In Australia, employers can ask employees to keep their personal workspaces reasonably tidy as part of general workplace housekeeping. This includes keeping their own desk tidy, washing their own dishes in the kitchen, and not leaving personal mess in shared spaces. However, requiring employees to perform regular professional-standard cleaning, scrubbing bathrooms, mopping floors, deep-cleaning kitchens, and disinfecting shared surfaces as part of their employment without a specific agreement in the employment contract, additional pay, or a specific cleaning role is legally questionable under the Fair Work Act 2009. Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), the obligation to maintain a clean and hygienic workplace rests with the employer, not the employee. Most Adelaide employment lawyers distinguish between reasonable housekeeping expectations and using employees as unpaid cleaning staff.
Can your employer make you clean the office in Australia?
Whether an employer can make employees clean the office in Australia depends on three factors: what the employment contract specifies, what counts as reasonable workplace housekeeping versus professional cleaning, and what theemployer’s Work Health and Safety obligations require. The Fair Work Act 2009 sets the framework for employment conditions in Australia. The Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) places the primary duty of care for maintaining a safe and clean workplace on the employer as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), not on employees in general administrative or professional roles. Most employment experts distinguish between reasonable personal tidiness obligations keeping your own work area tidy, washing your own dishes and systematic cleaning duties that a cleaning professional would otherwise perform.
The Opening
You walked into Monday morning to find a note from management saying that from now on, each team is responsible for cleaning their section of the office on a rotating basis.
Or perhaps the request was more direct: could you please clean the kitchen before you leave on Fridays?
Or maybe you and your colleagues have been quietly vacuuming, wiping down surfaces, and cleaning bathrooms for a while without anyone ever putting it in writing, but with a clear understanding that this is now expected.
The question sitting underneath all of these scenarios is the same: can your employer actually require you to do this?
The answer in Australia is more nuanced than a simple yes or no. It depends on what the employer is asking, what your contract says, what industry you work in, and critically whether the cleaning being requested is reasonable workplace housekeeping or a systematic transfer of cleaning duties from a professional cleaning service to the employee.
This article explains where the line sits under Australian law, what employees can reasonably be asked to do, what falls outside a standard employment relationship, and what Adelaide businesses should understand about their legal obligations for maintaining a clean workplace.
The Australian Legal Framework for Workplace Cleaning
The Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) — the employer’s obligation
The Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) establishes the legal foundation for workplace cleanliness obligations in South Australia. Under this Act, the primary duty of care for providing and maintaining a safe work environment rests with the employer as the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU).
Section 19 of the WHS Act 2012 (SA) requires the PCBU to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable:
A work environment without risks to health and safety.
Safe plant and structures.
Safe systems of work.
Adequate facilities for workers including sanitary facilities, clean drinking water, and facilities for eating.
In the WHS Act context, “adequate facilities” has been interpreted to include keeping those facilities clean and hygienic. This is the employer’s obligation. It does not transfer to employees simply because the employer prefers not to pay for a cleaning service.
An employer who stops professional cleaning and tells employees to clean the bathrooms instead has not transferred the WHS obligation to the employees; the employer still carries the duty. What has changed is that the employer is now relying on the employees to fulfil the employer’s WHS obligation without adjusting their employment terms, compensation or job description accordingly.
The Fair Work Act 2009 — employment conditions and duties
The Fair Work Act 2009 governs employment conditions nationally in Australia. Under this framework, an employee’s duties are defined by their contract of employment, their award or enterprise agreement, and the employer’s reasonable directions within the scope of their role.
An employer can give reasonable directions that are not explicitly listed in the employment contract, provided those directions:
Are lawful.
Fall within the scope of the employee’s role and industry.
Do not require the employee to perform duties substantially different from those they were hired to do without agreement.
Do not result in the employee performing duties at a lower classification level without adjustment to pay or terms.
The practical test: Could a reasonable person in the same role be expected to perform this task as part of their normal employment? For a marketing coordinator, accountant, IT technician or office administrator, regular bathroom cleaning and floor mopping is unlikely to pass this test. For a hospitality worker, a retail employee or someone in a role with explicit property maintenance responsibilities, the line sits differently.
Fair Work Act and award classifications
Many Australian awards include specific cleaning roles at specific classification levels with corresponding minimum pay rates. The Cleaning Services Award MA000022 establishes a classification structure and pay rates for cleaning work that are distinct from administrative and professional roles.
