Cleaning Business

superbuyer · 03-30-2007, 10:37 AM

Hey Everyone,

I just got an idea to start a cleaning business, primarily office buildings, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions on pricing, negotiating that type of contract, etc? Also, can you 1099 the employees or do they have to be salaried?

stargazer0725 · 03-30-2007, 11:16 AM

Superbuyer, I can only speak to the vagaries of the employee / independent contractor conundrum.

I will tell you this, if your "contractors" are not completely autonomous, meaning they decide when they work, where they work, and work under a short-term contract, you could be in a lot of hurt down the road if someone decides to report you for failing to pay employment taxes.

This is a site that I refer people to that offers a REALLY good explanation on the way to decide between employee or contractor classification (in plain English, thank you)...

http://www.morebusiness.com/running_...k/indvsemp.brc

Just from the type of business you're running, I can be almost certain that all of your workers would be classified as an employee. IMHO...don't set yourself up for future financial hardship by trying to save a few bucks now.

superbuyer · 03-30-2007, 11:29 AM

Thanks stargazer! That was great info. One question, though. What if employing contractors is the standard in your industry, does that supercede any other ruling?

stargazer0725 · 03-30-2007, 11:50 AM

No - sorry. It just means that they haven't been caught.

The reason that the cleaning industry gets away with it (like the construction industry that I work in), is because it generally employs immigrant laborers at low wage, who don't know about their rights. Which is the exact reason why this employee classification was put in place - to try to help protect those that can't protect themselves and provide some sort of social security (yah, right) for low-wage-earners.

My boss has tried to use the "industry standard" argument on me a couple of times over the years, but I've had to overrule him. He goes along with it because he knows that I've got the company's best interest in mind.

Hedwig · 03-30-2007, 02:03 PM

Stargazer is correct. The IRS doesn't care about an "industry standard." If that worked, there would be industry standards everywhere.

Save yourself a lot of grief down the road and hire them as employees.

As far as pricing, I'm sure that varies by area.

As far as contracts go, your best bet may be to pay for an hour of time with a lawyer who handles business/contract law.

Gib · 03-30-2007, 08:10 PM

If you really don't want the hassles of dealing with employee paperwork, use an employee leasing agency.