Cleaning Services Award

Coverage follows the contract cleaning business model. That question comes before rates, rosters or allowances are considered.

• Check that the business is actually providing cleaning services under contract.
• Remember the definition extends beyond ordinary cleaning to event cleaning, hygiene and pollution control, some trolley collection work and minor property maintenance incidental to cleaning.
• On-hire and group training arrangements can also be covered.

The award is broad, but it is not exclusive in every case. Mixed businesses still need a deliberate award comparison and classification decision.

• Apply the enterprise award, enterprise instrument and state public sector exclusions before assuming the industry award applies.
• If more than one award is in play, use the classification most appropriate to the work performed and the industry in which it is performed.
• Classify the employee under Schedule A rather than by client title alone.

The award expects better engagement records than many cleaning businesses keep. Those records matter because sites, hours and classification drive later entitlements.

• Tell the employee whether they are full-time, part-time or casual when engaged.
• Record the usual work location and classification, not just a generic cleaner title.
• For part-time employees, agree in writing on daily hours, days of work and start and finish times.

Part-time cleaning work has its own cost and paperwork structure under this award. Payroll needs to distinguish it clearly from full-time and casual work.

• A part-time employee under this award attracts the clause 10.2 part-time allowance for each ordinary hour worked.
• Later changes to the agreed pattern must also be recorded in writing.
• Part-time employees must be rostered in line with the rostering and minimum shift rules in clause 13.

Rostering rules are more rigid than many contract cleaners assume. Mid cycle client changes can create an award problem if the roster is simply rewritten on the spot.

• Full-time ordinary hours can be arranged in several permitted ways, including rostered day off models and agreed longer daily hours.
• Outside an emergency, an agreed full-time arrangement generally cannot be changed without at least one week's notice.
• Once a full-time arrangement is operating, it cannot be changed in the course of the cycle.

Small site design choices often create the payroll risk in cleaning. The award links cost directly to how the day is split and where the work is performed.

• For part-time and casual employees, minimum shift lengths depend on the size of the location and whether the site is a small stand-alone location.
• Broken shift allowances can arise when work is split into 2 periods within the award's maximum spread.
• Cold work rules can create both allowance and paid rest break consequences in some environments.

This is a contract driven industry, so consultation is a practical compliance issue, not just a policy document topic at head office.

• There are separate consultation clauses for major workplace change, roster or hours changes and contract change.
• When a client contract changes, check the consultation clause before implementing new hours, staffing or locations.
• Do not treat a contract loss or contract transfer as just an operational matter.

PR799280, PR799303, PR799460

The current consolidated award incorporates these recent variation determinations. Use the consolidated wording when checking any affected clause, schedule, rate or allowance.

Affected: 15 - Minimum rates, 17 - Allowances, 20 - Penalty rates, Schedule B - Summary of Hourly Rates of Pay, Schedule C - Summary of Monetary Allowances, Schedule D - Supported Wage System