It isn’t sexy but it is important. Cleaning up the mindset!

Is your cleaning contract breaking the cycle of disadvantage in disadvantaged workers?

What do you truly know about your cleaning contract? Did you select the company on pricing alone? Do they engage contractors at ridiculously low hourly rates? Is your contract adding the disadvantage to the disadvantaged workforce?

How do you view your office cleaner?
Are they an integral part of your team or simply an individual who is paid from your bottom line? Are you measuring their impact on your employee’s happiness in your office or simply the cost to your organisation?

In reality, what would occur if all cleaners removed themselves from the industry due to their pay rates dropping them into a position of disadvantage? Consider this: the cleaning workforce becoming non-existent due to individuals refusing to work for less than award wages. Organisations who negotiate contracts down to the lowest profit margins are creating an environment for disadvantage!

Are you working for $8.00 per hour?
In our recent wave of recruitment interviews, we were made aware of an instance where cleaners have worked a nightshift for as little as $8.00 per hour. Would you work at night for $8.00 per hour?
Would you want your loved ones to work for $8 per hour? Your daughter or son, nephew or niece?
What about your wife or husband? Would you want that financial pressure placed on your shoulders?

Performance Appraisals – NEVER
Do you sit in your yearly review and negotiate a pay rise? Have you walked away from those discussions feeling appreciated and your contribution to the organisation valued? I’m sure your answer would be yes. Now imagine feeling the burden of never receiving a pay rise, irrelevant of how hard you work, how many additional hours you contribute to the organisation. NEVER! It’s simply a conversation that you are not allowed to have.

This is a feeling that cleaning contractors have from day one. They are forced to obtain an ABN, then paid the bare minimum, sometimes $18 per hour. From that, they must pay their own
superannuation, insurances, WorkCover and taxes! They are not in control of their hourly rate, it is dictated to them by what the company has been negotiated down to in their cleaning contract. That low number is what the corporate organisation feels they can relinquish from their bottom line.

You can make changes today!
How can this change? Simply by braving open conversations with your cleaning company from the outset. Ask what you can do to assist with engaging cleaners who are paid according to awards plus penalties. Can you support an organisation that employs cleaners rather than assigning contractors?
You can make a simple change by having this conversation. Are you up for the challenge?