It's Bad for Tenants, Too

Because part-time employees seldom receive benefits, especially health insurance, there is less incentive for them to stick with that particular job. Failing to increase working hours for janitors means maintaining a revolving-door cleaning staff, where few people can afford to stay at the job for any period of time.

In markets such as Houston with rock-bottom wages and no real benefits, employers and clients can expect a janitorial workforce with turnover rates as high as 350 percent. Few people can afford to commit to the hard work and late hours that a janitor endures when compensation is so low. By contrast, few janitors in places such as Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles walk away from jobs that provide affordable family health insurance, retirement benefits, and a good wage.

"There was a time when we turned over a new crew every month; we had 400 percent turnover rates," a regional manager for a prominent national cleaning company, told a Denver newspaper. "If the janitors have benefits, they stay around longer. Cleaners who are in a building longer are better cleaners. When you have a full-time worker with family health care, they'll stay in that building." (Talking Dirty: Denver's Janitors Were Being Swept Aside. Now They're Winning Respect.," Westword, Sept. 11, 2003).