For house cleaners
Before you sign that cleaning agreement, check these three things.
Cleaners work through agencies, platforms or their own client agreements. The terms can decide what happens when a client cancels at the door, who pays if something breaks, and whether you may keep a client directly.
These platform terms are mostly ordinary, but a lockout or late cancellation pays nothing and breakage has no limit.
No pay when locked out or cancelled late
Travel time and a held slot go unpaid when the door is locked or the customer cancels on arrival.
Ask for
Check whether you are paid when a customer cancels late or you cannot get in.
- Any breakage, with no limitMedium · Liability
- No direct work with customers for a yearMedium · Restrictions
The numbers
In May 2025, there were 860,670 wage and salary jobs for maids and housekeeping cleaners in the U.S., with a median annual wage of $35,510.
These figures count jobs, not people, and do not include self-employed work — so they say little about how many maids and housekeeping cleaners work freelance or run their own business. The survey behind these figures does not cover private households, so nannies and cleaners hired directly by a family are not counted.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national estimates for SOC 37-2012. Public domain.
Late cancellations, breakage and keeping clients
- Late cancellations — Check whether you are paid when a client cancels late or you cannot get in.
- Breakage and damage — Look at who pays for accidental damage and whether there is a limit.
- Keeping clients — Platform and agency terms can bar you from working for a client directly. Check how long that lasts.
Check the terms before the first job
Short agreements leave the costly questions open. Free: one analysis every 30 days, no card. Each analysis gives a risk read of the key clauses, quotes the contract's own words for its findings, and turns each flagged clause into a specific ask.
Analyze my contract — free- Encrypted in transit & at rest
- Files auto-deleted after 30 days
- Never used to train models
- Informational — not legal advice