If an employer requires a non-cleaning employee to perform cleaning duties regularly, it raises the question of whether those duties should attract the cleaning award rate for the time spent performing them. This area of law is not settled, but it is a practical consideration for employers who implement routine employee cleaning without reconsidering employment classifications.
What Employers Can Reasonably Ask Employees to Do
The distinction between what is reasonable and what is not comes up consistently in Fair Work Commission rulings and workplace relations guidance. Here is where the practical line sits for most Adelaide office environments.
Reasonable personal workspace housekeeping
The following can generally be included in standard employee expectations without raising employment law concerns:
Keeping the individual work desk tidy and free of personal mess.
Washing your own cup, plate and cutlery after use in the kitchen.
Not leaving personal food in the shared fridge for an unreasonable period.
Disposing of your own rubbish in the designated bins.
Wiping up a spill you created at your workstation.
These are considered reasonable personal hygiene and tidiness standards that form part of any professional workplace expectation, regardless of role.
Borderline requests that require contextual assessment
The following sit in a grey area depending on the employment context:
Wiping down a shared meeting room table after a meeting you ran.
Returning chairs to their original position after using a shared space.
Clearing a communal bench area before leaving the kitchen.
These are not unreasonable in most Adelaide office environments, and most employment lawyers would not consider them cleaning duties outside the employment scope. They are closer to shared space courtesy than professional cleaning.
What exceeds reasonable employee expectations
The following generally exceed what an employer can require of non-cleaning employees without specific contractual agreement, adjusted pay or an explicit cleaning role:
Cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms on a regular schedule.
Vacuuming and mopping office floors.
Deep cleaning the kitchen,n including appliances.
Disinfecting shared surfaces and high-touch areas.
Taking out general office waste to external bins.
Cleaning windows, glass partitions or common area glass.
These are tasks that a cleaning professional would normally perform. Requiring employees in administrative, professional, or technical roles to do them regularly, particularly without any recognition in their employment terms, goes beyond reasonable workplace housekeeping.
What Happens If an Employee Refuses
If an employer issues a cleaning directive that goes beyond reasonable housekeeping and the employee refuses, the situation falls under the Fair Work Act’s unfair dismissal and adverse action framework.
An employer cannot legally:
Dismiss an employee for refusing to perform cleaning duties that are clearly outside the scope of their employment role without first establishing that the duties are a legitimate requirement of the role.
Disadvantage an employee by reducing hours, cutting pay, or denying advancement because they raised a concern about being required to clean.
Treat the refusal as misconduct without first considering whether the cleaning direction was lawful and reasonable.
An employee who is required to perform cleaning duties outside their role can:
Raise the issue with their manager as a formal grievance under the employer’s workplace procedures.
Contact the Fair Work Commission if the matter is not resolved and the employee believes their employment conditions have been altered without agreement.
Contact Safe Work SA if they believe the cleaning requirement relates to an unsafe work practice or the employer’s failure to maintain the workplace creates a safety risk.
The practical reality:
Most situations where an employer asks employees to clean are not deliberately exploitative; they are a cost-cutting measure as a cleaning contractor relationship ends. The issue is usually resolved through discussion, either by the employer reinstating professional cleaning, by genuinely agreeing with employees that a shared housekeeping model will work, or by adjusting employment terms if cleaning duties are to be a permanent part of the role.
The Specific Case of Bathrooms and Sanitary Facilities
Bathrooms occupy a specific position in the employer cleaning obligation discussion because the WHS Act requires sanitary facilities.
Under the WHS Act 2012 (SA), sanitary facilities must be:
Provided in sufficient number for the workforce.
Maintained in a clean and hygienic condition.
Stocked with appropriate hygiene consumables.
The employer must maintain them in a clean and hygienic condition. An employer who directs non-cleaning employees to clean the office bathrooms on a rotating roster is:
Using the employees to fulfil the employer’s WHS obligation at no additional cost.
Potentially exposing employees to biological hazards without appropriate PPE, training, or a risk assessment — which is itself a WHS concern.
Potentially creating an employment conditions dispute if the cleaning duty was not disclosed or agreed at the time of hiring.
An employee asked to clean a bathroom as part of a general employee cleaning roster has a reasonable basis to raise a WHS concern about the absence of training in biological hazard management, appropriate PPE provision and proper disposal of cleaning materials. This is not obstructive; it is a legitimate safety consideration.
The Commercial Cleaning Solution and What It Actually Costs
The reason this question comes up in Adelaide is always the same: businesses want to understand the actual cost of professional cleaning so they can make the trade-off clearer.
