← Back to resources
Template + Legal Guide

Employment contract template for cleaning staff: what you must include by law in the UK

Getting employment contracts wrong exposes your cleaning business to tribunals, backdated pay claims and regulatory penalties. This guide covers every legal requirement, every cleaning-specific clause worth including, and gives you a complete ready-to-use contract template you can adapt today.

C
Cadi editorial
4 May 2026 · 9 min read

Most cleaning business owners in England, Scotland and Wales hire their first cleaner on a verbal agreement or a brief WhatsApp exchange. It works — until it doesn't. When a dispute arises over hours, pay, notice, or what happens to a client's key when an employee leaves, the absence of a written contract transforms a manageable disagreement into an employment tribunal claim.

The legal requirement to provide a written statement of employment particulars has existed since the Employment Rights Act 1996. Reforms effective from April 2020 (through the Good Work Plan) significantly expanded what must be included — and brought the deadline forward to day one of employment. If you are employing cleaning staff anywhere in the UK — in London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham or a small market town — the requirement applies regardless of hours, pay level or contract type.

This guide explains exactly what UK law requires, what additional clauses genuinely matter for a cleaning business, how to approach zero-hours vs part-time vs full-time decisions, and includes a complete template you can use immediately.

⚠ This guide is for information only — not legal advice
This resource provides general guidance on UK employment law as it applies to cleaning businesses. Employment law is complex and evolves. For contracts covering unusual circumstances, significant seniority or where you are uncertain about an individual's employment status, consult a qualified employment solicitor or HR professional. The template in this guide is a starting point, not a substitute for professional advice.
Day 1
When the written statement must be provided (since April 2020)
5.6 wks
Statutory minimum paid holiday entitlement per year
4 wks
Maximum Employment Tribunal award for failing to provide a written statement

What UK law requires — the Section 1 statement of particulars

The Employment Rights Act 1996, Section 1, requires every employer to give each employee a written statement of the main terms and conditions of their employment. Before April 2020, employers had two months to provide this document. The Good Work Plan reforms changed that: since 6 April 2020, the statement must be provided on or before the employee's first day of work. The right also now extends to workers — not just employees — though the required content is slightly different.

The statement of particulars is not optional. It is a statutory entitlement. Failure to provide it gives the employee the right to apply to an Employment Tribunal, which can award between two and four weeks' gross pay as compensation — even if the employee has no other complaint. If a dispute arises about the terms of employment and no written statement exists, a Tribunal will decide what the terms were, not you.

For cleaning businesses operating across England, Scotland and Wales, the practical risk is significant. Cleaning staff turnover can be high. If you employ 15 people without written contracts and three of them leave unhappily in the same year, you face three separate tribunal claims where you have no written documentation to rely on. A clear written contract, issued on day one, eliminates that exposure entirely.

What the employment contract must legally include

The Good Work Plan reforms of 2020 expanded the list of particulars that must be included in the principal statement — the part that must be given on day one. Some items can still be provided in a supplementary written statement within two months, but the principal statement must contain a substantial body of information from the outset.

Employer and employee details

The full legal name of the employer (your business name as registered, not a trading name alone), the employee's full name, and both addresses. If your business is a limited company, use the registered company name. If you operate as a sole trader, use your own name trading as your business name. Getting this right matters: a contract in the wrong business name cannot be enforced as written.

Start date and continuous employment

The date employment begins, and whether any previous employment with the same employer counts toward the employee's period of continuous employment. Continuous employment affects statutory rights including unfair dismissal protection (which accrues after two years), redundancy pay, and enhanced notice entitlements. If you are taking over a cleaning contract where staff transfer under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment) regulations, the previous employer's service counts as continuous — this must be reflected in the contract.

Job title and duties

The employee's job title and a brief description of their work. For cleaning businesses, common titles include Cleaning Operative, Domestic Cleaner, Commercial Cleaning Operative, Cleaning Team Leader, Area Supervisor, and Contract Supervisor. The description of duties should be general enough not to be needlessly restrictive — "carrying out cleaning duties at client sites as directed by the employer" is appropriate — but specific enough to reflect the actual role. A cleaning operative and a team leader should have materially different duty descriptions.

Place of work

The place or places of work, or where the employee is required or permitted to work at various places, an indication of that and the employer's address. For cleaning businesses, this is important: most cleaning operatives work at client sites rather than a fixed employer address. The contract should reflect this reality — "various client sites as notified by the employer from time to time, with no fixed place of work" is the appropriate formulation for mobile cleaning staff. If operatives are based at a single site (a hospital, school, or large commercial facility), specify that site address.

