California Employment Janitorial Insurance

Janitors and owners of professional cleaning services are often in awkward positions of liability.

Employees travel to their locations, they often have keys to buildings and offices, and they often work late at night when buildings are mostly empty. They frequently conduct their work alongside proprietary, delicate and expensive items, and they use cleaning solutions that can be dangerous, toxic, caustic or cause surfaces to become slippery. What happens if one of your employees accidentally knocks over a priceless vase while cleaning an office? What happens if money mysteriously disappears from a petty cash box while your crew is cleaning an office? It could happen!

Of course, we at Paramount know that any of these situations can lead to a lawsuit. Even if the allegations are baseless, a lawsuit can still deplete finances and put your company in jeopardy. Few janitorial companies can afford to take a full hit in today’s legal system without insurance coverage.

That’s precisely why janitorial insurance is so critical. Your janitorial business almost certainly needs general liability insurance. But that coverage alone doesn’t adequately cover the unique risks presented by this service. A janitorial service operating without a janitorial liability insurance and E&O is like a brain surgeon operating on a patient without malpractice insurance. General liability and E&O insurance are compatible products, not mutually exclusive, and a janitorial service can benefit from both.

It’s a good idea for you to speak with an expert insurance agent on how to get your business protected. It is also possible to get an insurance professional to read over existing and new contracts and point out potential pitfalls which could result in a lawsuit

Even if you believe your risk of facing a lawsuit is too low to warrant carrying insurance, know that many clients who hire a janitorial service require them to carry current Errors and Omission Insurance before they will hire them. Most companies also require that the Janitorial Liability coverage extend to any subcontractors the janitorial service may hire.

This best practice is in place to protect both janitorial services and their clients. Each of these scenarios (and many others) could easily occur, and if they did, your service could be on the wrong end of a multi-million dollar lawsuit.