Contractor agreement for a cleaner working through a cleaning company

Cleaning companies that engage self-employed cleaners are running a model that works for a cleaner with their own clients, their own equipment and the freedom to take or leave jobs, and does not work for a cleaner who is sent to the company's sites on a schedule, supervised by the company and paid by the hour. The agreement has to describe the model the company runs, set the pay and the rules for keys and clients' premises, allocate equipment, products and safety, and protect the company's clients without restrictions it could not enforce. I draft that agreement, for the company or for the cleaner, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. Each engagement is checked against HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool, and the agreement cannot guarantee how an individual's status will be decided.

Who this is for

Domestic and commercial cleaning companies and cleaning agencies in England and Wales engaging self-employed cleaners, and cleaners who want to understand the agreement they have been given.

What matters in a cleaner's agreement

The status question for cleaners

A cleaner who personally performs work for a company that is not their client is a worker under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 unless in business on their own account, with rights under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Working Time Regulations 1998, and may be an employee where the company controls the work; the self-employed model is credible where the cleaner has their own clients, chooses which jobs to take, supplies their own equipment and can send a substitute, and is not credible where the company allocates sites on a schedule and supervises the cleaning. The agreement reflects the self-employed model and the company should employ cleaners where it runs the other one, including under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 when contracts change hands.

Jobs, sites and the freedom to decline

The agreement should say that the company offers jobs (site, scope, frequency, time window, rate) which the cleaner may accept or decline, that the cleaner may work for other companies and their own clients, that an accepted job is a commitment with notice for withdrawing and a substitute the company approves, and that the cleaner decides how the cleaning is done to the standard the client requires; a company that needs the cleaner at set times under its supervision is describing a job, and the agreement should not be used to disguise one.

Pay per job or per hour and the minimum wage

The agreement should state the rate per job or per hour, the expected duration, travel between sites where paid, how work is confirmed, the invoicing and payment cycle with interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and no deductions beyond those agreed; a rate per job that works out below the minimum wage for the time taken is a liability under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 if the cleaner is in fact a worker, and the agreement should set rates that do not depend on the label.

Keys, security and the client's premises

The agreement should set the rules for keys and alarm codes (held securely, not copied, returned on request, loss reported immediately), the cleaner's obligations on the client's premises (no use of the client's property, no admitting others, reporting damage and incidents), confidentiality about the client and its premises, and the checks the company requires, including enhanced disclosure under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 regime where the cleaner works in schools, care settings or homes with vulnerable people; the company's insurance should cover loss and damage at clients' premises with the cleaner's excess stated.

Equipment, products and safety

The agreement should say who provides equipment and products (the cleaner, in the self-employed model, or the client at its premises), that products are used as their safety data sheets require with the assessments the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 call for, that the cleaner holds the training the work needs, follows the client's site rules and reports hazards, and holds public liability insurance; the company owes duties under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to cleaners affected by its operation, and the client's premises are the client's responsibility as occupier under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957.

Clients, non-solicitation and ending

The agreement should say that clients the company introduced are the company's, with a non-solicitation for a reasonable period and a stated fee where a client engages the cleaner directly within that period, that the cleaner's own clients are the cleaner's, that the cleaner handles clients' personal data only for the job under the UK GDPR, and that either side may end on short notice with jobs accepted completed or reassigned; the company's right to stop offering jobs for complaints or breaches is the self-employed sanction, and the agreement should not contain a disciplinary procedure.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

Our cleaners work the same sites every week on our schedule. Can they be self-employed?

That pattern is close to employment, and a tribunal would likely find them workers at least, with minimum wage and holiday rights. The agreement describes a self-employed model with real freedom to decline; where the company needs the schedule, it should employ.

A client wants to take on our cleaner directly. Can we charge?

The agreement provides a fee where a client the company introduced engages the cleaner directly within a stated period, set at a reasonable level. A ban on the cleaner ever working for the client is unlikely to be enforced.

Who insures damage at a client's house?

The company's policy, with the cleaner's excess stated, or the cleaner's own public liability cover, as the agreement says. Either way the cleaner reports damage immediately and the company deals with the client.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Subcontractor terms for a cleaning company
• Contractor agreement for a dog walker working for an agency

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.