Can they legally work for you? If the company is not legitimate and one of their employees gets injured on the job, they could hold you responsible.

The problem lies when the janitor service is not insured. If the owner or one of their employees hurts themselves while doing work on your property, they may expect you to pay the bills for medical care.

Initially you may think that you can trust your service provider, but you never know how the relationship will change if there is an accident and they don’t have the money or insurance to pay their own bills.

If the company is licensed, bonded, and insured (at a minimum they must be licensed and insured, bonding doesn’t really protect you that much). If something were to happen, they will have their own insurance to take care of them. Now instead of them trying to get you to foot the bill, at most they will be asking for a statement of what happened (assuming you can provide that).

Also, it is important to remember that in most areas of the country that you are liable for anyone that you have invited on your property. This means in court, you will be considered liable to pay the medical bills.

So it is best not to risk it. Make sure that any company you choose can prove to you that they are properly licensed, bonded, and insured. And as an extra measure of precaution, be sure to include a statement in your contract specifically indicating who will be held liable in case of any accidents.

Also for tax reasons, you want the company you hire to be legitimate. If they aren’t legit you may have problems deducting the expense for janitor service in your taxes at the end of the year. Each business should generally be licensed with the state and city (and sometimes county) they work in. It is important to note that if the company is not licensed with the state, they are most likely not legal and not properly bonded and insured either. It is usually very easy for them to provide you with a business license and it only takes a few phone calls to find out if the business really is legit.

Along the same lines, you need to make sure you know if their employees can legally work in the United States. Also make sure you can communicate effectively with the person you are hiring; this may become a big deal if you use them for special projects.