Across Michigan, janitorial service providers are increasingly relying on workers who do not speak English fluently. While this reflects the growing diversity of the workforce, it also introduces communication challenges that impact the quality of janitorial services, safety protocols, and overall facility operations. However, it’s important to understand that these issues aren’t the responsibility of the facility manager or building owner. Rather, it’s the service provider’s responsibility to ensure their team can communicate effectively and perform their duties to the required standard.
The Impact on Cleaning Performance
When janitorial workers don’t fully understand instructions, the quality of janitorial services can suffer. Facility managers or building owners shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of constantly repeating directions or providing translated materials. The service provider, after all, is the one bringing in these employees. It is their duty to provide bilingual training resources, ensure proper communication protocols are in place, and guarantee that their staff can meet the established cleaning standards.
Without these resources, tasks often go unfinished or are completed incorrectly. Over time, this can lead to tenant complaints and reduced satisfaction with the building’s cleanliness. If a janitorial service provider fails to address these language barriers, the facility manager or building owner may eventually need to consider finding a service provider that better supports its workers and the overall cleaning goals.
Safety Is Not Optional
One of the most critical issues that arise from language barriers is safety. Non-English-speaking workers often lack access to the training they need to handle chemicals, read SDS sheets, operate equipment, or respond to emergencies properly. Service providers must be prepared to offer bilingual training sessions and safety materials from the start. If they choose to hire staff who cannot read safety labels or follow signage, it is their responsibility—not the building owner’s—to ensure that the workers understand the necessary procedures.
Furthermore, if an emergency arises—such as a fire or an injured employee—effective communication can be the difference between a contained incident and a disaster. Service providers have the obligation to ensure their employees can alert the proper authorities and follow emergency protocols without confusion.
The Role of the Service Provider
Facility managers and building owners hire janitorial service providers to handle cleaning and maintenance tasks, not to troubleshoot language issues within the provider’s team. If a service provider brings in workers who don’t speak English, they must also bring in the resources to bridge that gap. This could include bilingual supervisors, translated training materials, and ongoing language support.
By taking on this responsibility, service providers demonstrate professionalism and a commitment to quality. They ensure their clients—facility managers and building owners—receive the level of service they were promised, without additional effort or expense on their part.
Ensuring Accountability
Ultimately, the burden of overcoming language barriers should not fall on the client. If your janitorial service provider relies on non-English-speaking employees, it’s their responsibility to ensure those workers are properly trained and able to communicate effectively. This includes not only offering bilingual training resources and translated materials, but also verifying that every worker is legally authorized to work in the United States.
To do this, your janitorial service provider should run all employees through eVerify, a federal online system that checks information from the I-9 form against government records to confirm eligibility for employment. The I-9 form itself is a standard document that all employers are required to complete for each employee, verifying both their identity and their right to work in the country. By consistently using eVerify and maintaining up-to-date I-9 documentation, the service provider adds an extra layer of assurance that its workforce is both authorized and reliable.
It’s important to note that speaking broken English—or not speaking English at all—doesn’t necessarily indicate a worker’s citizenship status. Making assumptions based on language skills can lead to unfair conclusions. However, requiring a janitorial service provider to run eVerify checks and have I-9 documentation for all employees helps ensure you have a dependable, compliant workforce maintaining your facility.
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