W-2 vs. 1099 House Cleaners: What Homeowners Should Know
When you hire a house cleaning company, the people who come into your home are either W-2 employees of that company or 1099 independent contractors. It sounds like paperwork, but it changes who trains them, who’s checked their background, and who’s responsible if something goes wrong in your home.
The short answer
- W-2 employee: works for the cleaning company. The company hires, trains and directs them, pays their payroll taxes, and covers them under its own insurance.
- 1099 contractor: runs their own small business. The company can hand them jobs, but it has much less say over how they work, and much of the checking falls to you.
Neither is illegal, and good contractors exist. But with a contractor, you take on more of the homework yourself.
Who controls the work
The biggest difference is control. The IRS looks at whether a business has the “right to direct and control what work is accomplished and how the work is done” when it decides if someone is an employee or a contractor (IRS Topic 762).
For a cleaning company, that means:
| W-2 employee | 1099 contractor | |
|---|---|---|
| Training | The company trains them its way | The contractor decides how they work |
| Cleaning products | The company chooses them | The contractor chooses them |
| Methods and checklist | The company sets them | Up to the contractor |
| Uniform | The company can require one | The company can’t require one |
| Insurance | Covered under the company’s policies | Depends on what the contractor carries |
So when a company says “our cleaners use pet-safe products” or “we follow a detailed checklist,” that promise is much easier to keep with employees than with contractors.
What you check yourself with a contractor
With W-2 employees, the company handles the vetting. With 1099 contractors, it’s smart to ask the questions yourself:
- Background check: has this person been background-checked, and by whom?
- Liability insurance: if something in your home gets broken, whose insurance pays? Does the contractor carry their own?
- Injuries: if they slip on your stairs or get hurt using a ladder in your home, who covers it?
- Consistency: who trained them, and what happens if they’re sick or stop showing up?
This is a big reason homeowners choose a professional company with W-2 employees: someone else has already done this homework.
Why workers’ compensation matters to you
Workers’ compensation covers medical bills and lost wages when an employee is hurt on the job. In North Carolina, businesses that regularly employ three or more people are required to carry it (NC Industrial Commission).
That coverage is for the company’s employees. A 1099 contractor is typically responsible for their own coverage, and many solo cleaners don’t carry it. If an uninsured worker is hurt in your home, sorting out who pays can get complicated. If you’re unsure how your own policy handles it, ask your homeowners insurance agent.
When your cleaner is a W-2 employee of a company that carries workers’ comp, an injury on the job is handled through the company’s policy.
Questions to ask any cleaning company
Even when a company says its cleaners are employees, don’t assume. Ask:
- Are your cleaners W-2 employees or 1099 contractors?
- Are they background-checked before they start?
- Do you carry general liability insurance? Can I see proof?
- Do you carry workers’ compensation?
- How are your cleaners trained, and is the training ongoing?
- What happens if something is damaged, or if I’m not happy with the cleaning?
A professional company will answer all six quickly and happily.
How Dust and Mop does it
Jamie Reader started Dust and Mop in Cary in 2009. Here’s how we answer those six questions today:
- W-2 employees only. We don’t use 1099 contractors.
- Background-checked before they start.
- General liability insurance. If one of our Cleaning Pros breaks or damages something, we repair or replace it.
- Workers’ compensation, so our Cleaning Pros are covered if they’re hurt on the job in your home.
- Trained our way, with the same training for every Cleaning Pro plus weekly training.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee. If we missed something, we come back and re-clean it.
We clean homes across the Triangle, Charlotte and Greensboro, from our offices in Cary, Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro. Get your free quote or find your city: Cary · Raleigh · Charlotte · Greensboro.
This post gives general information, not legal or insurance advice.