What office cleaning costs in Adelaide vs what employee time costs
A standard Adelaide office of 150 square metres cleaned five days per week by a professional cleaning service costs approximately $1,400 to $2,200 per month in 2026.
If instead the employer divides this work among five employees spending 30 minutes each per day on cleaning duties:
Five employees at 30 minutes each daily.
2.5 total staff hours per day.
50 staff hours per month (based on 20 working days).
At an average Adelaide office worker salary of $35 to $55 per hour, including on-costs, the 50 hours of employee cleaning time cost approximately $1,750 to $2,750 in real employment cost, which is more expensive than a professional cleaning service once the actual employment cost is calculated.
And this calculation does not include:
The productivity loss from employees doing non-core work.
The employment relations risk.
The WHS compliance gap if employees are not trained for cleaning duties.
The quality gap: employees generally do not clean to professional standards.
For most Adelaide businesses, professional cleaning is not just the legally cleaner option; it is the more cost-effective one when you calculate the full employment cost.
What professional commercial cleaning in Adelaide provides that employee cleaning does not
TGA registered, hospital-grade disinfectants on appropriate surfaces. Colour coded zone systems that prevent cross contamination. HEPA filter commercial vacuuming that removes allergens rather than recirculating them. Documented completion records for any compliance or audit purposes. Fixed price contracts that allow accurate monthly budgeting. After-hours scheduling that does not disrupt the workday.
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How Adelaide Businesses Should Handle This Issue
For employers currently relying on employees to clean
Conduct an honest audit of what employees are currently performing cleaning duties and whether those duties are:
Clearly within the scope of reasonable workplace housekeeping.
Or systematic cleaning work that should be performed by a cleaning professional sh; in the second category, either:
Engage a professional cleaning service for those specific duties while maintaining reasonable housekeeping expectations for employees.
Or explicitly agree with employees in writing, with appropriate compensation or role adjustment, that cleaning duties are now part of their role.
Do not simply continue without acknowledgement. The exposure from an employee raising a Fair Work complaint or a WHS incident relating to cleaning duties is significantly greater than the cost of a professional cleaning contract.
For employees currently being asked to clean
Understand the distinction between reasonable housekeeping (which you can be asked to do) and professional cleaning duties (which require either your agreement or appropriate compensation).
If you are asked to perform cleaning duties that you believe are outside your employment scope, raise it through your employer’s grievance procedure before escalating. Most situations are resolved at this level without formal action.
If you are concerned about safety aspects of cleaning duties, particularly bathroom cleaning, handling cleaning chemicals, or waste management, raise a specific WHS concern with your manager or directly with Safe Work SA. An employer that requires employees to clean without appropriate training, PPE, and risk management may breach the WHS Act 2012 (SA), regardless of the employment law question.
Keep a record of any requests to perform cleaning duties, particularly if they are regular, systematic and outside what you consider your role to include.
For businesses that want a compliant solution
The simplest resolution is a professional commercial cleaning contract that covers the workplace cleaning duties the employer is legally obligated to maintain. This removes employment law uncertainty, ensures the WHS obligation is met, and lets employees focus on the work they were hired to do.
Ms Clean provides commercial office cleaning across all Adelaide SA suburbs with fixed-price contracts, after-hours scheduling, and written scope documents that specify exactly what is included at each visit.
Industry Specific Context for Adelaide Businesses
Medical centres and healthcare practices in Adelaide
For Adelaide GP clinics, dental practices and allied health facilities, directing employees to clean clinical areas is not simply an employment law issue; it is a clinical compliance issue. RACGP Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines require specific products, methods and documentation for clinical area cleaning. A receptionist or nurse cleaning an examination room without infection control training, appropriate PPE and documented protocols is a compliance failure independent of any employment consideration.
Healthcare businesses in Adelaide should never use employee cleaning as a substitute for professional medical cleaning regardless of any employment law position.
Childcare centres and education facilities in Adelaide
Childcare centres under ACECQA frameworks require cleaning to specific standards using child-safe certified products. When directors or educators clean the facility instead of using professional cleaning contracts, it creates both a quality gap and a potential compliance concern under the Education and Care Services National Regulations.
Retail and hospitality in Adelaide
For retail and hospitality workers, cleaning duties are more commonly an explicit part of the employment agreement and award coverage includes cleaning tasks as part of the role. The line sits differently in these industries than in professional services, administration or technical roles.
