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EHRC Report Finds Firms Are Failing To Protect Rights Of Cleaners


A n ex amination b y the E quality and


H uman Rights Commission ( E H RC) has rev ealed that some employers in the commercial cleaning industry are failing to meet their responsib ilities to their staff in relation to pay, holiday or sick leav e and dealing with their concerns any cleaners feel that their employer, client rms and the public do not treat them with the dignity and respect everyone should expect


T he non-domestic cleaning workforce is largely made up of omen, migrant and older orkers While the Commission found many ex amples of good practice in employment and working conditions, many cleaners spoke of b eing ‘ inv isib le’, the ‘ lowest of the low’,


b eing spoken to rudely and treated badly compared to other employees


Signicant numbers of cleaners claimed that they receiv ed no support when they complained of b eing harassed or b ullied, and some said they were punished with ex tra work or orse duties for raising concerns


O thers said they were afraid to report prob lems for fear of losing their j ob s, and a few workers said they were threatened with dismissal when they told their employer they ere pregnant


D espite the £ 8 b illion contrib ution which the cleaning industry makes to the British economy each year, large numb ers of cleaners reported prob lems with under-payment or non-payment of ages his can drive them into poverty and indebtedness he report identied examples of workers b eing sacked for complaining about not being paid in full or on time


T he Commission, which promotes and enforces the laws that protect ev eryone’s right to b e treated with fairness, dignity and respect, makes a numb er of recommendations for the industry hese include encouraging clients to commission


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cleaning serv ices at liv ing wage rates as a matter of good practice, b ut it also wants them to consider what action they can take to ensure that cleaners are treated with the same dignity and respect as their own orkforce and customers


Commissioner Caroline Waters commented: “ F airness, dignity and respect are v alues we all share, yet the Commission uncov ered some disturb ing ev idence of the ab sence of these in the treatment of many cleaning workers b y superv isors, clients and the public ur evidence showed that, while many workers are treated well, enj oy their j ob and


have their rights upheld, a signicant number do not any felt that they were not appreciated or afforded the dignity and respect shown to others in the orkplace


“ T hey may b e b ullied b y superv isors, hav e prob lems with their pay, and hav e ex cessiv e workloads – this can often b e linked to a focus on reducing costs at the ex pense of good practice in employment and contracting  am looking forward to working with the cleaning rms, nion representatives, clients, trade b odies and gov ernment organisations; together, I b eliev e we will identify key actions to improv e practices across the sector


T he BCC, the v oice of the cleaning industry, welcomes any initiativ e that seeks to raise standards in the cleaning sector While they elcome the E H RC’s work, the Council does hav e concerns with the methodology of the investigation hey argue that the ndings ere based on a tiny amount of ev idence, with only around 1 % of those employed in the industry asked to give evidence he  itself admits that the ndings are ‘ not statistically representativ e of conditions in the cleaning sector’, and so its conclusions must b e read in that context he report also excluded cleaning in the domestic sector which is a signicant omission


Whilst they don’t dispute the ev idence from cleaners, the BCC reiterates that these are j ust a few lone v oices in what is a huge sector, and don’t accept that this is as widespread as the report tries to imply – the v ast maj ority of cleaning contractors treat staff with fairness, dignity and respect evertheless, the B feels that the taskforce will b e v ery useful in b ringing all the maj or stakeholders together, and look forward to working with them to see how they can raise standards even more


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