Most people learn how to hire a house cleaner by trial and error. A friend passes on a number, someone comes over, and only after the third visit does it turn out that nobody agreed who buys the products, whether the oven was included, or what happens when the cleaner is away.
This guide takes the decisions in order: which of three routes to use, the rules that decide whether you become an employer in the United States or the United Kingdom, the questions to ask before anyone gets a key, and the first visit. It quotes no prices. They depend on your area, the size of your home and the work you ask for, and the posts and replies in your own area are the better guide.
Three ways to hire a house cleaner
The routes are the same in both countries. What separates them is not the quality of the cleaning but who is responsible for the person doing it.
| What differs | Agency or cleaning company | Independent cleaner | Someone you employ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who employs the cleaner | The company, or nobody if it only introduces self-employed cleaners | Nobody: they run their own business | You |
| Tax and payroll | The company’s job | The cleaner’s own | Yours |
| Insurance | Usually the company’s; ask to see it | Ask whether they have liability insurance | Check your home insurance and employer duties |
| Cover for sickness and time off | Usually a replacement | Usually none | None unless you arrange it; paid leave may be owed |
| How you pay | An invoice from the company | Directly, per visit or per hour | Wages, with proper pay records |
| Who decides how the work is done | The company, within your list | The cleaner, within your list | You |
An agency means the least paperwork and a replacement when someone is ill, but not always the same face. An independent cleaner gives you one person and a direct relationship, but no cover when they are away. Employing someone suits longer, regular hours and brings the duties below.
United States: when a house cleaner becomes your household employee
The IRS test is control. If you hire someone to clean your home and you control not only what is done but how it is done, that person is generally your household employee. It makes no difference whether the work is full-time or part-time, or whether you pay by the hour or by the visit. Finding the cleaner through a list, an app or a job post does not change it; what counts is who directs the work.
A cleaner who runs their own business, brings their own tools, decides how the job is done and offers the service to the public is usually self-employed. If an agency sends the cleaner and controls the work, the cleaner is the agency’s employee, not yours.
For a household employee, federal tax starts at a wage threshold. Once the cash wages you pay them in a calendar year reach the figure the IRS sets each year (see IRS Publication 926), you owe Social Security and Medicare taxes on those wages and can withhold the employee’s share. You report it on Schedule H with your own federal return, give the employee a Form W-2 and need an employer identification number. Federal unemployment tax has its own threshold. Withholding federal income tax is voluntary: only if the employee asks and you agree.
State rules vary and sit on top. Minimum wage laws generally cover household employees, many states require registration for state unemployment insurance once wages pass their threshold, some require workers’ compensation cover, and several, New York and California among them, have domestic worker bills of rights. The Form I-9 work-eligibility check applies to someone you employ regularly in your home. Your state labor department can confirm the details.
Whatever the route, ask about insurance. Liability insurance covers damage to your property and injury to others; bonded means the business holds a bond that can pay out on a claim, typically theft by one of its workers. Ask to see proof. Also ask your homeowners or renters insurer whether your policy covers someone hurt while working in your home.
United Kingdom: self-employed cleaner or employee?
Most domestic cleaners in the UK are self-employed. They have several clients, choose their own methods, often bring their own products and equipment, and pay their own tax and National Insurance through Self Assessment.
The label does not settle it, though. Employment status follows the working relationship: who sets the hours, who decides how the work is done, who provides the equipment, and whether the cleaner could send someone else in their place. A cleaner who works for you alone, on hours you fix, with your equipment and instructions, looks more like an employee whatever you both call it. HMRC’s online employment status check on GOV.UK walks you through the questions.
If you do employ a cleaner, you become an employer:
- Check their right to work in the UK before they start.
- Register with HMRC and run PAYE where the rules require it; that depends mainly on earnings, and thresholds change each tax year.
- Pay at least the National Minimum Wage rate for their age, and give paid holiday.
- Give a written statement of the main terms on or before the first day.
- Check whether workplace pension auto-enrolment applies; it depends on age and earnings.
