Responsible Contracting
A Win-Win Solution
There are over one hundred thousand workers employed in the property services industry in Canada as cleaners, security and maintenance workers.
Many cleaning contractors in the property services industry will look for any way, legal and otherwise, to cut operating costs at the expense of workers’ rights as well as the quality of service provided to property managers and tenants.
Increasingly some cleaning contractors operate elaborate sub-contracting schemes that deny workers basic protections covered in the Employment Standards Act such as WSIB coverage, EI, vacation time, CPP contributions and sometimes minimum wage. But whether we talk about workers or building tenants and their property managers, everyone loses with the status quo.
Tenants
Building tenants suffer the consequences of incredibly overworked cleaning crews; the amount of square feet janitors are expected to clean has increased dramatically over the last decade. Naturally the quality of service decreases.
Issues like hygiene can also be a concern. Cleaners have come forward and claimed that their employers often provide them with only one pair of gloves to clean desks and toilets, while others say they only use water because they aren't provided with enough cleaning agents. In an environment where cutting costs is vital, it's not a big surprise.
Property Managers
Property manaers spend a lot of time and resources looking for contractors in this unstable industry. But of more concern is the potential criminal liability that arises as a result of the practices of many cleaning contractors.
Cleaning Companies
Legitimate companies who take pride in providing quality services to clients, who are respectful of workers and have good labour relations and who obey the law, are put at a disadvantage by companies who don’t play by the rules and break the law.
Janitors
Workers can't afford to pay for basic necessities like medications, and struggle to put food on the table and pay for rent as wages are dragged down. The instability in the industry contributes to a difficult work environment where abuse is rampant and respect is hard to come by. In many circumstances janitors do not even enjoy the benefits of the law under the ESA. (See testimonies)
But there is a Win-Win Solution to this dilemma
- improving industry standards.
Recently, a group comprised of building owners, asset managers, as well as worker and community organizations produced a document called the Responsible Property Services Code (RPSC), a code of conduct for industry stakeholders intended to address employment standards and protect worker’s rights.
Community organizations and politicians have united to demand that property owners adopt the RPSC in order to ensure all contractors are respecting the law and establish minimum standards in the industry.
An RPSC will also ensure that cleaning contractors, who obey labour laws, provide employees with livable wages and property managers with good services, will not be put at a disadvantage. Currently, suspect companies in the cleaning industry are able to undercut legitimate companies' bids for cleaning contracts and create ‘downward’ pressure on standards.
At the end of the day, the RPSC
is good for everyone involved.
Cleaning companies will be able to stabilize a workforce which currently has extreme turnover. They will be able to offer quality services without fear that they will be unfairly undercut by rogue companies.
With established standards, property managers and their tenants will receive reliable services from dependable contractors without fear of how cleaning contractors looking to "cut corners" will impact them.
Finally, hard-working janitors and their families will benefit from an increasingly stabilized industry with better wages and benefits and without the fear that rogue companies will drag standards down.
Read Draft Responsible Property Services Code
Study: Responsible Property Investing and Property Management: Exploring the Impacts of Good Labour Practices on Property Performance.