Housekeeper job description template: hotel, hospital, senior living or private home, chemicals, bloodborne pathogens and minors
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"Housekeeper wanted, must have attention to detail" could describe four jobs that share little beyond a cart. A hotel room attendant cleans to a room quota on a fixed schedule. A hospital environmental services worker turns over isolation rooms and handles regulated waste. A senior living housekeeper cleans residents' apartments while they are home. A household or cleaning-service housekeeper works alone or in a small team in private homes and may drive between them. Each has different safety training, different must-haves and, in one case, different wage rules. A useful housekeeper job description names the setting, the workload, the chemicals and exposure involved, and the schedule. Below are the settings, the OSHA and age lines with sources, a copy-ready template, screening and scorecard rows, and common mistakes. For the call, use housekeeper screening questions.
Not legal advice. The OSHA, child labor and EEOC points below were checked against OSHA, the Department of Labor, the eCFR text on Cornell's Legal Information Institute and the EEOC as of October 2026. Cities and states can add rules, including hotel worker protections and stricter minor limits.
Pick the setting first
| Setting | What the shift looks like | Must-have that separates it |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel room attendant | A room quota per shift, stayovers and checkouts, linen carts, weekend-heavy schedule | Has cleaned to a room count and can describe their order of work in one room |
| Hospital environmental services (EVS) | Discharge cleans, isolation rooms, regulated waste, terminal cleaning procedures | Has followed isolation-room or terminal-clean procedures and used PPE correctly |
| Senior living or nursing facility housekeeper | Resident apartments and common areas, residents present, infection control routines | Comfortable working around residents, including those with dementia |
| Residential cleaning service | Team or solo cleaning in clients' homes, driving between jobs, client keys and alarm codes | Valid license and reliable transportation if the job requires driving |
| Private household housekeeper | One household, often a fixed weekly schedule, sometimes live-in | Household-specific tasks (laundry, cooking, errands) listed plainly |
Then settle the workload with the executive housekeeper or EVS manager: rooms or areas per shift (labeled as an estimate), the heaviest regular lift, the products and equipment used, and weekend and holiday expectations. Private household roles have their own wage rules; for example, the federal overtime exemption for domestic workers who live in the household can apply when the household itself is the employer (see the Department of Labor's direct care and domestic service page). If you hire building cleaners for offices or schools instead, start from custodian screening questions.
Chemicals, bloodborne pathogens and age
Cleaning chemicals. OSHA's hazard communication standard requires effective training on the hazardous chemicals in the work area at the time of initial assignment and whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced, covering the hazards, protective measures and how to read labels and safety data sheets (29 CFR 1910.1200(h)). Put "we train on our products and equipment" in the posting instead of "must know chemicals."
Bloodborne pathogens. OSHA's standard covers employees with occupational exposure, defined as reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials from the employee's duties (29 CFR 1910.1030). For covered employees, training is required at initial assignment and at least annually, the hepatitis B vaccine must be made available at no cost within 10 working days of initial assignment, and employees who handle contaminated laundry must wear gloves and other appropriate protective equipment. Hospital EVS roles almost always fall here; say so in the posting.
Minors. Federal rules allow 14- and 15-year-olds to do clean-up work, including the use of vacuum cleaners and floor waxers (29 CFR 570.34), within the federal hour limits (no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 in a school week, only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day) and not from ladders or scaffolds (DOL Fact Sheet #43). Most hotel and healthcare postings set a minimum age of 16 or 18; state the one you use.
Language. EEOC guidance says an English fluency requirement is permissible only if required for the effective performance of the position (EEOC national origin guidance). Name the real task, such as reading chemical labels and the room board, rather than "fluent English required."
The housekeeper job description template
Housekeeper — [Hotel Room Attendant / Environmental Services /
Senior Living / Residential], [Full-Time / Part-Time],
[Days / Evenings / Weekends]
[Employer], [street area or neighborhood, city, state]
Pay: $[min]–$[max] per hour, plus [weekend or holiday premium,
other premiums with conditions]. [Benefits summary, if required.]
SUMMARY
You will clean [guest rooms / patient rooms and units / resident
apartments and common areas / clients' homes] at [property type,
size]. A typical shift is about [N rooms / areas] (an estimate).
Shifts are [days and times], including [weekend pattern]. You will
report to the [executive housekeeper / EVS supervisor / team lead].
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Clean and reset [rooms / areas] to our checklist: [beds, baths,
floors, dusting, restocking].
- Use [cleaning products and equipment] after our training,
following labels and safety data sheets.