Hours of work

The employee's normal working hours, the days of the week they are required to work, and whether those hours or days may vary. This is one of the most important and most frequently disputed terms in cleaning employment. Be specific: days of the week, start and finish times, total weekly hours. If hours genuinely vary, this needs to be stated clearly rather than left vague.

For zero-hours workers, you must still specify the fact that hours are not guaranteed and describe how work will be offered and what happens if it is declined. The contract cannot simply be silent on the point.

Pay rate, pay frequency and pay date

The scale or rate of remuneration, or the method of calculating remuneration, and the intervals at which it is paid (weekly, fortnightly, monthly). All cleaning staff must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 — the National Living Wage (for workers aged 21 and over) from April 2025 is £12.21 per hour. The contract must specify the rate, whether it is hourly or salaried, and the pay date (for example, "the last working day of each calendar month" or "every Friday").

Holiday entitlement

Holiday entitlement is governed by the Working Time Regulations 1998. The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid leave per year, which for a full-time worker working five days per week equals 28 days including the 8 UK bank holidays. Part-time workers receive a pro-rated entitlement. The contract must state the entitlement and the holiday year dates (for example, 1 January to 31 December or 1 April to 31 March). It must also state the rules on accrual during the first year, whether bank holidays are included within the 5.6 weeks or additional, and what happens to untaken leave at year end.

Sick pay

The terms and conditions relating to incapacity for work and sickness, including any provisions for sick pay. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the minimum: in 2025–26 it is £116.75 per week, payable from day four of illness (days one to three are waiting days under standard SSP rules). If you offer an enhanced company sick pay scheme, this must be set out in full — the number of weeks of company sick pay at full or half pay, any qualifying period, and conditions for entitlement. Many cleaning businesses pay SSP only, which is lawful provided it is clearly stated in the contract.

Notice period

The length of notice the employee is required to give and entitled to receive. Statutory minimums under the Employment Rights Act 1996 are: one week from the employer after one month's continuous service, rising by one week per complete year up to a maximum of 12 weeks. The employee must give one week after one month of employment. You can and should specify a contractual notice period — typically one week for cleaning operatives (matching the statutory minimum initially), rising to one month for team leaders and supervisors. You cannot set a contractual notice period below the statutory minimum, but you can set it higher.

Pension

Pension contributions and auto-enrolment obligations arise under the Pensions Act 2008. If a worker is aged 22 or over, earning above the earnings trigger (£10,000 per year for 2025–26), and working in the UK, you must auto-enrol them into a qualifying workplace pension scheme. Minimum employer contributions are currently 3% of qualifying earnings. The contract should reference your pension scheme and confirm the employer's contribution rate. Workers below the threshold may still opt in and receive employer contributions — this should also be mentioned.

Disciplinary and grievance procedure

Since the 2020 reforms, the principal statement must specify, or refer to another document containing, the disciplinary rules and procedure and the grievance procedure. You do not need to include the full procedure in the contract body, but you must reference a separate document (a staff handbook or standalone policy) and ensure that document is provided to the employee on or before day one. A cleaning business without a written disciplinary and grievance procedure is exposed to unfair dismissal claims where the process used will be judged against ACAS Code of Practice standards regardless.

Cleaning-specific clauses to include

Beyond the legally required particulars, a cleaning employment contract should include clauses that reflect the specific circumstances of the role. These are not legally mandatory in the way that Section 1 particulars are, but they are practically essential for managing a cleaning workforce and resolving the disputes that are most likely to arise.

Uniform and PPE requirements

State what uniform the employee is required to wear (company-branded polo shirt, trousers, non-slip footwear), who supplies it, who pays for it, and what happens to it at the end of employment. Under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, any deduction or charge for uniform that takes a worker's pay below minimum wage in a pay reference period is unlawful — so if you supply uniform at cost to the employee, take legal advice before deducting it from wages. PPE obligations under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended) require employers to provide PPE at no cost.

DBS check consent and costs

If your cleaning contracts involve working in homes (domestic cleaning), schools, care settings, or any regulated activity, you may require enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks. The contract should include a clause confirming the employee's consent to a DBS check being carried out, confirming that the cost is borne by the employer (which is almost universal practice), and confirming that a satisfactory DBS check is a condition of continued employment in roles where one is required. Note that basic DBS checks for general commercial cleaning do not disclose spent convictions — be precise about which level applies to each role.

