Members of Building Service Contractors of New Zealand (BSCNZ) have agreed to pay their cleaning staff at least 35c per hour above the minimum wage, stated a 24 June press release.
‘The new Multi Employer Collective Agreement (MECA), agreed between the BSCNZ and employees, establishes $14.60 per hour as the minimum hourly rate for cleaners working for BSC member companies’.
The rate will come into effect from 4 August this year.
‘The MECA also sets out agreed conditions regarding maximum daily and weekly hours cleaning staff should be expected to work, health and safety, holiday and sick leave and security of employment,’ stated the release.
“$14.60 per hour is the minimum rate cleaners and cleaning supervisors working for BSC members will be paid from 4 August,” said BSCNZ’s chief executive Lillian Small. “However, I am aware that a number of our members pay a higher rate.”
“We are also aware there is a widespread perception that all cleaners are paid the minimum wage. That is simply not the case for BSC member companies,” she continued.
“The MECA is a strong point of difference between companies which are members of BSC and those which are not. Businesses contracting a BSC member can be confident they are using a reputable company which treats its cleaning staff fairly, ensuring fair pay, reasonable hours and safe conditions.”
Small said that the BSCNZ and its members are committed to ‘continue working toward a quality focused cleaning industry that has high ethical and corporate standards’.
“All of our members also agree to abide by our industry code of practice and principles, meeting required standards in quality, service, training, health and safety, legal requirements, insurance, dispute resolution and employment conditions,” Small concluded.