Janitors and Building Service Workers

Two things decide most janitorial claims.

The workload number. Production rates in this industry nearly doubled from the mid-2000s, and by 2015 the California standard had reached one janitor cleaning 50,000 to 60,000 square feet a night. Researchers identified that workload as a work-organization hazard driving sprains and other musculoskeletal injuries. Demand the route sheets and the square-footage-per-cleaner assignment — it is the janitorial equivalent of a warehouse quota.

And who your employer actually is. Building owner → property manager → master janitorial contractor → subcontractor → sub-subcontractor → you. When the bottom tier is uninsured, California law reaches up the chain.

The subcontracting chain, and § 2810.3

Under Labor Code § 2810.3, a client employer that obtains workers from a labor contractor to perform work within its usual course of business shares all civil legal responsibility and liability with that contractor for the payment of wages and for failure to secure valid workers' compensation coverage.

That duty cannot be shifted by contract. Any waiver is void as against public policy.

There are exemptions — notably businesses with fewer than 25 workers, or five or fewer supplied at a given time — and the worker must give the client employer 30 days' notice before bringing a civil action.

Plead every tier. And support it with a common-law joint employment theory, because the building typically controls the schedule, the scope, and the access.

Check the state registry too. Under the Property Service Workers Protection Act, janitorial employers must register annually with the state, and it is unlawful to contract with an unregistered janitorial employer. An unregistered employer is almost certainly uninsured — and it is powerful evidence of an operation that disregards its obligations generally. The same law requires biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training for janitorial employees and supervisors.

What the work does

Acute: slips on wet floors including your own mopping; falls from ladders and stairs while carrying equipment; needlestick and sharps injuries from restroom and medical-office waste, with the disease exposure and the psychiatric claim that follows; lacerations from broken glass in trash bags; assault in empty buildings and parking structures at two in the morning; and chemical burns and inhalation injury from mixing incompatible cleaners.

The claim nobody files

Quaternary ammonium compounds — "quats" — are a well-documented cause of occupational asthma and reactive airway disease. Add bleach, ammonia, glycol ethers, floor stripper, and aerosolized disinfectant.

Janitors have among the highest occupational asthma rates of any occupation in the United States. Almost none of it is filed as a workers' compensation claim in California.

If you developed asthma, chronic sinus problems, or persistent skin conditions after years of this work, that is a claim.

And the night shift

Most commercial janitorial runs six to two, or ten to six. That means circadian disruption, chronic sleep debt, and elevated crash risk on the drive home — where the going-and-coming exceptions can apply if your employer required a vehicle for a multi-building route. It also means working alone, which is the exposure the harassment training law was written to address.

Getting your rate right

Split shifts and multiple buildings on one route defeat the simple wage formula. A second cleaning job is extremely common and those earnings aggregate. Some subcontractors pay per building or per square foot rather than hourly, which takes you into the earning-capacity rules. Night differentials count. Union scale and scheduled increases count.

And one recurring distortion: husband-and-wife cleaning teams paid on one check. Your individual earning capacity has to be established separately, or your benefits are halved.

If you were told you are an independent contractor cleaner: cleaning is a janitorial contractor's core business, which means that classification fails California's test.

Frequently asked questions

Consulta gratis en español. (213) 380-9310 · 24/7 intake (213) 463-6469