Client site confidentiality

Cleaning operatives work in clients' homes, offices, schools, and commercial premises. They have access to confidential information — personal belongings, business documents left on desks, CCTV footage, access codes. The contract should include a confidentiality clause requiring the employee to keep all information about client sites, clients' personal circumstances, and business information confidential, both during and after employment. This clause is enforceable as a matter of contract law and is separate from any data protection obligations under UK GDPR.

Social media and photography on client premises

This is increasingly important. Staff photographing client premises — even for innocuous purposes like sharing a beautiful kitchen on Instagram — can cause serious damage to client relationships and your business's reputation. The contract should contain an explicit prohibition on photographing or filming any client premises, belongings, or persons without the prior written permission of both the client and the employer, and a prohibition on posting any client-identifiable content on social media platforms.

Equipment care and liability for loss or damage

Cleaning operatives use expensive equipment — commercial vacuum cleaners, steam cleaners, floor buffers, pressure washers. The contract should include a clause requiring proper care of company equipment, requiring prompt reporting of damage or faults, and confirming that deliberate or grossly negligent damage may result in disciplinary action. Any clause purporting to make an employee financially liable for accidental damage to equipment must be drafted carefully — deducting wages for accidental breakages is only lawful with prior written authorisation and subject to minimum wage protection.

Lone working acknowledgement

Many cleaning operatives work alone — in domestic properties, commercial buildings out of hours, or on exterior cleaning jobs. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers have a duty to assess the risks of lone working and put appropriate controls in place. The contract should reference the employer's lone working policy and include a clause confirming the employee's acknowledgement of their responsibilities: checking in at the start and end of each shift, following agreed communication protocols, and reporting incidents promptly. This is a meaningful protection both for the employee's safety and for your liability position.

Right to work checks

Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, employers in the UK must carry out right to work checks before employment begins. Failure to do so, where an employee turns out not to have the right to work, can result in a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. The contract should confirm that employment is conditional on the employee providing satisfactory evidence of the right to work in the UK, that this evidence will be retained on file, and that any change in right to work status must be reported immediately. Document every check — record the date, what was seen, and retain a copy.

Zero-hours vs part-time vs full-time: which is right for cleaning staff?

This is one of the most common questions cleaning business owners ask. The answer depends on your operational model, the predictability of your work volumes, and how you want to manage your labour costs. There is no universally correct answer, but there are material legal and practical differences that affect which option is right in each circumstance.

When zero-hours contracts are legitimate in cleaning

Zero-hours contracts are genuinely appropriate in cleaning in specific circumstances: for holiday and sickness cover operatives who are only called on when regular staff are absent; for seasonal or event cleaning staff whose work is genuinely irregular; for new starters during a trial period before a regular pattern is established; and for operatives who genuinely prefer not to have guaranteed hours because they work for multiple employers. In all of these cases, the operational reality matches the contract structure.

The risks of misuse

Zero-hours contracts are frequently misused in cleaning — not necessarily with malicious intent, but because the flexibility they offer to the employer is appealing even when the operational reality does not justify them. Using zero-hours contracts to avoid providing holiday pay, to avoid auto-enrolment, or to manage headcount without redundancy liability are all unlawful or at minimum legally risky. Workers on zero-hours contracts still accrue statutory holiday at 12.07% of hours worked. They are still assessed for auto-enrolment in each pay period. And they still have protections against unfair treatment and victimisation.

The 'regular pattern' trap

The most significant practical risk for cleaning businesses is what employment lawyers call the regular pattern trap. If a worker on a zero-hours contract works the same hours, at the same times, at the same client sites, week after week for several months, there is a growing body of case law — and legislative pressure through the Employment Rights Bill progressing in 2025–26 — that suggests they have an implied contractual right to those hours. Worse, some tribunal cases have found that the reality of employment, not the label on the contract, determines the legal relationship. A cleaning business that issues zero-hours contracts and then books the same operatives for the same shifts every week is not actually operating zero-hours arrangements — it is operating de facto fixed-hours employment under the wrong contractual label, with all the liability exposure that creates.

