The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has issued guidelines for state cleaning tenders. They are the first guidelines of their kind. They set much stricter requirements for companies that do cleaning work for the state, and they will better protect the working conditions, rights, wages and terms of the workers.
The biggest change is a requirement for transparency about how many hours a bidder estimates for a cleaning job. If the job covers more than 1,000 square metres, the purchaser must, when preparing the tender, have an independent party carry out an assessment that sets a benchmark for the number of hours. This assessment protects against bidders underestimating wage costs. It also prevents workers on the job from being paid for too few hours, which forces them either to work under an unreasonably high productivity requirement or to deliver work that does not meet the tender specifications. A contract must be refused if a bid does not meet the minimum standards on productivity requirements set in collective agreements.
The new guidelines are based on cleaning industry standards for productivity, work pace and number of hours that are already in use in Iceland. These standards follow a Danish model. Among other things, they are used in Efling’s collective agreement with the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (SA), in the provisions on maximum work pace and on extra pay for work at an increased pace.
The guidelines also set stricter requirements for companies to comply with all other applicable provisions of collective agreements and the law. Bidders must submit a declaration, which the trade union of the relevant group of workers must confirm.
The guidelines also strengthen occupational health and safety work. Larger cleaning projects are defined as a separate workplace unit, which means a dedicated workers safety representative can be appointed.
The Public Procurement Act generally places a strong obligation on the purchaser to accept the lowest bid. There is fierce competition between 4–5 large cleaning companies in Iceland for public cleaning contracts, and there are examples of large, unexplained differences between bids. Efling’s assessment is that in many cases the companies are in practice competing mainly on how high a productivity requirement they place on their workers, and that these requirements often go beyond what collective agreements allow. Such extreme workloads also violate occupational health and safety standards.
Introducing the guidelines is a logical step forward. It will ensure both better-quality cleaning in public institutions and proper compliance with workers’ rights under collective agreements. The guidelines were developed in consultation with Efling and the Federation of General and Special Workers in Iceland (SGS), and were presented in the government’s Consultation Portal (Samráðsgátt).
Over the past 1–2 years, Efling has drawn the attention of public authorities to the dangers of underbidding in cleaning work. Among other things, the union has met and corresponded with ministers of the current government, the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health (Vinnueftirlitið), the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the Financial Management Authority (Fjársýsla ríkisins), as well as individual state institutions and municipalities in Efling’s area. The union has also taken action against companies that are not reasonably transparent with their workers about productivity requirements. The new guidelines are a result of this work.
The guidelines apply to all institutions that fall directly under the Icelandic state. Examples include the University of Iceland, Landspítali – The National University Hospital, government ministry buildings, upper secondary schools, police and District Commissioner premises, ÁTVR, and many more. Other public bodies, such as municipalities, are free to use the guidelines.
“I am very pleased with these guidelines. They mean we can better ensure that Efling members in cleaning do not suffer wage fraud or excessive workloads, which we have unfortunately seen too many examples of in recent years. We welcome the fact that the government has listened to us and that our years of work are paying off,” said Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, chair of Efling.
