The Federal Shutdown Continues: How it’s Impacting the Cleaning Industry

Lila Johnson, a contract custodian with the Department of Agriculture, will not be eligible for backpay when the federal government eventually reopens.

The 71-year-old custodian was recently interviewed by CNN, and is one of thousands of federal contract workers, which include janitors, security guards, and foodservice employees, who won’t receive paychecks for days missed when the time comes to go back to work.

As the days go on, the financial impact of the shutdown has started to have an even deeper impact on the cleaning industry beyond contracted employees not receiving their paychecks. Business are starting to feel the effects, too – and in a number of ways.

One example: Employers such as contract cleaning companies aren’t currently able to use E-verify to confirm whether job applicants are cleared to work in the United States. “It doesn’t prevent someone from starting to work,” CNN reported, “but prolongs the on-boarding process – and opens up the risk that companies may have to let go of employees who don’t later pass the check, even if they’ve already started working.” For cleaning contractors, the cost of finding, training, and retaining employees is a constant challenge, and the slowdown of employee approval will only add to their labor issues.

Other business efforts, like pending company mergers—which are frequent in the cleaning industry—are also facing setbacks, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission isn’t fully staffed.