It’s normal that an election year would garner activity from lawmakers pushing to leave their mark. But it’s not normal to see so much attention given to the janitorial industry. Since the start of 2024, California lawmakers have been busy pushing forward two bills that would have a substantial impact on building service contractors. The first is Assembly Bill 2364, which would impose workforce production limits. 

In its original form, the bill outlined that a worker's shift could not exceed an average of 2,000 square feet per hour — a shock when the current rate is closer to 5,000-6,000 square feet per hour. The move would require BSCs to double or triple their workforce. Or, as one Contracting Profits reader predicted, this would result in a massive adoption of autonomous equipment. Either way, the expense of doing business and cleaning costs for clients would expectedly skyrocket.  

Amendments to the bill thankfully include the removal of these production limits, but instead gives the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement the authority to “establish a seven-person advisory committee to develop proposed regulations establishing janitorial standards and submit those proposed regulations to the Office of Administrative Law for review and approval.”  

While waiting for a Senate decision, industry advocacy groups are vocal about their opposition. 

The Cleaning Coalition of America opposes the bill, saying it “could decimate the cleaning industry, drag down the California economy, and spread to other states.” 

BOMA adds that “the bill has gone from a defined production rate figure to being undefined, but the end result will be the same: high costs and less operational flexibility.” 

ISSA comments that the bill “fails to have enough representation from experts...does not put in place sufficient safeguards to ensure public transparency...[and] it is not clear if this bill would allow the public and other interested parties not selected to the committee to have their voices heard.” 

Meanwhile, the second bill, Assembly Bill 2374, meets similar opposition from the industry. It expands the current requirements for displaced janitors. Specifically, the bill (among other things) redefines the word “contractor” to include any person who employs janitorial employees and enters into a service contract — previously, the law defined a “contractor” as any person who employs 25 or more staff members. It also requires incoming BSCs to retain the existing staff for 90 days (versus the previously required 60 days) and continue to retain those with satisfactory work performance after 90 days. 

BOMA comments that the bill remains a problem despite the amendments, saying, “If a new contractor could work with fewer people, state law would require the company to retain extra employees. The result is higher costs for the property and, by extension, for the tenants.” 

These bills obviously have California-based BSCs on high alert, but the entire industry is keeping a close eye on the progress as these issues tend to progress over state lines. 




POSTED ON: 7/22/2024