ℹ Practical guidance on contract type choice
Regular domestic cleaning rounds (same clients, same days, same hours week to week): use part-time fixed-hours contracts. The work is predictable; the contract should match the reality. Commercial contract cleaning (fixed site, fixed schedule): use full-time or part-time fixed-hours contracts matching the site schedule. Holiday and sickness cover: zero-hours is appropriate. New starters: consider a fixed-term or probationary full contract rather than a zero-hours arrangement — it is cleaner to upgrade hours than to defend a misclassification claim later.
Contract type Best suited to Holiday accrual Auto-enrolment Key risk
Full-time Commercial site cleaners, supervisors, full-time domestic rounds 28 days (5.6 wks) If over earnings trigger Redundancy costs if volume drops
Part-time Domestic cleaners, morning-only commercial, school hours Pro-rated 5.6 wks If over earnings trigger Fewer hours ≠ fewer rights
Zero-hours Cover operatives, seasonal, genuinely variable work 12.07% of hours worked Assessed per pay period 'Regular pattern' implied rights

The employment contract template

The template below covers all Section 1 particulars required under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended), all cleaning-specific clauses described above, and is formatted for direct use. Replace all text in [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your own details. The template uses straightforward, plain-English language appropriate for cleaning operatives across England, Scotland and Wales. Review it with an employment solicitor before issuing if your business employs more than 10 people or operates across multiple sites.

