I saw the following ad on Craig’s List recently:
I HAVE A CLEANING BUISNESS I NEED CLEANING LADYS TO HELP. TUESDAYS -THURSDAYS FROM 9 AM -4PM 2-3 HOUSES A DAY PAYING $40 A DAY. MUST HAVE TRANSPORTAION TO AND FROM WORK . I WILL BE DRIVEING MY VAN DURING WORKING HOURS. MUST SPEAK SOME ENGLISH. MUST BE ON TIME AND RELIABLE. AND HONEST PERSON…MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE IN CLEANING..AS I INCRECE BY BUISNESS I WILL PAY MORE IF YOU ARE RELIABLE !!! BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH I DONT STOP BETWEEN JOBS. ONLY 2 SLOTS AVAIABLE LEFT…CALL MARY 703 798-____ THANKS [GOD BLESS]
Poor grammar aside, the note above appeared on Craig’s List and clearly was written by a bootlegger who somehow believes she is in business. You would be surprised at the number of people out there who think they are in business but in fact are not. They have not registered any paperwork. The IRS does not know they exist. They do not use a payroll company. Employees are not trained. No uniforms are issues and they pay their people below minimum wage.
Look again at the note above. The woman who says her name is Mary, is offering $40 a day to clean 3 houses. Let’s say that it amounts to 7 hours per day. That’s $5.71 per hour, well below minimum wage in the U.S.A. Yet, this woman is proudly advertising because she has no idea that there are employment laws. She is simply someone out there gaining clients because she is putting circulars on cars and doors. And she is gaining these clients by offering to clean homes for dirt cheap.
It really frightens me as a citizen (forget business ownership) but as a citizen it frightens me to think of what people will do to save a buck. There clearly are people out there hiring this bootlegger and her crew of day workers who are more than likely in this country illegally and who are vulnerable enough to work for her for a slave wage. Only a day worker would work 7 – 10 hours a day for $40 and they will do it for a few weeks maximum because they will go off and find real jobs paying at least minimum wage.
What this amounts to for consumers is strangers from off the street entering their homes with no cleaning training….people here illegally who could be wanted in their home countries for any number of crimes. Yet, to save a few bucks, people are hiring these pseudo companies, paying $60 or $70 to have their 3,000+ square foot homes cleaned. Yet they never stop to consider that a company charging such a low fee must be a fishy company.
Of course they are fishy. They are not a real company. They pay no taxes. They don’t have real employees. They are not insured. If they steal or damage something in a home, the home owner will not ever be compensated. And worse…these strangers, these day workers are being allowed around innocent children and animals who are unable to speak up for themselves if something evil happens to them at the hands of these strangers.
Are you looking for a cleaning company to enter your home and clean your valuables? Great! Then hire a real company. Real companies can be found on Angie’s List. They can be found on Yelp. You can check with Consumer’s Checkbook. A real company is going to have a website. And a real company is going to charge you far more than $60 or $70 to clean your home. You DO get what you pay for.
Looking for a real company that is bonded and insured and that pays its legal employees a real wage? Give us a call at 301-322-7112.