UK agencies come in two kinds: some employ their cleaners and carry those duties; others introduce self-employed cleaners for a fee, who then deal with you directly. Ask which. On any route, ask about public liability insurance and check what your own home insurance covers.
Describe the home, how often you want it cleaned and the area, not the address. People nearby who do cleaning work can apply or message you, and you decide who to meet.
Post a free job →Questions to ask a house cleaner before you hire
Ask these before the first visit, in writing if you can. A good cleaner has heard them all before and answers quickly; hesitation over insurance or keys is worth noticing.
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Are you insured, and can I see proof? | Covers accidental damage and injury. In the US, also ask about being bonded; in the UK, about public liability insurance. |
| Do you bring products and equipment, or use mine? | Decides what you buy and store. With allergies, pets or delicate surfaces, name the products you want used. |
| What is in a standard clean, and what is extra? | Inside the oven and fridge, inside windows, laundry, ironing and changing beds are often extras. Agree the list first. |
| What happens if something breaks? | You want it reported the same day, and to know whether their insurance or the agency pays. |
| How much notice do you need to cancel, and how much do you give? | Covers your cancellations and their time off. Agree whether a late cancellation is paid. |
| How do keys and access work? | Who holds a key, how it comes back, alarm codes, and whether they clean while you are out. |
| Will it be the same person every time? | Agencies often rotate teams. One person builds routine and trust; a team covers sickness and time off. |
| How and when do I pay? | Per visit or per hour; transfer, app or cash; on the day or by invoice. Get a receipt either way. |
| Can I speak to a current client? | The best check you have on reliability and care. |
Settle two more things now: pets, allergies and surfaces that need particular care, such as natural stone or wooden floors; and which rooms come first if time runs short. Cleaners clean; they do not repair. For a leak or a damaged wall, see how to hire a contractor.
Hiring a cleaner for the first time: the trial clean
Treat the first visit as a paid trial, not the start of a long arrangement. You both find out whether it works, and neither of you is committed beyond it.
- Walk through the home together at the start. Show the rooms, where the products and equipment are kept, what is off limits and anything fragile.
- Write the checklist down. A short list by room is enough: kitchen surfaces and appliances, bathroom, floors, dusting, beds. Keep a copy each and adjust it as you learn.
- Expect the first clean to take longer. A home not cleaned professionally for a while has a backlog in corners, along edges and in the shower, and the cleaner is learning where everything is. Later visits maintain the result, so they are quicker.
- Review it while it is fresh. Do a quick walk-through at the end, or send a message if you were out. Then put the arrangement in writing: frequency, day and time window, what is included, supplies, keys, notice and payment.
Weekly, every two weeks or once a month
Weekly suits households with children, pets or little spare time: each visit is shorter and nothing builds up. Every two weeks is the common rhythm for smaller households that tidy in between. Hiring a cleaner once a month works if you keep up with daily tidying; each visit becomes a deeper clean that takes longer, and some cleaners fill their regular slots with more frequent clients first.
Keep your home address out of the job post. The area tells people whether they can reach you; share the full address by private message with the person you choose. Never label a key with your address, and put away valuables, medication and personal documents before the first clean.
Posting a house cleaner job on Hirovo
Posting a job on Hirovo is free. The post appears in the job listings for your country and area, where people nearby who do cleaning work can see it, apply, or message you in the app. You read the replies, ask the questions above and decide who to meet. Hirovo does not vet applicants or run background checks and is not the employer or an agency, so references and any registration, contract, tax or insurance stay with you.
Say in the post: the area (never the street), the size of the home, how often and on which days, the tasks and extras, whether you supply products, any pets, what you will pay and whether per hour or per visit, and when to start. How to write a job post covers the wording. To see how listings are grouped by area, browse the job pages for the United States and the United Kingdom.
In short
Choose the route first, because it decides who handles tax, insurance and cover. In the US, control makes a cleaner your household employee, and Schedule H applies once wages reach the IRS’s annual threshold. In the UK, status follows the real working relationship, and employing someone brings right-to-work, PAYE and minimum wage duties. Then ask the questions, run a paid trial clean with a written checklist, agree the rest in writing, and keep your address out of the post.