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT [YOUR BUSINESS NAME] [Your address] [Your phone number] | [Your email address] [Company number if limited company] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ EMPLOYER: [Your full business name] [Business address, postcode] [Registered in England & Wales / Scotland / Wales — delete as applicable] EMPLOYEE: [Employee full name] [Employee home address, postcode] [Employee date of birth — for NMW rate verification] [Employee National Insurance number] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 1. DATE OF COMMENCEMENT AND CONTINUOUS EMPLOYMENT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Your employment begins on [DD/MM/YYYY]. [OPTION A — no prior service counts:] No previous employment with the employer counts as part of your continuous period of employment for statutory purposes. [OPTION B — prior service counts (e.g. TUPE transfer):] Your period of continuous employment for statutory purposes began on [DD/MM/YYYY], being the date your employment with [previous employer name] began, which transfers to [your business name] on [transfer date]. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 2. JOB TITLE AND DUTIES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Your job title is: [Cleaning Operative / Domestic Cleaner / Commercial Cleaning Operative / Cleaning Team Leader / Cleaning Supervisor — delete as applicable] Your duties include but are not limited to: - Carrying out cleaning duties at client sites as directed by the employer - [For Cleaning Operative: general cleaning of assigned areas including surfaces, floors, sanitary areas and common parts in accordance with client specifications and any COSHH risk assessments in place] - [For Team Leader/Supervisor: supervising a team of cleaning operatives, allocating tasks, monitoring quality standards, reporting to management, and carrying out cleaning duties as required] - Using equipment and materials correctly and in accordance with COSHH assessments and training - Reporting any maintenance issues, safety hazards, or client complaints to your line manager promptly - Completing any timesheets, check-in systems or other records required by the employer - Any other reasonable duties as requested by the employer The employer reserves the right to vary your duties within reason to meet the needs of the business, provided any material changes are agreed with you in advance. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 3. PLACE OF WORK ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [OPTION A — mobile/multiple sites:] You will be required to work at various client sites as notified by the employer from time to time. You have no fixed place of work. The employer's registered address is [address]. You may be required to work at any client site within a reasonable travelling distance of your home address. [OPTION B — single fixed site:] Your normal place of work is [full site address, postcode]. You may occasionally be required to work at alternative sites at the employer's reasonable request. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 4. HOURS OF WORK ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [OPTION A — fixed hours:] Your normal hours of work are [X] hours per week, worked on the following days and times: Monday: [start time] to [end time] Tuesday: [start time] to [end time] Wednesday: [start time] to [end time] Thursday: [start time] to [end time] Friday: [start time] to [end time] [Saturday / Sunday: [start time] to [end time] — include or delete as applicable] You are entitled to a [30-minute / unpaid 20-minute] rest break for shifts of [6 hours / more than 6 hours] in accordance with the Working Time Regulations 1998. [OPTION B — zero-hours / variable hours:] This is a zero-hours contract. You are not guaranteed a minimum number of working hours in any week. Work will be offered to you by the employer as and when it is available, and you are not obliged to accept any work offered. When work is offered and accepted, you will be notified of the relevant hours, location and start time in advance. There is no obligation on either party to offer or accept work. Regardless of the variability of your hours, the employer will comply with all statutory obligations in respect of holiday accrual, pay, rest periods and any other entitlements under the Working Time Regulations 1998 calculated on the basis of actual hours worked. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 5. REMUNERATION ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Pay rate: [OPTION A — hourly:] You will be paid at the rate of £[X.XX] per hour. This rate is at or above the applicable National Minimum Wage rate for your age group. [OPTION B — annual salary:] You will be paid an annual salary of £[XX,XXX], payable in equal monthly instalments. Pay frequency: [Weekly / Fortnightly / Monthly] Pay date: [E.g. "The last working day of each calendar month" / "Every Friday" / "The [Xth] of each month"] Payment will be made by BACS transfer directly into your nominated bank account. You are responsible for providing the employer with accurate bank details and notifying the employer of any changes promptly. Your pay will be subject to deductions for income tax and National Insurance contributions as required by law. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 6. HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Holiday year: [1 January to 31 December / 1 April to 31 March / Your start date to the anniversary of your start date — choose one] [OPTION A — full-time, fixed hours:] You are entitled to [28] days of paid holiday per holiday year, including the 8 UK bank holidays. This is the statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks under the Working Time Regulations 1998. [OPTION B — part-time, fixed hours:] You are entitled to [X] days of paid holiday per holiday year (calculated as 5.6 weeks pro-rated to your contracted hours of [X] hours per week), including a pro-rated entitlement in respect of bank holidays falling on your normal working days. [OPTION C — zero-hours / irregular hours:] Holiday accrues at the rate of 12.07% of all hours worked in each pay period. Your holiday pay will be calculated and paid in accordance with the Working Time Regulations 1998 as amended. Holiday requests must be made to [your line manager / the employer] with at least [X weeks'] notice. The employer reserves the right to refuse holiday requests during [peak periods / contracted site cover periods] where operational requirements require it, and to require you to take holiday at specified times. Holiday accrued but not taken at the end of the holiday year will be [carried over to the next holiday year up to a maximum of [X] days / lost — except where carryover is required by law due to illness or statutory leave]. On termination of employment, accrued but untaken holiday will be paid in lieu. If you have taken more holiday than accrued, the employer may deduct the excess from your final pay, which you hereby authorise. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 7. SICK PAY AND ABSENCE ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you are absent from work due to sickness or injury, you must notify [your line manager / the employer] by telephone (not text message alone) as early as possible on the first day of absence and no later than [X] hours before your shift was due to start. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): You will receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) in accordance with the current SSP regulations, provided you meet the qualifying conditions. SSP is currently payable from the fourth consecutive day of illness at the prescribed rate set by the government from time to time. Days one to three are qualifying/waiting days and are not paid under SSP. [OPTION — if offering company sick pay above SSP:] Company sick pay: In addition to SSP, the employer may, at its absolute discretion, pay company sick pay as follows: [X weeks at full pay / X weeks at half pay] in any rolling 12-month period, subject to a qualifying period of [X months'] continuous employment. Any company sick pay paid will be inclusive of SSP. Company sick pay is discretionary and does not form part of your contractual entitlement. Absences of up to [7] calendar days may be self-certified. For absences of more than [7] consecutive calendar days, you must provide a Statement of Fitness for Work (fit note) from your GP or other authorised medical practitioner. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 8. NOTICE PERIOD ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Notice from the employer to you: During the first month of employment: No notice required (though the employer will endeavour to give reasonable notice). After one month and up to one year: One week's written notice. After one complete year of continuous employment: One week's written notice per complete year of service, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Notice from you to the employer: After one month of employment: [One week's / one month's] written notice. Notice must be given in writing (letter or email). The employer may, at its discretion, pay in lieu of notice rather than require you to work out your notice period. During any notice period, the employer may place you on garden leave. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 9. PENSION AND AUTO-ENROLMENT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The employer operates a workplace pension scheme in compliance with the automatic enrolment obligations under the Pensions Act 2008. Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled into the scheme upon meeting the relevant qualifying criteria (currently age 22 or over and earning above £10,000 per year). The employer's current pension scheme is provided by [NEST / The People's Pension / other provider — insert name]. The employer's minimum contribution is [3%] of qualifying earnings and the employee's minimum contribution is [5%] of qualifying earnings (total minimum contribution 8%). You have the right to opt out of the pension scheme within the statutory opt-out window. You will be re-enrolled every three years in accordance with legal requirements. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 10. PROBATIONARY PERIOD ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Your employment is subject to a probationary period of [4 / 8 / 12] weeks commencing on your start date. During the probationary period, your performance and suitability will be reviewed. The employer may extend the probationary period by up to [4] further weeks where a longer assessment period is required. During the probationary period, the notice period on either side is [one week / as above]. Successful completion of the probationary period will be confirmed to you in writing. