quitt is cheaper than cleaning agencies

  • Updated:
  • Liam Pichler

The Swiss consumer protection magazine “K-Tipp” compared the prices of five major cleaning agencies. Based on the article, quitt has created a calculation example. It shows: It is much more expensive to book a cleaning lady through cleaning agencies instead of becoming an employer yourself.

This is what its all about

  • The commission of cleaning agencies is on average six times more expensive than the quitt.service.
  • Cleaning staff employed privately with the help of quitt receive on average twice the wages of cleaning institutes.
  • Cleaning institutes are not able to be cheaper than quitt due to VAT.
  • Hiring cleaning help with quitt offers employers more flexibility and wage transparency.

Cleaning lady agencies such as Bookatiger, Mamiexpress or Batmaid are booming. But there is hardly any difference in what the cleaning agencies offer. However, the price differences are huge, as K-Tipp reports in its June 2016 issue. Above all, the average service fee of cleaning agencies compared to the fees of quitt is six times higher.

Comparison costs per hour

Comparison of costs per hour between quitt and cleaning agencies in Switzerland

How is quitt different from cleaning agencies?

Cleaning agency:

  • The cleaning lady is employed directly by the cleaning agency.
  • On average, at the cleaning agencies Bookatiger, Mamieexpress, Meineperle, Putzfrau and Putzfrauenvermittlung investigated by K-Tipp, the client pays 41.10 per hour for cleaning the flat (see K-Tipp, June 2016 «Putzagenturen: Grosse Preisunterschiede»).
  • Clients are very rarely given transparency about the exact employment conditions and have no say whatsoever in the employment conditions of the cleaning lady.
  • Cleaning agencies also decide themselves which cleaner will clean the client’s home. It is therefore possible that a different person is employed by the agency for each cleaning.

Employment via quitt:

  • Private clients are the direct employer of the cleaner.
  • Employers are free to decide how much their cleaner earns.
  • Employers always have the same cleaner. This often means more flexibility and a longer-term, personal relationship of trust.
  • The administrative employer duties are taken care of by quitt on behalf of the client. quitt takes care of all registrations, invoices and insurances so that the cleaner is correctly registered and employed. This means that despite the direct employment of the cleaning person, there is no additional expense for the client.

A cleaning company can never be cheaper than quitt! The VAT alone of 7.7% on the total costs is higher than the quitt.commission of 5% on the gross wage.

Cleaning agency prices: Average cost of 41 francs per hour

quitt uses a calculation example to show how the wage costs per hour are made up at quitt and at a cleaning company. Our assumption: The cleaner effectively receives the same net wage of CHF 22.95 from the employer at quitt and at the cleaning company.

The table below shows: The total wage costs per hour for employers are significantly lower with quitt at around 28 francs than with the cleaning institute at 36 francs. Explanation: Cleaning institutes charge a significantly higher commission of 25 per cent and more than quitt in the “Comfort” tariff with only 5 per cent commission. With quitt, the VAT of 7.7 per cent only applies to the quitt commission and not to the occupational accident insurance and social security contributions as is the case with cleaning institutes.

Total costs per hour

Total costs in comparison between quitt and cleaning lady agencies in Switzerland

Conclusion: An employer saves money with quitt. An employer saves on wage costs thanks to lower commission and VAT and can determine the employment conditions of his domestic help himself, thus ensuring that his domestic help ultimately receives a fair net wage. Although the administrative duties of the employer are incurred by the client in the case of direct employment, all the necessary formalities are taken care of by quitt.


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