- [Follow isolation-room and terminal-clean procedures and handle
regulated waste and soiled linen with the PPE we provide.]
- Report maintenance problems, damage and lost items.
- Respect guest, patient or resident privacy and property.
YOU MUST HAVE
- [Age line: "16 or older" / "18 or older", whichever you use.]
- Availability for [N] shifts a week including [weekends /
holidays].
- Ability to read [chemical labels and the assignment sheet] in
[language(s)].
- Ability to push a cart, make beds and lift up to [N] pounds, with
or without reasonable accommodation.
- [Valid driver's license and reliable transportation, if you
drive between homes.]
NICE TO HAVE
- Housekeeping or cleaning experience in a [hotel / hospital /
residential] setting.
- [Language] for guests or residents who speak it.
No experience? We train. Please apply.
SAFETY AND TRAINING
We train on our products, equipment and [bloodborne pathogen]
procedures before you work alone. [Hepatitis B vaccination is
offered at no cost.] We provide [gloves, PPE, uniforms].
[EEO STATEMENT]
To request an adjustment to apply or interview, ask any manager or
contact [contact].Pay and EEO
Post the hourly range and every premium, and check your state's pay transparency rules. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook covers maids and housekeeping cleaners in its data for occupations not covered in detail, linked from the janitors and building cleaners profile (last modified August 27, 2026); this page does not quote figures. Close with an EEO statement covering the characteristics the EEOC lists.
From must-haves to screening questions and scorecard rows
| Must-have | Screening question | Scorecard competency | Evidence of a strong answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Availability | "We need Saturday and Sunday every week plus two weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Can you work that?" | Not scored | Commits to the days named |
| Work method | "Walk me through cleaning a checkout room, from the door to leaving it." | Thoroughness and order | A logical order (strip, bath, dust top to bottom, floors last), uses a checklist |
| Chemical safety | "Why should you never mix bleach with another cleaner, and what do you do if you're unsure about a product?" | Safety awareness | Knows the risk, reads the label or asks, uses the gloves provided |
| Exposure handling (EVS) | "You find a needle in the bed linen of a discharged patient's room. What do you do?" | Infection control | Does not touch it by hand, uses the sharps procedure, reports it |
| Integrity and privacy | "You find cash and a ring on the nightstand of an occupied room. What do you do?" | Trustworthiness | Leaves it in place, cleans around it, follows the lost-and-found or reporting rule |
The interview guide for hospitality roles keeps hotel screens consistent across departments; if you are hiring front office staff at the same time, use the hotel front desk screening questions. For hospital EVS, the interview guide for healthcare roles covers infection control follow-ups.
Common mistakes in housekeeper job descriptions
No setting
A hotel quota and an isolation-room clean are different jobs. Name the setting in the title.
Hiding the workload
Applicants want to know the room count. Give an estimate and label it as one.
"Fluent English required" by default
Write the actual reading task instead, and require only the language level the job needs.
No mention of exposure or PPE
If the job involves blood, sharps or regulated waste, say so and say what training and protection you provide.
Before you publish
- Setting, workload estimate and schedule are in the title and summary.
- Chemical and, where it applies, bloodborne pathogen training lines are present.
- The age line and language requirement match the real job.
- Pay, premiums, EEO statement and accommodation contact are present.
Questions people ask
Do housekeepers need bloodborne pathogen training?
OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard applies to employees with occupational exposure, meaning reasonably anticipated contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials from their duties. Hospital environmental services staff usually fall in that group. Covered employees must be trained at initial assignment and at least annually, and must be offered the hepatitis B vaccine at no cost within 10 working days of initial assignment.
Can a 14- or 15-year-old work as a housekeeper?
Federal rules allow 14- and 15-year-olds to do clean-up work, including using vacuum cleaners and floor waxers, within the federal hour limits: no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). They may not work from ladders or scaffolds. States can be stricter, and many hotel and healthcare employers set 16 or 18 as their minimum.
Should a housekeeper job description require English?
Only to the level the job actually needs. EEOC guidance says an English fluency requirement is permissible only if required for the effective performance of the position. A room attendant who reads labels and safety data sheets needs different language skills from a lead who writes inspection reports. State the real task, such as reading chemical labels or the room assignment sheet.
What training do housekeepers need for cleaning chemicals?
OSHA's hazard communication standard requires training on the hazardous chemicals in the work area at the time of initial assignment and whenever a new hazard is introduced, including how to read labels and safety data sheets and how to protect themselves. Say in the posting that you train on your products.