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 11. UNIFORM AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The employer will provide the following uniform / PPE at no cost to you: - [Company-branded polo shirt / t-shirt — quantity: X] - [Trousers / cargo trousers — quantity: X] - [Non-slip safety footwear — [supplied by employer / you are required to provide your own and will receive an allowance of £X]] - [Hi-visibility vest where required] - [Disposable gloves, cleaning gloves, aprons, face coverings as required by task risk assessments] Uniform remains the property of the employer. You must wear it while on duty and keep it clean and in good condition. Uniform must be returned in good condition on termination of employment. Failure to return uniform may result in a deduction from your final pay, provided this does not reduce your pay below the National Minimum Wage in the relevant pay period. Additional PPE required by specific client sites or COSHH risk assessments will be provided by the employer at no cost to you. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 12. DBS CHECK ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [Include this section if DBS checks are required for any roles — delete if not applicable] This role requires a [Basic / Standard / Enhanced / Enhanced with barred list check — select appropriate level] DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. By signing this contract, you consent to the employer applying for a DBS check on your behalf. The cost of the DBS check will be borne by the employer. Your continued employment in this role is conditional upon receipt of a satisfactory DBS check. For roles involving work with children or vulnerable adults, an Enhanced DBS check is mandatory and employment cannot continue if the check reveals information that makes you unsuitable for such work. You must notify the employer immediately of any changes in your criminal record status or any charges, cautions, convictions or reprimands received during your employment. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 13. CONFIDENTIALITY AND CLIENT SITE INFORMATION ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ You may, in the course of your employment, have access to confidential information about the employer's business, its clients, client premises, client personnel, access arrangements, and other matters that are not in the public domain. You must: - Keep all client site information strictly confidential during and after your employment - Not disclose the address, access arrangements, contents, or any personal information about any client to any third party - Not discuss client matters with family members, friends, or on any social media platform - Report to your line manager immediately if you are asked by any person for information about a client or their premises This obligation of confidentiality survives the termination of your employment and continues indefinitely. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 14. PHOTOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL MEDIA ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ You must not photograph, film, or record any client premises, client belongings, or any person at a client site at any time without the prior written permission of both the client and the employer. You must not post any photographs, videos, comments, or identifying information about any client, client premises, or employer business operations on any social media platform, review site, messaging application, or any other public or semi-public channel without the prior written permission of the employer. This prohibition applies regardless of whether the content appears to be positive or harmless. Breach of this clause may result in disciplinary action up to and including summary dismissal. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 15. EQUIPMENT CARE ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ All equipment provided by the employer for use in carrying out your duties remains the property of the employer at all times. You must: - Use all equipment only for its intended purpose and in accordance with any training and operating instructions provided - Report any faults, damage, or loss to your line manager as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than the end of the same working day - Not permit any third party to use employer equipment without express authorisation - Return all equipment promptly at the end of your employment or upon request The employer accepts responsibility for the costs of normal wear and tear. Deliberate damage, gross negligence, or failure to report damage or loss promptly may result in disciplinary action and, where lawful, a deduction from wages in respect of any loss suffered by the employer, with your prior written authorisation. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 16. LONE WORKING ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Where your role requires you to work alone at a client site, you must comply with the employer's Lone Working Policy (provided separately). Your responsibilities include: - Checking in with [line manager / employer / via the employer's app or system] at the start of each lone working shift or visit - Checking out at the end of each shift - Reporting immediately any situation at a client site that makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable - Never entering a premises where you feel threatened or unsafe — contact your line manager immediately in such circumstances The employer will carry out lone working risk assessments as required under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and will take all reasonably practicable steps to protect your safety. You are required to cooperate with all health and safety measures implemented by the employer. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 17. RIGHT TO WORK ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Your employment is conditional upon you having and maintaining the right to work in the United Kingdom throughout your employment. You confirm that all documents provided to the employer to demonstrate your right to work are genuine, current, and belong to you. You must notify the employer immediately if your right to work status changes or if your right to work in the UK is subject to any condition, restriction, or time limit. The employer will retain a copy of your right to work documents on file in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 and Home Office guidance. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 18. DISCIPLINARY AND GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The employer's disciplinary and grievance procedures are set out in the [Staff Handbook / separate policy document] provided to you with this contract. These procedures comply with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. These procedures do not form part of your contractual terms and the employer reserves the right to amend them from time to time. They are provided for guidance only and may be departed from where circumstances reasonably require. The employer may carry out a period of investigation before invoking formal disciplinary procedures. Gross misconduct, including but not limited to theft, deliberate damage to client property, breach of confidentiality, physical or verbal abuse, or working while unfit due to alcohol or drugs, may result in summary dismissal without prior notice. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 19. DATA PROTECTION ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The employer will hold and process personal data about you in connection with your employment in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The employer's Privacy Notice (provided separately) sets out the categories of data held, the purposes for which it is processed, and your rights as a data subject. You must comply with the employer's data protection policies at all times, including in respect of any personal data relating to clients that you may encounter in the course of your duties. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 20. DEDUCTIONS FROM WAGES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The employer may only make deductions from your wages where authorised by statute (such as income tax and National Insurance) or where you have given prior written consent. The following potential deductions are hereby authorised by you on signing this contract: - Overpayments of wages made to you in error - Return of uniform not returned on termination (subject to the minimum wage floor) - [Any other specific deductions — list here with amounts / calculation method] No deduction will reduce your pay below the applicable National Minimum Wage rate for the pay reference period. No other deductions will be made without your specific written consent at the time. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 21. OTHER EMPLOYMENT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ You must notify the employer if you are employed by any other employer or carry out any self-employed work that may conflict with your duties, create a conflict of interest, or affect your ability to comply with Working Time Regulations 1998 limits on total working hours. The employer reserves the right to require you to cease any outside work that creates a genuine conflict of interest with your employment. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 22. COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [If applicable:] Your terms and conditions of employment are affected by the following collective agreements negotiated with [trade union name]: [details]. A copy of the relevant collective agreement is available from [location / HR]. [If not applicable:] There are no collective agreements in force that affect the terms and conditions of your employment. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 23. GOVERNING LAW ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ This contract is governed by the laws of England and Wales [/ Scotland — amend as applicable]. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this contract shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales [/ Scotland]. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND SIGNATURES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ By signing below, both parties confirm that they have read, understood, and agree to the terms and conditions set out in this contract. EMPLOYER Signed: ____________________________ Date: _____________ Name (print): ______________________ Position: __________________________ On behalf of: [Business name] EMPLOYEE Signed: ____________________________ Date: _____________ Name (print): ______________________ Please retain a copy of this contract for your own records. A copy will be held securely by [business name]. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SCHEDULE 1 — SPECIFIC TERMS FOR THIS POST (complete and attach to all contracts) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Employee name: [Full name] Job title: [Title] Start date: [DD/MM/YYYY] Contract type: [Full-time / Part-time / Zero-hours] Contracted hours: [X hours per week / Zero-hours] Working days/times: [Details or "As notified"] Pay rate: £[X.XX] per [hour / annum] Pay date: [Details] Place of work: [Site address / Various client sites] Line manager: [Name and contact] DBS check required: [Yes — level: X / No] Probationary period: [X weeks] Holiday year: [Dates] Holiday entitlement: [X days / 12.07% of hours] Notice (employer): [Details] Notice (employee): [Details] Pension scheme: [Provider name]

