Contractual cleaning

Like an increasingly large number of middle class citizens who are too busy, or too lazy, or too incompetent (or all of the above) to clean their own homes regularly, I have a housecleaner who comes in every two weeks and does it for me.

I've used the same contractor for years, a cleaning service that's provided me with an ever-changing cast of cleaners. Like secretaries, I've learned, housecleaners don't hang around that long. They get themselves married to affluent spouses, or go back to school, or move to Florida, or just get tired of what I suspect is a fairly unsatisfying job.

I've been using the same woman E. for about six months now. E. has been one of the best cleaners I've had in all the years that I've had cleaners. She even does (but don't tell anyone!) windows! And she's always been unusually careful to call ahead if she's had any change of plans.

But then, last week, E. didn't show up. She didn't call. The cleaning service was baffled -- she hadn't contacted them, either.

The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as good cooks go, she went.
--Saki

Yeah, it was pretty much like that, I guess.

Today, the cleaning service called and told me that they would be, once again, sending me a new cleaner. They've learned that E. has been soliciting homeowners for whom she's been cleaning. She apparently plans now to manage her own cleaning business, free of the need to pay a slice of her fees to the service provider. She's thus in violation of her contract with the service, a contract that contains some form of non-compete agreement. Not only is she now persona non grata with the service, they'll be deciding soon whether to sue her.

My sympathies are with E., of course, but I also see the service's point. (They're obviously concerned that I might hire E. independently myself -- they plan to charge me only half fee for my next cleaning, as compensation for my being "inconvenienced.") But if I did hire E., she might well be deemed my employee rather than an independent contractor. I might be liable for workers compensation and social security taxes; I might be subject to other employment law regulations. I'm sure that 99 percent of people who deal directly with their independent housecleaners never once consider such issues, but I'm the sort who does. I might want to run for President of the United States some day; I'd hate to have past violations of employment laws thrown in my face by my opponent.

Speaking not as an employment lawyer -- which I'm not -- but as a casual brooder over internet articles, I find that non-compete agreements are generally enforceable in Washington. They are considered valid if their prohibitions are no greater in extent than necessary to protect the business and good will of the employer. They must not be so great in duration and geographical scope that they prevent the worker from earning a living within a reasonable distance of her home. The judge obviously has to weigh conflicting interests in making decisions in these cases, doing so on a case by case basis.

I suspect that E. has, in fact, exposed herself to liability by soliciting present customers of her now-former employer. I doubt there are enough damages recoverable, however, to justify a lawsuit against her. A stern letter from the cleaning service's lawyer probably will scare her into backing off. Seattle provides a huge market for housecleaners, and I'm sure E. will be able to find folks for whom to work without violating her non-compete agreement.

E. was an excellent and personable worker. I wish her the best. I also understand the cleaning service's need to prevent workers from staying with them just long enough to develop marketable relationships with customers, and then walking off with those customers.

Meanwhile, my house -- uncleaned since before my trip to England -- is fast becoming engulfed in cat hair. Legal maneuvering aside, I'll just be happy to get someone in here who knows how to operate a vacuum cleaner!