The Dirty
Little Secret
Many cleaning companies don’t want to tell you, but they classify their cleaners as contractors, not employees.
There is a dirty little secret in the cleaning industry. Many cleaning companies will present themselves as cleaning companies with employees, when in fact they do not have employees.
These companies classify their cleaners as 1099 contractors. Which, in the overwhelming majority of cases is not only a misclassification, but also a significant increase of risk for everyone involved…customers, cleaners and even their own business.
So, why would they do this? For starters, they’re able to offer lower rates to customers because they are being misleading. It also allows them to pay more to cleaners, but only on the surface (cleaners get stuck with a tax bill at the end of the year, and also are exempt from certain employee benefits). It also allows them (the companies) to avoid paying employer taxes, workers compensation insurance and many other things.
On top of all that, when companies classify their cleaners as contractors, they also are not allowed to: (a) train their technicians (b) provide consistent supplies…or really provide any supplies as its at the discretion of each individual technician (c) provide best practices on proper solutions for best surfaces to avoid risk and damage.
In short, the great price you’re getting might very well come with a great cost.
At Sparkly House Cleaning, all of our cleaners are W2 employees. Here are the benefits of that…
Our General Liability Policy of $1M covers negligence on behalf of our employees. There is a big difference in the eyes of the insurance carrier, between an “employee” and “contracted” hire. A insurance policy will extend coverage to employees and it won’t to a contracted hire. Even though a company has an insurance policy, if they send you a house cleaner who is contracted, they won’t be covered by their policy. Any loss or injury they cause while working in your home will not be covered. Our general liability policy provides you with security that if one of our employees are found negligent you won’t have to pay for it.
Our Workers Compensation Policy covers our employees. If a cleaner is “contracted” to clean your home, make sure they have a workers compensation policy. If they don’t, you may become liable to compensate them for lost wages and medical expenses if they get hurt in your home. If our employees get hurt while cleaning your home you don’t have to worry about paying for anything. Our insurance policy covers them for medical expenses and lost wages while at work.
Sparkly House Cleaning’s employees are Bonded. If a contracted house cleaner steals or damages something in your home, there is no insurance policy to reimburse your loss. Our bond provides coverage for you if one of our employees steals or damages items in your home. Obviously not something we ever want to have happen, but we want to prepare for any and every scenario to protect you.