleaner during the lockdown?

Q. Mary, what percentage of cleaners’ normal wages should we pay them when they can’t come in for the foreseeable future? My cleaner has worked for me for 30 years but she has never had a bank account and so I’ve always paid her in cash. Since she has never legitimised her position, it means she would not be able to benefit from Rishi Sunak’s scheme to help the self-employed. If I pay her 50 per cent, it will not be enough, as she needs every penny of what she earns. However, if I pay her as much for not working as she would normally get then I feel it is giving the wrong message. Also she has benefited all these years by not paying tax on her earnings. Can you help me solve this?
— T.S., Norwich

A. Painful though this is, you should pay 100 per cent. First, you too have been benefiting from the method of pay because, had you employed your cleaner properly, you would have been obliged to pay Employers’ National Insurance.