Actionable Takeaways
For Adelaide employers:
Review which cleaning duties employees currently perform and separate reasonable housekeeping expectations from professional cleaning duties. Obtain quotes from professional commercial cleaning providers for the duties that fall into the second category. The cost comparison will almost always favour professional cleaning when you factor in real employment costs.
For Adelaide employees:
Know the difference between personal workspace tidiness (reasonable) and systematic office cleaning (outside most employment scopes). If you are unsure, check your employment contract and applicable award. Raise concerns through the grievance procedure before escalating to Fair Work or Safe Work SA. Keep records of systematic cleaning requests if the situation continues without resolution.
FAQs — Can Your Employer Make You Clean the Office?
Q1. Can my employer legally make me clean the office in Australia?
Your employer can ask you to maintain reasonable tidiness in your personal workspace, keep your desk tidy, wash your own dishes, and not leave personal mess in shared spaces. Requiring you to perform systematic professional cleaning duties mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming the office, and deep cleaning the kitchen as part of your regular role without contractual agreement, additional pay or role reclassification goes beyond what most Australian employment law supports for non-cleaning employees. The WHS Act 2012 (SA) places the obligation for maintaining a clean workplace on the employer as the PCBU, not on employees in general administrative or professional roles.
Q2. Can my employer make me clean the bathroom at work in Australia?
Requiring employees in non-cleaning roles to clean bathrooms on a regular roster clearly exceeds reasonable workplace housekeeping. Bathroom cleaning involves exposure to biological hazards and requires appropriate training and PPE under the WHS Act 2012 (SA). An employer who requires employees to clean bathrooms without providing training, PPE, and an appropriate risk assessment may breach WHS obligations, regardless of the employment law question. Raise a WHS concern if this is being requested without appropriate safeguards.
Q3. What counts as reasonable workplace housekeeping in Australia?
Reasonable workplace housekeeping includes: keeping your own workstation tidy, washing your own kitchen items after use, not leaving personal food beyond reasonable periods, disposing of your own rubbish in designated bins, wiping up spills you create, and leaving shared spaces in the condition you found them. These are personal tidiness standards that form part of professional workplace expectations regardless of role. Systematic cleaning duties performed on a roster vacuuming, mopping, cleaning bathrooms, taking out general office waste go beyond reasonable housekeeping for most non-cleaning roles.
Q4. What can I do if my employer is making me clean the office?
First, check your employment contract for any listed cleaning duties. If none are listed and the cleaning requested goes beyond reasonable housekeeping, raise the issue with your manager or through your employer’s formal grievance procedure. If unresolved, contact the Fair Work Commission for guidance on whether the cleaning requirement constitutes a unilateral change to your employment conditions. If you have specific WHS concerns about cleaning duties, biological exposure, or chemical handling without training, contact Safe Work SA directly. Keep a written record of cleaning requests and any responses to your concerns.
Q5. Does the employer have a duty to maintain a clean workplace in Australia?
Yes. Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), the employer, as a PCBU, must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, a work environment without risks to health and safety, and adequate facilities maintained in a clean and hygienic condition. This obligation rests with the employer and does not transfer to employees simply because the employer directs them to clean. An employer can fulfil this obligation by hiring professional cleaning staff or engaging a commercial cleaning service. Still, the employer remains responsible for keeping the workplace clean, regardless of how it is done.
Q6. Is it cheaper to have employees clean the office or hire a professional cleaning company?
For most Adelaide businesses, professional cleaning is cost-effective when you calculate the full employment cost of employee cleaning. Five employees spending 30 minutes each per day on cleaning duties represents approximately 50 staff hours per month. At average Adelaide office employment costs of $35 to $55 per hour, including on-costs, this equals $1,750 to $2,750 per month in real cost—often exceeding the cost of a professional cleaning contract for the same space. Professional cleaning also provides TGA-grade products, trained staff, documented completion records, after-hours scheduling, and no disruption to employee productivity.
Q7. What is the best solution for Adelaide businesses that want employees to maintain a clean office?
The practical solution for most Adelaide businesses is a professional commercial cleaning contract that covers the employer’s WHS cleaning obligations, combined with clear, reasonable housekeeping expectations for employees covering personal tidiness. This separation is legally clear, operationally effective and removes the employment relations risk entirely. Ms Clean provides commercial office cleaning across all Adelaide SA suburbs with fixed-price contracts, written scope documents, and after-hours scheduling. Contact Ms Clean for a free site assessment and written quote.
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Address: 71 Alexandra Street, Prospect, SA-5082
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