---
title: People records for cleaning firms with many small sites
canonical_url: https://hrhive.co.uk/solutions/cleaning/
content_type: solution
summary: "HRHive keeps one record of everyone a cleaning business engages, including agency cover and staff who transfer with a contract: where they work, what has been checked, when an agency worker is approaching week 12 and whether pay looks right for their age."
audiences:
  - employer
jurisdiction: uk
status: published
last_updated: 2026-10-05
---

# Your people are spread across dozens of sites. Their records should not be.

> HRHive keeps one record of everyone a cleaning business engages, including agency cover and staff who transfer with a contract: where they work, what has been checked, when an agency worker is approaching week 12 and whether pay looks right for their age.

## A week across the sites

Your newest contract is a school. The cleaners who worked there are coming across to you, and the outgoing contractor has
sent a folder of files and a spreadsheet. Meanwhile an agency is covering two evening shifts at an office, one of those
agency workers has been with you nearly three months, and a weekend cleaner has just turned eighteen.

Each of these has a record you should be able to find, a date that matters and a check someone has to make. HRHive keeps
them together, and Home tells you which one needs you today.

## What HRHive does for a cleaning business

- **Records where everyone works.** By site, project and dates, with the manager responsible. It covers employees,
  individual subcontractors and the people suppliers send you. It is a record of who was where, not time tracking.
- **Keeps each manager to their own team.** A supervisor sees the people who report to them. Pay, bank, National
  Insurance and medical details stay with the roles that need them.
- **Follows agency cover.** The agency, the assignment, the 12-week count and the umbrella checks, in one place.
- **Handles a contract that changes hands.** The TUPE transfer date, a fresh check and an import of the files you
  receive.
- **Flags pay that looks too low** for the person's age band.
- **Records keys, fobs and uniforms.** The built-in Equipment Issued and Equipment Returned forms record the items, with
  descriptions and serial numbers, signed by the person.

## Agency cover

Agency workers are recorded as agency workers. HRHive keeps the agency, the role, when the assignment started and any
breaks, and it records the agency's confirmation that it has checked their right to work. It does not repeat the check.
The background is in agency workers.

**Agency worker, evening cleaning**

- [x] Agency has confirmed it checked their right to work
- [x] They were told about your facilities and job vacancies
- [ ] You have given the agency your comparator pay and conditions — Qualifies for equal treatment on 12 October 2026
- [ ] Agency has confirmed equal pay and basic conditions — From week 13

The 12-week count is a simplified version of the Agency Workers Regulations.

The 12-week count is a simplified model. Weeks run from the start day, short breaks and leave pause the count, and
longer breaks or a change of role restart it. About two weeks before a worker reaches week 12, HRHive puts it on Home so
you can give the agency your comparator pay and conditions. When they have qualified, it asks you to confirm equal pay and
basic conditions with the agency. If an umbrella company pays the worker, you can record the checks you made on it.

HRHive does not model every case. Several assignments with the same hirer through different agencies are not covered, for
example. Treat the count as a prompt to look.

## When a contract changes hands

If employees join you under TUPE, record the TUPE transfer date on each one's right to work record. HRHive then shows a
TUPE grace period status for them, offers a "fresh check after a TUPE transfer" and puts it on Home when the grace period
is about to end. How the grace period works is explained in
right to work checks.

The files that come with the contract can be imported. Give HRHive a ZIP of HR folders or a spreadsheet. It matches files
to people by folder, file name, ID or email, sorts them into document types and shows you everything to review before
anything is saved. An import can be rolled back. It reads expiry dates from file names only, so check them.

## Pay and hours

HRHive compares the pay on each person's record with the national minimum wage for their age band: 21 and over, 18 to
20, under 18, and apprentices. It works from the salary and contracted hours you have entered, so it gives an estimate.
Allowances and unpaid working time can change the answer, so a flag is a reason to check with payroll, not a verdict.
People paid by an agency are not checked, because you do not pay them.

If someone's hours change from week to week, holiday builds up at 12.07 per cent of the hours they work. Record the hours
for each pay period and HRHive shows the holiday that has built up, in days. The
holiday entitlement calculator works through the same sums.

## People who are self-employed

Some cleaners work for themselves. HRHive asks a few questions about each arrangement and suggests how to record the
person: as a worker, an individual subcontractor, an agency worker or another contractor. It keeps the answers with the
name of whoever decided and the date. The free
engagement questionnaire asks the same questions, and
employment status and individual subcontractors explains
the background. HRHive records your assessment. It does not decide anyone's status.

## What HRHive does not do

- It does not schedule shifts or run a rota, and it does not tell you who should cover which site.
- It is not payroll, timesheets or clocking in.
- It does not contact the Home Office or an agency for you. You make the checks and record them.
- The 12-week count is simplified. It is not a complete calculation.

## How to start

1. **Add your sites.** Each one is a location, so people can be recorded against it.
2. **Add the people working for you now.** A name and an email address is enough to begin.
3. **Record your agency workers.** Add the agency, the assignment start date and the agency's confirmation.
4. **Record who is where.** Add each person to the site they work at, with dates and a responsible manager.
5. **Import what you have inherited.** If a contract is changing hands, import the files and check what HRHive has
   matched.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I need to check the right to work of agency cleaners?

HRHive records an agency worker as checked by the agency, and keeps the agency's confirmation. It does not repeat the check. The rules on who checks whom are explained on the right to work law page, and your adviser can tell you how they apply to your contracts.

### Can I import the records from the contractor we are taking over from?

Yes. HRHive imports a ZIP of HR folders or a spreadsheet, matches files to people by folder, file name, ID or email, and shows you everything to review before it is saved. An import can be rolled back. It reads expiry dates from file names only, not from inside the documents, so check them.

### Does the 12-week count cover every case?

No. It is a simplified model. It does not cover cases such as several assignments with the same hirer through different agencies. Use it as a prompt to look, and take advice on anything unusual. The rules are explained on the agency workers law page.

## About this page

- Last updated: 5 October 2026

## Related

**In HRHive**

- [Right to work checks and records](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/right-to-work/)
- [Compliance overview](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/compliance/)
- [Onboarding new starters with one link](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/onboarding/)
- [Holiday and leave](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/leave/)
- [Employee records and personnel files](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/employee-records/)
- [Policies and acknowledgements](https://hrhive.co.uk/product/policies/)

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