Bringing Janitorial In-House

Why Saving on Cleaning Can Cost You More

It’s easy to see why a business might consider bringing cleaning in-house. You’re paying a contractor every month, and you start wondering how much you could save by hiring your own people.

But what looks like a simple cost-cutting decision can quickly become a much bigger responsibility.

• Lower costs? Employee wages might look cheaper than your monthly cleaning contract. But what about workers’ compensation, training, equipment, supplies, and the time your team spends managing it all? Those costs add up fast.
• More control over scheduling? Until someone calls out sick, quits without notice, or takes vacation. Now finding coverage and making sure the building gets cleaned is your problem.
• Better control over building access? Having your own employees handle keys and security codes might seem safer. But you’re also responsible for screening new hires, managing access, and making sure procedures are followed, especially when cleaning happens after hours.

The real question isn’t how much you could save by hiring your own cleaners. It’s how much responsibility you’re willing to take on to do it.

5 Risks You’re Taking On When You Bring Cleaning In-House

1. One Chemical Mistake. A Serious Problem for Your Business.

Your employee grabs the wrong cleaning product or mixes two chemicals that should never be combined. What happens next? Do they know how to respond? Is the right protective equipment available? Is the incident properly documented?

When cleaning is in-house, making sure employees are trained and protected is your responsibility. Commercial cleaning comes with workplace hazards that your existing safety programs may not cover. Bringing cleaning in-house means taking responsibility for the training, safety procedures, and documentation required for those tasks.

Safety requirements to consider:

• Chemical safety: Employees need training on cleaning products, proper dilution, safe storage, and access to Safety Data Sheets (SDS).
• Exposure protection: Depending on their duties, cleaners may need Bloodborne Pathogens training, protective equipment, and additional safety procedures.
• Updated safety programs: Blood Borne Pathogen Standard Training. Your Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) must address janitorial hazards, including wet floors, lifting, equipment use, and chemical exposure. And don’t forget the OSHA required Hazard Communication and Hazard Material training programs.
• Ongoing training: New employees must receive applicable training, and changes in products or procedures may require additional instruction and documentation.

The question to ask: Who on your team will be responsible for making sure cleaning employees are properly trained, equipped, and working safely?

2. Your Workers’ Comp Costs May Be Higher Than You Think.

You hire someone to handle cleaning, assuming the insurance costs won’t be much different from your other employees. Then you find out janitorial work carries a different set of risks, and potentially a much higher insurance cost.

If the work isn’t classified and reported correctly, an audit could leave your company facing an unexpected bill. Janitorial work carries different workplace risks than typical office work, which can significantly affect workers’ compensation costs. Classifications depend on the nature of the employer’s business, the duties employees perform, and applicable California classification rules.

What affects insurance costs:

• Higher-risk work: Wet floors, chemical exposure, lifting, and repetitive tasks can increase the likelihood of workplace injuries.
• Proper classification: Cleaning duties may require a different workers’ compensation classification than other roles within your organization.
• Premium adjustments: Incorrect classification or payroll reporting can lead to additional charges following an insurance audit.
• Claims management: Workplace injuries introduce additional costs and administrative responsibilities that can affect your overall budget.

The question to ask: Has your insurance broker priced the actual cleaning duties into your workers’ compensation coverage?

3. Your Cleaner Quits. Who’s Cleaning Tomorrow?

Your cleaner gives notice on Friday. Who’s handling the restrooms on Monday? Who’s emptying the trash, cleaning the floors, and getting the building ready for employees and visitors?

Suddenly, someone on your team has to find a replacement, arrange coverage, and train a new employee, all while keeping the facility running.

Hiring one or two cleaners may seem manageable until someone calls out sick, takes vacation, or leaves the company. Maintaining consistent service requires a plan for staffing, supervision, and replacement coverage.

Staffing responsibilities:

• Recruiting and onboarding: Every new hire requires time for screening, training, and learning your facility’s procedures.
• Employee absences: Sick days, vacations, and unexpected departures can leave your facility without adequate cleaning coverage.
• Daily supervision: Someone must oversee cleaning quality, respond to problems, and manage employee performance.
• Additional workload: Facilities managers, HR staff, and other employees may need to take on cleaning-related responsibilities alongside their existing work.

The question to ask: What happens to your cleaning schedule when one of your employees is unavailable for two weeks?

4. One Payroll Mistake Can Become a Legal Problem.

An employee stays late to finish a job. Someone misses a required meal period. A cleaning shift isn’t recorded correctly. What seems like a small administrative mistake can become a much bigger issue under California labor laws, especially when the same problem happens repeatedly.

Bringing cleaning in-house makes your company responsible for managing janitorial employees under California’s labor laws. Early morning, evening, and overnight schedules can introduce additional employment and compliance challenges.

