Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor David J. Canepa, District 5
Supervisor Lisa Gauthier, District 4
Subject: Establishment of a Contracting Policy for Janitorial Service Contracts Awarded by the County of San Mateo
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing and directing the County Executive Officer, or designee(s), to establish a contracting policy for janitorial service contracts awarded by the County.
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BACKGROUND:
The Department of Public Works is responsible for providing and managing contract custodial services for County owned and leased facilities. The Department currently relies on contract custodial services for 10 County facilities through a contract that expires October 31, 2025.
Janitors often face challenges on the job, including low wages, misclassification, exposure to high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses, and threats of sexual harassment on the job.
According to Profile of Janitorial Workers in California prepared by the UCLA Labor Center, private sector janitors experience high rates of poverty, with 40% having family incomes that fall below 200% of the federal poverty line, and almost two-thirds (62%) qualify as low-wage earners. In addition, according to the same report, more than one in four (27%) private sector janitors in California are over the age of 55 and more prone to injury, an issue exacerbated by findings that many janitorial services companies do not carry sufficient workers' compensation insurance and janitors misclassified as independent contractors are unlikely to have workers compensation insurance.
DISCUSSION:
In light of the above-described issues facing janitorial workers, we recommend that the County establish a responsible contracting policy for contract janitorial services that would help to ensure contractors providing such services in County facilities meet necessary standards of servic...
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