Cleaning and Support Services “A fair deal – for the employee and the contractor”

Cleaning and Support Services

“A fair deal – for the employee and the contractor”

Client/Contractor/Employee relationships and their links with

investment in the industry

Martyn Vesey - CSSA

The Cleaning Industry

Cleaning –

The last thing that’s thought of and the first thing that’s noticed!


Agenda

• The Cleaning Industry• Cleaning Contract

Structure• Industry Investment• Some ways to “win-win”


Presentation Purpose

• To outline the current situation regarding employment in the cleaning industry

• To propose some possible solutions that help both the contractor and the employee


The Cleaning Industry…

•Size•Turnover •People•Trends•Issues•Challenges


Size

800,000 employees on hundreds of thousands of sites

SIC 74.7 accounts for 45% of the UK cleaning workforce (private sector only)


Turnover

Currently estimated at £8bn

- Private sector market - £3.8bn (45%)- Public sector market – 55% (est)

8200 companies (£? to £400m)Bundled services


Turnover…UK Private Cleaning Sector by Turnover

1998 1999 2000 2001

Value£m

3192 3486 3605 3800

% change

7.8 6.5 2.9 5.4


People

400,000 in the private sector400,000 in the public sector (est)

Private sector:-Average hours/week – 1567% female employees67% part time35% paid at NMWage


People…

Benefits to part time workBut full time work has increased from 15% to 33% over last 10 years

This trend will continue


Trends

•Proliferation of larger companies•Diversification of services•Slow Increase in full timers•Slow Increase in male employees•Increase in legislation


Difficulty recruiting staffDifficulty retaining staffHigh staff turnoverHigh recruitment and

induction costs

Low productivity as a resultPoor industry image

Issues


Staff turnover - 100% plusStaff retention - 50-70%Most companies report a labour shortage or difficulty in recruiting


•the work can be unpleasant•wages are not competitive•too many part-time hours •unsocial hours (atypical hours)•employees work on clients’ premises

Challenges


•Easier work elsewhere at the same pay rate or better and longer hours•Recruitment is a full-time task•Sometimes induction and basic training only

Challenges…


•Other sectors’ labour shortages have higher profile

• Too much emphasis on price

Not helped by…


The Congestion Charge!

•Thousands of cleaners affected

•Approx 75% changing their shifts or changing their minds about their job

And now….


But remember…..

Many staff prefer part-timeSome staff prefer “atypical” hoursJob satisfaction


There is evidence that…

More full time staff….. higher retentionLonger hours/week…. higher retentionMore males……………. higher retentionMore full-time males.. higher retention

Higher retention = higher productivity = better staff morale


Contract Structure

Direct Labour Costs-75% of Sales

The Cleaning industry

Contract Structure…

Average gross profit – 5%


Investment

Cleaning is seen as an expense, not a marketing tool or staff benefit (co standard) Client believes that he knows all about

cleaning

Too many contracts price-driven- remote purchasing managers


WFBSC Young Executive Award:

“Comparison of Global Investment in Cleaning and Support Services”

Investment…


• We need to break the mould of entrenched thinking

• It is possible………


Average duration of work 1999 / 2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Wor

king

hou

rs p

er w

eek

1999

2000

1999 22 20 23,2 20 28 22 20 22 15 35 24 13 22

2000 21,8 17 20 23,1 20 28 17,5 28,5 20 20 15 30 20 15 21

BE CZ DE DK ES FIN FR IT LU N NL PT SW UK EU


M&S and DEBENHAMSDAYTIME CLEANING EXPERIMENT

Employee Sample

Oct 2000 Oct 2002

Part Time 72%

Full Time 28%

Total 100%


M&S and DEBENHAMSDAYTIME CLEANING EXPERIMENT

Employee Sample

Oct 2000 Oct 2002

All DaytimeCleaning

Part Time 72% 60.5% 31.5%

Full Time 28% 39.5% 68.5%

Total 100% 100% 100%


•Agrees to a better specification•Accepts more full-time cleaning (more cleaning during working hours) or•Accepts a more flexible approach to cleaning – to help towards a living wage!

Possible solutions

Client:


•Refuses poorly structured contracts•Promotes the industry’s professionalism and best practice

Possible solutions

Contractor:


CSSA/EFCI/ Uni-Europa

• Social Dialogue – Frame of Reference to promote better working practices

• Concentrating on daytime working• Promotion of full time employment• Improving the image of the industry


We can all help by…

•Getting to know our cleaning team • Defending them against our own work colleagues•Promoting the industry

The Cleaning industry

We can all help by giving our cleaning teams the respect they deserve


Thank you for listening

Martyn VeseyCSSA

Cleaning and Support Services “A fair deal – for the employee and the contractor”

Documents

Transcript of Cleaning and Support Services “A fair deal – for the employee and the contractor”