In this article, we offer some advice on things to consider and highlight some of the advantages of hiring a commercial cleaner rather than a self-employed one.

When hiring a cleaner for your business premises, it is important to think about cleaning as more than just wiping surfaces with a cloth and mopping or vacuuming the floor.

Cleaning thoroughly, to a high standard of safety and hygiene to keep workspaces clean and healthy, is more than that.

It is a science.

Professional cleaning companies understand this and, when compared to a self-employed or inexperienced cleaner, the benefits of hiring a commercial cleaner include additional value you may not be aware of at first glance.

The advantages of hiring a commercial cleaner broken down

Cost and time savings

Although hiring a commercial cleaner is usually more expensive, it has long-term cost benefits:

• Recruitment costs. Finding the right person takes time and effort because you need to make sure that they can demonstrate their experience, knowledge, and training to maintain a high standard of cleanliness. However, the benefit of hiring a professional cleaning company is that all this has been done for you. The cleaning personnel will have already gone through the recruitment process, including a DBS check and extensive training, so you don’t have to advertise, read applications, interview candidates, run checks, or train them.
• Purchasing cleaning equipment. Commercial cleaners have their own equipment, which they are responsible for maintaining and storing. Products and cleaning accessories such as cloths, sponges, mops, dusters, are provided and cleaned/sanitised regularly, so the highest standards of hygiene are maintained. Plus, there is the extra bonus for you of not having to make those last minutes dashes to the supermarket to buy cleaning supplies!
• Cleaning staff are managed and know exactly what to do, saving you and your team time – time better spent in your business.
• Staff Training.  As a professional cleaning company, Crystal Clean Service makes sure that employees are trained in the correct use of products and cleaning equipment. They also receive ongoing monitoring and support to keep up to date with changes in the industry, products and best practice while understanding the requirements of their clients.

Higher standards

Commercial cleaners benefit from experience in cleaning a number of work environments and will have been trained to a high standard.

For example, here at Crystal Clean Service we have a strict colour-coded cleaning schedule for every individual client, detailing what should be cleaned daily, weekly, and monthly, ensuring consistency.

Higher standards result in more in-depth and thorough cleaning by a comprehensively trained, safety compliant cleaning team.

In addition, work is monitored/checked regularly to maintain high standards, so you don’t have to worry about it.

In the unlikely event that cleaners fall behind what is expected, we have strict systems, policies, and procedures in place, so shortcomings can be addressed quickly and positively.

Having a cleaning schedule means that there is less chance of something being forgotten, such as doorknobs and light switches.

For commercial cleaners, it is part of their job to pay attention to small details, because they understand how bacteria can spread around the workplace.

We all know that germs can be especially contagious in a closed environment where people mingle, such as shared work areas and offices.

If one employee becomes ill, they will have touched many more surfaces than just their own machine, desk, and computer – surfaces that other employees will also be in contact with.

Before you know it, there are a number of people off sick.

Frequent and thorough cleaning by a professional cleaning team offers consistency, and can help to prevent sickness spreading, reducing the number of sick days taken per annum, thus improving the efficiency of your business.

Consistency in Attendance

What happens when cleaners are off sick or on holiday?

With a self-employed cleaner, there will be no one to cover for them during these times.

However, one of the benefits of a commercial cleaning company, is that there will be extra staff on-hand to cover absences, all trained to the same high standards as your normal cleaner/s.

In order to maintain a clean and healthy environment for workers, visitors, and customers, business premises need to be cleaned regularly, consistently and to a high standard.

Compliance issues

A self-employed cleaner may bring greater risks to your business or issues you have to deal with yourself, for example:

1. Payroll and employment obligations. You may have to consider employing cleaners on a permanent basis.
2. Health and safety issues. They may not be trained in health and safety for commercial or industrial premises.
3. Hazardous product training. Cleaning products contain strong chemicals which can cause illness, and even death, if mixed together either on purpose or accidentally. You can read more about the dangers of mixing cleaning products in our article: Cleaning is more than just a mop and bucket. Commercial cleaners are trained on how to use professional cleaning products safely within a commercial environment.
4. Environmental awareness. Professional cleaning service employees will have received environmental training and be aware of the company’s environmental and sustainability pledges. They will be aware of how their actions impact the environment.  
5. Insurance. Does your self-employed cleaner have the correct insurance?  For example, if they spill cleaning fluid on important machinery or documents, cause damage, or even in extreme cases, if items go missing? Insurance is an important benefit of using a commercial cleaning company.
6. Confidentiality. As part of the hiring contract, most commercial cleaners will sign a confidentiality agreement with their client.
7. DBS checks. One of the benefits of hiring commercial cleaners is that their employees will already have been DBS checked, giving you confidence that they are honest and trustworthy.
8. IR35 liability risks. Avoid employment/limited company IR35 issues by using a commercial cleaning company with bona fide employees, not contracted services.
9. Illegal workers. If you do not check out the credentials of a cleaner to whom you pay cash, you may be employing someone who is not legally allowed to work in the UK. What’s more, you could face a five-year jail term and an unlimited fine if you are found guilty of employing someone who does not have the right to work in the UK.

Like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Although the initial cost of hiring a commercial cleaning company is usually more expensive, it comes with many benefits and hidden extras that you would have to undertake yourself when hiring a self-employed individual.

In this article, we have outlined some of the main advantages of hiring a commercial cleaner. Hiring a commercial cleaning company rather than a self-employed cleaner will save you, your team, and your business a lot of time, money, and effort while providing complete peace of mind that cleaning will be completed to the highest professional standards.

Contact the team at Crystal Clean Service today to discover how we tailor cleaning packages to your requirements while ensuring minimum disruption to normal business operations.