Workbusters are a favourite amongst lawyers. So many of my clients come from the legal world, not just because Workbusters are pretty good when it comes to navigating round piles of paperwork, dusty legal tomes and the like in offices. But even in their own homes, lawyers know the true benefits of professional London cleaners over the risks of one that is cash in hand.
A cash in hand cleaner is like a Narnia wardrobe… there is a whole world behind the friendly face offering to clean your home for £10 an hour cash in hand. That whole world involves the Home Office, visas, immigration, insurance, social security, pensions, holidays, and you as a householder/ employer are legally obliged to make your relationship truly professional rather than convenient and casual.
Ah, but my cleaner comes from Poland – she’s from the EU. Aren’t we all equal these days, free movement of labour and all that, I hear you say?
Actually, no. You must be able to prove your cleaner is Polish. Have you seen her passport, made a photocopy of it? Have you got a simple contract – 10 hours a week, £10 an hour for me, at this address, cleaning the house and signed by you both. You need it, because you need to prove you have used due diligence in checking that she is a legal worker. The immigration people can knock on your door anytime and check. There can be fines for non compliance – thousands of pounds.
Similarly, if she’s Russian, does her visa include the right to do cleaning work, or just mushroom picking? If it’s just for mushroom picking and you’re paying her to clean the house, the law is being broken.
So many householders think the law about illegal immigrants only covers professional cleaning businesses like Workbusters. I’m not allowed to employ illegal immigrants, but neither are you, and not many people realise they’re as liable for criminal prosecution as me when the law is broken. Lawyers do, though, which is why so many of them sign Workbusters to clean their offices AND their homes!