How to issue contracts correctly

A contract that exists but was not properly issued is almost as problematic as no contract at all. Employment tribunals regularly consider not just what the contract says, but whether it was actually given to the employee before or on their first day, whether they were given a chance to read it, and whether they freely agreed to it.

Issue the contract before or on day one

Since 6 April 2020, the written statement must be provided on or before the employee's first day of work. The most sensible practice is to issue the contract when the job offer is accepted — send it by email with a signed copy request, or provide it in person with enough time for the employee to read it before signing. An employee who is handed a contract and asked to sign it immediately while standing in the car park before their first shift has not genuinely had the chance to read or agree to it. If a subsequent dispute arises, that signature is significantly weaker as evidence.

Get it signed — and keep a copy

Obtain the employee's wet signature on a physical copy (or use an electronic signature platform) and keep a signed copy in the employee's personnel file. Send the employee their own signed copy — do not just take both copies back. An employee who says they never received their contract has a credible claim if you cannot prove you sent it and they cannot find their copy. Keep a file note of when it was sent and how, retain email correspondence if sent digitally, and file the signed copy securely.

Acknowledge the attached documents

If your contract references a staff handbook, lone working policy, COSHH risk assessments, disciplinary procedure, or other documents, those documents should be provided at the same time as the contract. Include a document receipt sheet — a simple list of everything being provided — and ask the employee to sign it. This proves what documents they received on what date, which matters when you later rely on those policies in a disciplinary process.

ℹ Practical checklist — first-day employment paperwork for cleaning staff
Must provide on day one: Signed employment contract · P45 or starter checklist · Right to work evidence (take copy) · Bank details form · Uniform/PPE issue record · Emergency contact form

Should also provide: Staff handbook or policy summary · Lone working policy · COSHH assessments relevant to their role · Health and safety induction record · Pension scheme information and opt-out form

File and retain: Signed copy of contract · Right to work document copies · DBS application confirmation (if required) · All of the above, for as long as the employment lasts plus at least two years after termination

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a written contract for part-time cleaning staff in the UK?

