Checking out labor practices of a small business

September 28, 2018 10:04 AM

We decided to hire a housecleaning service to come periodically. I chose a local company that specifically claims they are committed to "paying our employees a living wage ...and providing a respectful and pleasant work environment.", but how can I research if this is true?

I plan to chat directly with the cleaners when they arrive, but obviously understand the constraints they would be under in terms of what they discuss with clients. Is there any way I can research this claim? This is the decider for me on whether I'm comfortable hiring someone to clean my house - if the workers are getting a living wage and have safe working conditions.

posted by latkes to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Call up their HQ and ask them some frank questions. Write down what you want to know to before you call, so that you can keep track of whether you're getting real answers. Don't be afraid to make them uncomfortable—if they mean what they say about treating their people well, it shouldn't be uncomfortable for them.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 10:19 AM on September 28, 2018

I don't know if this is going to work for your exact situation, but a friend of mine has been checking glassdoor.com lately for this sort of thing.
posted by queensissy at 10:28 AM on September 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

Not sure if this helps as you already chose a company but we did this by going with a worker-owned cooperative instead of a regular cleaning company with employees. The workers chose their gigs and the money was paid directly to them with I believe a cut going to the coop.
posted by griphus at 10:39 AM on September 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: There used to be a cleaner coop in my city but as far as I can tell from trying to track them down they have closed.
posted by latkes at 2:15 PM on September 28, 2018