Compliance
Your liability as a client — and how we break the chain
Engaging a cleaning company can make you liable for its wages. This page explains what for, and which documents we put in front of you.
Your risk as a client
The part most providers do not mention — because it is uncomfortable, and because it is about them.
When you engage a cleaning company, a liability of your own arises: if your contractor — or its subcontractor — fails to pay the collectively agreed minimum wage, the affected employees can, under certain conditions, pursue you. Not instead of their employer, but in addition to them.
This is not a theoretical risk. It becomes real the moment work is passed down the line, and in building cleaning it frequently is, without the client being told. The longer the chain, the less you can see of who is working in your rooms and whether they are being paid properly.
- § 14 AEntG — Posted Workers Act
- A business that engages another business to carry out work or services is liable for that business's obligation to pay the minimum wage in the manner of a guarantor who has waived the defence of unexhausted remedies — and that extends to its subcontractors. Building cleaning is covered by a generally binding collective agreement that sets minimum wages.
- § 13 MiLoG — Minimum Wage Act
- Refers to § 14 AEntG for client liability, extending it to the statutory minimum wage.
- § 28e (3a) SGB IV — for comparison
- The Social Code provides a comparable liability for social security contributions in the construction industry. Whether, and how far, it carries over to cleaning services depends on the individual case — we cite the provision here only for orientation and draw no conclusion about your situation from it.
⚠️ This page paraphrases the law in our own words and is not legal advice. The statutory text governs; for your specific situation please ask your legal department or your solicitor.
How the chain of liability forms
Three links. Your exposure grows with every one you cannot see.
You, the client
You commission the cleaning of your premises and sign a contract with a provider.
The provider you engaged
They can carry the work out themselves — or pass some or all of it on. Whether they do is rarely stated in the quote.
The subcontractor
Their staff work in your rooms. You know neither their employment contracts nor their wages — but under § 14 AEntG you may be liable for them.
How we break that chain
Four mechanisms. Each has a document behind it that you can request — and that we put in front of you anyway.
We employ every cleaner ourselves
Nobody works in your building who is not employed by us. That is where the § 14 AEntG chain ends: there is no subcontractor whose wages you could be answerable for. We do not pass work on at peak load either — we move dates rather than send unknown staff into your rooms.
Employment contracts and payroll journal; declaration that no subcontractors are used
We produce clearance certificates without being asked
At the start of the contract and at intervals thereafter you receive current certificates from SOKA, the health insurer and the tax office. You neither have to remember nor to ask — which is the actual point: a document you have to request is a document you will eventually stop requesting.
Clearance certificates from SOKA, health insurer and tax office — no older than three months
We insure the damage that can happen in your rooms
Public liability including key loss and locking system damage — the claim that realistically becomes expensive in cleaning. We produce the policy before the contract starts so your procurement or legal team can review it, rather than look for it after a loss.
Public liability policy with sums insured and term
We vet every person before they enter your building
Before a first shift we hold an extended criminal record certificate and a signed confidentiality undertaking. We document both per building — for law firms, practices and property managers that is the evidence their own oversight asks for.
Extended criminal record certificates and confidentiality undertakings, documented per building
Direct employment versus subcontracting
The difference is not the cleaning. It is the question of who can give you an answer.
| Aspect | With subcontractors | With us: direct employment |
|---|---|---|
| Your liability | Extends to every link in the chain, including firms you never engaged. | Ends with us. There is no further link. |
| Who works in your rooms | Changes with the subcontractor; the client is often not told the names. | A permanent team, employed by us, documented by name. |
| Paperwork in a dispute | Has to be requested from the subcontractor — if it still exists. | Held by us, and put into your file unprompted. |
| Access and keys | The client cannot fully reconstruct who holds access. | Key handovers are receipted and documented per person. |
Insurance cover
What is covered, and for how much. We produce the policy before the contract starts so your legal or procurement team can review it.
| Cover | Sum insured | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Public liability | on request | Injury and property damage arising in your building while the work is carried out. |
| Key loss and locking systems | on request | The expensive one: if a key is lost, the problem is not the key but replacing the locking system. |
| Damage to items worked on | on request | Damage to the very things being cleaned — excluded from many standard policies. |
| Pure financial loss | on request | Financial loss without injury or property damage, where the policy includes it. |
⚠️ The sums insured are not stated here yet, because we do not publish a figure we cannot evidence with the current policy. Ask for the policy — you will receive it in full, not as an extract.
Clearance certificates
Evidence that we have actually paid our contributions and taxes — issued not by us, but by the bodies in a position to know.
A clearance certificate confirms that a business is not in arrears with the body issuing it. Three matter in building cleaning: SOKA for the collectively agreed social fund contributions, the health insurer as the collection point for social security, and the tax office for taxes. Together they cover exactly the obligations you could be pursued for as a client.
You do not have to request them: we produce current certificates at the start of the contract and send replacements before the previous ones are more than three months old. If you need them ahead of an award decision, an email to your supervisor or a phone call is enough — we send them the same working day.
Data protection and staff vetting
Two questions law firms, practices and property managers ask above all others — and they belong together, because both come down to the same thing: who is allowed to see what?
Data protection (GDPR)
Our cleaners work in rooms holding personal data — files, screens, patient records. They are bound to confidentiality and instructed neither to read nor to move documents; waste bins with confidential contents are handled only as you specify.
Where you need a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, we enter into one. Whether it is required in a given case depends on how far our work brings us into contact with your data — we settle that with you before the contract starts rather than leave it open.
Vetting of staff
Before a first shift we hold an extended criminal record certificate and a signed confidentiality undertaking. We document both per building so that you can evidence who had access, and on what basis, if it is ever questioned.
Keys are handed over against signature per person and taken back against signature when someone leaves. Who holds access is therefore reconstructable at any point — including retrospectively.
Request the documents
Proof of insurance, clearance certificates and a description of our employment model — we will put the pack together for you.
Or give us a call:030 1208 4990