Literature Review
i have attached a copy of a literature review…and i have received a comment from lecturer that I have discussed the wrong topic.. instead of talking about the housekeeping contract I should focus on the servce encounter, services cape and possible service recovery…not the contractual issue…
Literature Review
Introduction
A housekeeping contract is a contract that exists between a housekeeper and a homeowner or a business, or between a housekeeping agency, housekeepers and a business. Housekeeping is one of the most important tasks especially at home and at the hotel setting. It involves carrying out a lot of cleaning for furniture, houses, utensils, clothes, dusting, sweeping and rubbing dirty floors and any other things that are at home or at the workplace (guest rooms at hotels) (Andrews, 1985). Other tasks that comprise housekeeping are: cleaning windows and floor carpets, and also cleaning the entire compound. House keeping can be said to be a basic task in the home setting as people need to stay in clean houses, take food using clean plates and generally stay in clean places (Andrews, 2011).
Contents of housekeeping contract
The Housekeeping contract involves stating clearly the terms for the payment between the involved parties, a clarity of the agreed on working hours, a specification of the duties to be performed by both parties, for example, the housekeeper may be expected to dust windows and surfaces and not actually clean them with water, and therefore such details must be stated clearly to avoid misunderstanding or breach of the terms of the contract (Helewitz, 2010). This contract should also state clearly whoever is expected to provide the facilities for cleaning, to state the agreed on working period (contract period), to state the areas that should be off the reach of the housekeeper, to state any provisions for sick days, to state the agreed remuneration, to state the time limit within which either party may terminate the services, to state the terms for terminating the contract/agreement, and finally, to specify any provisions for health-related benefits (Andrews, 2008).
Duties to be performed by the parties
Under the housekeeping contract, the housekeeper has some duties to perform. These include; performing all the tasks agreed on in the contract, to report any cases of complains regarding housekeeping such as poor cleaning equipment or complains by the clients to the supervisor, to provide cleaning services to the business/homeowner, to attend training sessions for cleaning in order to gain more skills on performance when required to, to provide catering services if required to, to dispose off garbage and waste products, and also to check the status of the furniture of the various rooms and to ensure that they are well maintained (Andrews, 2008).
Types of housekeeping contracts
There are two main types of housekeeping contracts; those that are obtained through an agency such as Sunshine Hospitality Service, and those that are drafted by the person or business hiring the housekeeper. For the contract to be valid, both parties have to sign it as a symbol of acceptance of the terms and conditions of the contract (Andrews, 2008). Whenever drafting a housekeeping contract especially for a hotel business (guest houses), the business must ensure that the contract is in line with the country’s labor laws to avoid some violations which may make it null and void. Labor laws must apply in the writing of contracts to avoid labor law violations such as; the contract being unfair to either party in terms of the stated working hours, minimum remuneration, working hours, working conditions and any other violations that may occur (Chen-Wishart, 2007).
Challenges faced by housekeeping contracts
Housekeeping contracts for agencies such as Sunshine Hospitality Service often face some challenges. These challenges include; the need to satisfy the client (hotel business) by providing high standard and quality housekeeping services, providing these services at low fees, maintaining satisfied and motivated employees (housekeepers) who are paid lowly due to the low fees charged to the clients, and also satisfying the high profile corporates who accommodate the rooms at the hotels. Therefore, satisfying all these people considering the low fees charged in the housekeeping contract is a big challenge (Chen-Wishart, 2007).
Reasons for entering into housekeeping contract
Businesses or persons enter into a housekeeping contract for several reasons; the need to have responsible persons who will take care of the cleanliness of the premises, the need to be assured of quality services especially where the clients are high profile persons, the need to have a good agreement that is clearly written and with strict terms and conditions regarding the services provided, persons lacking the time to do the cleaning due to busy office schedules, and finally, in occurrences where there is a festivity and therefore professional cleaners are required to carry out cleaning tasks (Helewitz, 2010).
Termination of housekeeping contracts
Housekeeping contracts may be terminated in a number of ways. These include; through notice by either of the parties in accordance to the stated terms regarding notice of termination, through mutual agreement by both parties to the housekeeping contract, through failure to conduct the required duties and tasks by either parties; for example, when the housekeeper fails to perform the required duties of cleaning or when the other party fails to provide remuneration to the housekeeper (Chen-Wishart, 2007). Termination may also occur when a breach of the contract occurs and this may lead to a legal suit by the offended party. When a suit occurs due to a breach of the housekeeping contract, several remedies may be offered by the court. These include: payment of damages to the offended party, specific performance, or injunction. In these cases, the offended party may ne rewarded for damages and therefore it is important for parties in any housekeeping contract to stick to the terms stated and to perform their duties as required to avoid the long legal procedures that often cause great losses and time wastage (Helewitz, 2010).
How to maintain a healthy housekeeping contractual relationship
In order to maintain a healthy relationship in the housekeeping contract, it is important for the parties to do the following; to honor the terms and the conditions of the contract, to maintain good communication so that incase an issue comes up regarding the terms or the duties to be performed, it can be sorted out at the personal level (Jones, 2007). A healthy relationship between the parties in a housekeeping contract is also important to avoid misunderstandings which amount to breach of the contract as this may lead to legal suits. The main reason for this healthy relationship is to ensure that the contractual purpose is accomplished successfully and each party is satisfied (Helewitz, 2010).
Conclusion
Generally, a housekeeping contract is similar to any other contract as it has specific terms and conditions to be agreed on and met by both parties, it specifies what each party is expected to achieve during and at the end of the contract, it consists of two or more parties, it has remedies for the breach of the contract and it finally has a purpose for which the contract is entered into. All the parties involved in a housekeeping contract must be well informed of their rights, their duties and the repercussions of breaching the contract. This is to ensure that they are well aware of what the court might do if any of them defects from their contractual duties (Goldberg, 2006). Additionally, parties to a housekeeping contract are always encouraged to honor their part of the contract by performing specifically what they are supposed to do to ensure success of the contract. When the contract is between a home owner and a housekeeper, the terms and conditions may be more flexible. This means that additional duties or variable terms may be available to a housekeeper in a home situation that are not available to a housekeeper in a hotel (Goldberg, 2006). For example, a housekeeper at home may be working for up to 12 hours in a day whereas one in a hotel situation may be working for only 5 hours in a day, or, a housekeeper at home may be performing additional duties such as trimming grass, or performing non specific chores at home. This means that their job description may be open to any instructions by the home owners and may therefore perform any task as instructed. Therefore, housekeeping contracts exist in many societies and are acceptable so long as they conform to the labor laws of the various countries (Chen-Wishart, 2007).
References
Andrews, N. (2011). Contract law. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Andrews, S. (1985). Hotel housekeeping: Training manual. Tata McGraw-Hill.
Andrews, S. (2008). Textbook of hotel housekeeping management and operations. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.
Chen-Wishart, M. (2007). Contract law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goldberg, V. P. (2006). Framing contract law: An economic perspective. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Helewitz, J. A. (2010). Basic contract law for paralegals. Austin [Tex.: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Jones, T. J. A. (2007). Professional Management of Housekeeping Operations. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