Yes, without exception. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, every employee is entitled to a written statement of employment particulars from their first day of employment. There is no minimum hours threshold — a cleaner working two hours per week on a Saturday morning has exactly the same entitlement as a full-time cleaning operative. The statement must be provided on or before the first day of work. Failure to provide it entitles the employee to apply to an Employment Tribunal, which may award up to four weeks' gross pay in compensation — even if the employee has no other complaint against you.

Are zero-hours contracts legal for cleaning staff in the UK?

Zero-hours contracts are currently legal in the UK and can be appropriate for cleaning businesses in specific circumstances: cover operatives, seasonal work, and genuinely variable contracts where there is no predictable pattern of hours. However, they are not a way of avoiding employment obligations. Workers on zero-hours contracts still accrue statutory holiday (at 12.07% of hours worked), are still assessed for pension auto-enrolment in each pay period, and still have protections against unfair treatment. A worker who, despite a zero-hours contract, works the same hours at the same times every week may have implied contractual entitlements to those hours. The Employment Rights Bill progressing through Parliament in 2025–26 is expected to introduce a right for workers to request a guaranteed-hours contract after 12 weeks of a regular working pattern.

What notice period should cleaning staff have in their contract?

Statutory minimum notice under the Employment Rights Act 1996 is one week from the employer to the employee after one month's continuous service, rising by one week per complete year of service up to 12 weeks. The employee must give one week's notice after one month. For cleaning operatives, matching the statutory minimum (one week for both parties initially) is common. For team leaders, supervisors, and contract managers, a longer contractual notice period — typically one month — is appropriate and reflects their greater responsibility and the difficulty of replacing them at short notice. You can always exceed the statutory minimum contractually, but you cannot go below it.

Can I deduct the cost of uniform from a cleaner's wages?

Only if the deduction is specifically authorised in writing, either in the employment contract or by separate written agreement obtained before the deduction is made — this is required under Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Protection of Wages). Even then, any deduction that takes the worker's pay below the applicable National Minimum Wage rate for that pay reference period is unlawful under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, regardless of any written authorisation. In practice, most cleaning businesses supply uniform at the employer's cost (it is a legitimate business expense and HMRC-allowable) and retain the right to recover the cost of unreturned items from final pay, subject to the minimum wage floor. Attempting to charge cleaning operatives for their own uniforms upfront is a significant reputational and legal risk.

Can I use an employment contract for someone I describe as self-employed?

No — the label on the contract does not determine the legal reality. If someone is genuinely self-employed, you should use a contract for services (a self-employed contractor agreement), not an employment contract. However, if the working relationship has the hallmarks of employment — you control when, where and how the work is done; the person has to do the work themselves; there is a regular, ongoing engagement — employment tribunals and HMRC will treat that person as an employee regardless of what the contract says. Misclassifying an employee as self-employed exposes your cleaning business to tribunal claims for unpaid holiday, unfair dismissal, and unpaid employer National Insurance contributions. If you are uncertain about the status of a worker, take legal or HR advice before engaging them.

What holiday entitlement must cleaning staff receive?

The statutory minimum under the Working Time Regulations 1998 is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. For a full-time worker (5 days per week), that is 28 days including the 8 bank holidays in England, Scotland and Wales. Part-time workers receive a pro-rated entitlement — a worker doing 3 days per week receives 3/5 × 28 = 16.8 days per year. Zero-hours and irregular-hours workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period (this method was reinstated for irregular-hours workers from April 2024 following Supreme Court guidance). You can contractually increase holiday above the statutory minimum — many cleaning businesses offer 25 days excluding bank holidays for full-time staff — but you cannot go below 5.6 weeks for anyone.

Do I have to auto-enrol cleaning staff into a pension?

Yes, if the worker meets the qualifying criteria under the Pensions Act 2008: aged 22 or over, earning above the earnings trigger (£10,000 per year / £833 per month in 2025–26), and working in the UK. You must enrol eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and make minimum contributions (currently 3% of qualifying earnings from the employer, 5% from the employee). Zero-hours workers and part-time workers must be assessed in every pay period — if their earnings exceed the trigger in any individual period, they must be enrolled that period. Failure to comply with auto-enrolment obligations can result in fines from The Pensions Regulator starting at £400 and rising significantly for persistent non-compliance.

Run your cleaning business with less paperwork

Cadi is software built specifically for UK cleaning businesses — scheduling, invoicing, client management, and compliance records in one place. Join the waitlist and be first to access it.

Join the Cadi waitlist