Employment requirements:

• Wage-and-hour compliance: Overtime, meal and rest periods, split shifts, and accurate timekeeping must follow applicable California laws.
• After-hours work: Evening and overnight schedules can introduce additional supervisory, safety, and payroll considerations.
• Workplace safety: Where required, workplace violence prevention plans must address relevant hazards, including those associated with working alone or after hours.
• Legal exposure: Repeated payroll or labor violations can lead to penalties, employee claims, and litigation, including claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).

The question to ask: Are your existing HR, payroll, and supervisory processes prepared to manage janitorial schedules and the employment rules that come with them?

5. Who’s Going to Manage All of This?

A professional cleaning contract often includes much more than labor, from cleaning supplies and equipment to supervision and quality control. Someone has to order supplies, maintain equipment, train new employees, inspect the cleaning, fill staffing gaps, and respond when something goes wrong.

Who’s that going to be? Your facilities manager? Your HR director? Your operations team?

These responsibilities don’t disappear because cleaning isn’t your primary business. They become additional work for people who already have plenty to manage. Bringing those services in-house shifts the costs and management responsibilities to your team.

Costs beyond employee wages:

• Cleaning supplies: Chemicals, protective equipment, and other consumables require ongoing purchasing and inventory management.
• Commercial equipment: Vacuums, floor machines, and other equipment must be purchased, maintained, repaired, and eventually replaced.
• Quality control: Cleaning standards, inspections, and performance issues require regular oversight.
• Management time: Facilities, operations, and HR employees must spend time coordinating cleaning instead of focusing on their primary responsibilities.

The question to ask: Who will manage the cleaning operation, and what is that person’s time worth?

The Costs That Never Make It Into the Spreadsheet

The first calculation is usually simple. What are we paying our cleaning contractor, and what would it cost to hire our own people? But that comparison leaves out a lot.

Who’s paying for workers’ compensation? Who’s training the new hires? What happens when equipment breaks, someone gets hurt, or a cleaner doesn’t show up?

And how much time will your existing employees spend managing work that used to be someone else’s responsibility?

Before you decide in-house cleaning is cheaper, make sure you’ve accounted for everything you’re taking on. Use the following questions to account for the staffing, insurance, equipment, and management resources required to operate an in-house cleaning program.

Are You Really Equipped to Run a Cleaning Operation?

Most businesses already have enough to manage. Your operations team is focused on keeping the facility running. Your HR department is managing employees. Your safety team is responsible for protecting workers and maintaining compliance.

Now add a cleaning operation to their responsibilities. Someone has to purchase equipment, maintain chemical safety records, train new employees, manage schedules, inspect the work, respond to injuries, and keep up with California’s employment requirements. And none of those responsibilities disappear when your business gets busy.

Professional cleaning companies have people and systems dedicated to managing this work. Bringing cleaning in-house means building and maintaining those capabilities yourself.

Is saving on a cleaning contract really worth creating another operation for your company to manage?

Before You Cancel Your Cleaning Contract, Answer These 10 Questions.

By now, you can probably see that bringing cleaning in-house involves a lot more than hiring a couple of employees. But here’s the real test.

Can your business confidently answer every one of these questions? If not, you may be taking on responsibilities and risks you aren’t fully prepared to manage.

• Have we calculated the full cost? Not just wages, but insurance, benefits, payroll, supplies, equipment, training, and management time.
• Have we confirmed our workers’ compensation classification? Have we reviewed the actual cleaning duties with our insurance broker?
• Does our safety program cover janitorial work? Have we addressed the specific hazards employees will encounter?
• Do we have a chemical safety and SDS program? Can employees access the information they need, including during night and weekend shifts?
• Do we know which specialized training requirements apply? Have we evaluated chemical handling, Bloodborne Pathogens exposure, protective equipment, and other task-specific risks?
• Are our HR and payroll systems prepared? Can we properly manage shifts, breaks, overtime, and employee records?
• Who will supervise the cleaning staff? Do we have someone with the time and knowledge to oversee their work?
• What is our backup staffing plan? Who fills in when employees are sick, on vacation, or leave the company?
• Have we accounted for supplies and equipment? Including purchasing, maintenance, storage, and replacement.
• Does bringing cleaning in-house improve our business? After considering all of the responsibilities, are the benefits still worth it?

Cleaning is Our Business. It Doesn’t Have to Become Yours.

You have a business to run. The last thing you need is another operation to manage, especially one that comes with specialized safety requirements, staffing challenges, and complex California labor laws.

At JaniTek Cleaning Solutions, we manage commercial cleaning every day. From employee training and supervision to staffing, equipment, and quality control, we have established processes to keep facilities clean without adding those day-to-day responsibilities to your team.

We’re a registered janitorial employer serving businesses throughout California’s Greater Central Valley and Central Coast.

Before you take cleaning in-house, find out what that decision could really cost you.