How to Hire a Housecleaner

Weekends are too short to spend scrubbing, vacuuming and dusting and nothing beats coming home to a clean house, especially when you didn't do it. Hire a cleaning service or housecleaner to do your dirty work so you can go out to play.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Yellow Pages
• Newspapers
• Recommendations

1. Decide whether you want to use a cleaning service or an individual housecleaner. Using a service costs more, but saves you legwork, and the supplies and equipment are included.
2. Ask friends for recommendations. Check local newspapers, job boards, the Yellow Pages and the Internet.
3. Call several prospective cleaners. Confirm that they'll do the required tasks (some won't do laundry, windows or dishes). Ask about experience, availability and rates. Find out if they're bonded and insured.
4. Research tax laws to determine whether you're required to pay taxes. A good place to start is with the Internal Revenue Service's Publication 926, "Household Employer's Tax Guide." If you do need to pay taxes, verify that the person is willing and able to have his or her wages reported.
5. Check three references before you hold interviews to verify the person's promptness, reliability and quality of work.
6. Meet prospective cleaners with stellar references to show them the specifics of the job and to get a sense of their personality and professionalism. Some housecleaners don't speak English well but have excellent cleaning skills. Communication will be important if you have allergies to certain cleaning products, or unique instructions about antiques, handmade rugs or other fragile items.
7. Ask specific questions to test a housecleaner's methods: "What do you use to clean hardwood floors?" "How would you remove these stains from my stove top?"
8. Determine how often the housecleaner will come. Some will do periodic deep cleaning while others need a weekly or biweekly schedule. If you plan to use the person part-time or full-time, discuss issues like paid holidays and sick days.
9. Hire the most promising person or team for a trial period with the understanding that if you're satisfied, you'll use them regularly.

What to Look For:

• Experience
• Availability
• Rates
• Quality references
• Promptness
• Professionalism

Tips & Warnings

• Individual operators usually earn more hourly than a person working for a cleaning service because there's no third party or overhead.
• Housecleaning agencies are a good source for contacts. They'll refer you to experienced, prescreened housecleaners for a cut of the rate over a set time period.
• Written contracts are not typically used with housecleaners. Writing your newly hired housecleaner a letter that spells out the terms of employment and any specific requests (the china should never go in the dishwasher) is a helpful gesture. It's even more helpful if you get it translated for people whose English isn't great.
• Keep jewelry and large amounts of cash locked up when any hired workers visit.

Who Can Help:

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