Janitor job description template: night office cleaning, day porter or floor tech, chemicals, compactors and minors
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"Janitor wanted, nights, must be reliable" could mean cleaning offices alone after hours with a building key and an alarm code, working as a day porter in a busy medical building, stripping and refinishing floors on a traveling floor crew, or serving as a school custodian who also sets up the gym for events. The schedule, the equipment, the security access and the chemicals differ, and so do the people who will be good at it. A useful janitor job description names the setting, the shift, the square footage or route, the equipment, the chemical and safety training you provide, and the pay. Below are the settings, the safety and age lines with sources, a copy-ready template, screening and scorecard rows, and common mistakes. For the phone screen, use custodian screening questions.
Not legal advice. The OSHA, child labor, EEOC and California points below were checked against OSHA, the Department of Labor, 29 CFR Part 570 on Cornell's Legal Information Institute, the EEOC, the California Labor Commissioner's Office and BLS as of October 2026. States and cities can add their own rules.
Pick the setting and shift
| Setting | What the shift looks like | Must-have that separates it |
|---|---|---|
| Night office cleaning (contract) | Several floors or a route of buildings after hours, trash, restrooms, vacuuming, often alone, keys and alarm codes | Works unsupervised to a checklist; trusted with building access |
| Day porter | Daytime restrooms, lobbies, spills and restocking in an occupied building, tenant requests | Comfortable around tenants and the public; responds to requests fast |
| Floor care technician | Stripping, waxing, burnishing and carpet extraction, traveling between sites, heavy machines | Has run auto scrubbers, burnishers and extractors |
| School or campus custodian | Classrooms, restrooms, cafeteria, event setup, summer deep cleaning, students present | Works around students; can set up rooms and events |
| Industrial sanitation | Food plants or manufacturing, sanitation shift after production, chemicals and lockout procedures | Follows sanitation procedures and lockout rules |
Then settle the workload with the account or facilities manager: square footage or rooms per shift (labeled as an estimate), the equipment used, whether the janitor works alone, and whether the shift ever changes. BLS notes that most janitors learn on the job and that many work evenings because offices are cleaned while empty, while 24-hour sites such as hospitals use nights, weekends and holidays (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified August 27, 2026). Hotel and healthcare room cleaning is a different job; see the housekeeper job description template.
Chemicals, blood, compactors and minors
Hazard communication. OSHA requires employers to provide effective information and training on the hazardous chemicals in the work area at the time of initial assignment and whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced (29 CFR 1910.1200(h)). That training covers labels and safety data sheets. Write "we train on our products and equipment" rather than "must know chemicals."
Bloodborne pathogens. OSHA's standard covers employees with reasonably anticipated contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials from their duties (29 CFR 1910.1030). In medical buildings, clinics and some schools, janitors handling sharps or bodily fluid cleanup may be covered, which brings training and the offer of the hepatitis B vaccine. Say so if it applies.
Compactors and balers. Hazardous Occupations Order 12 bans workers under 18 from operating compactors and balers; 16- and 17-year-olds may load, but not operate or unload, certain scrap paper balers and paper box compactors (DOL Fact Sheet #43).
Minors aged 14 and 15. They may do cleanup work, including vacuum cleaners and floor waxers (29 CFR 570.34), but not work requiring ladders or scaffolds, outside window washing from sills, or operating most other power-driven machinery (29 CFR 570.33), and only within the federal hour limits: 3 hours on a school day, 18 in a school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). Night office cleaning is therefore not a job for them. See hiring minors and work permits.
California janitorial employers. The Property Service Workers Protection Act requires janitorial employers to register with the Labor Commissioner, renew every year, keep records for three years, and provide in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training at least once every two years through a qualified organization (California Labor Commissioner's Office). A California posting can mention the training as part of onboarding.
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 reading task instead.
The janitor job description template
Janitor — [Night Office Cleaning / Day Porter / Floor Care
Technician / School Custodian], [Full-Time / Part-Time],
[Shift: e.g. 6 p.m.–2:30 a.m., Monday–Friday]
[Employer], [building or area, city, state]
Pay: $[min]–$[max] per hour [plus night or weekend differential of
$[N]]. [Benefits summary, if required.]
SUMMARY
You will clean [an office building of about [N] square feet / a
route of [N] buildings / a K-8 school] (estimates)
[alone / with a team of [N]]. You will report to [site supervisor /
account manager / head custodian].
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Empty trash and recycling and take it to the [dumpster /
compactor].
- Clean and restock restrooms and break rooms to our checklist.
- Vacuum, dust, mop and spot-clean [and run the auto scrubber].
- [Strip, wax and burnish floors on a rotating schedule.]
- Use our cleaning products after training, following labels and
safety data sheets.
- Lock doors, set alarms and report security or maintenance issues.
YOU MUST HAVE
- [Age line: "18 or older" if the job involves the compactor,
ladders or night hours.]
- Availability for the shift above, including [weekends].
- Ability to read [chemical labels and the work order] in
[language(s)].
- Ability to push carts and lift up to [N] pounds, with or without
reasonable accommodation.
- [Ability to pass a background check required by the client, as
permitted by law.]
NICE TO HAVE
- Commercial cleaning or floor care experience.
- [Language] for tenants or co-workers 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, and we provide [gloves, PPE,
uniforms].
[EEO STATEMENT]
To request an adjustment to apply or interview, contact [contact].Pay and EEO
Post the hourly range and any shift differential. The BLS janitors and building cleaners profile linked above (last modified August 27, 2026) publishes pay data; this page does not quote figures. Check pay transparency laws by state, and close with a short EEO statement covering the characteristics the EEOC lists. If a client requires background checks for building access, follow the FCRA background check process and any local fair chance rules.
From must-haves to screening questions and scorecard rows
| Must-have | Screening question | Scorecard competency | Evidence of a strong answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shift availability | "The shift is 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., Monday to Friday. Can you work that every week?" | Not scored | Knockout confirmed |
| Working alone to a standard | "You are alone on three floors and running late. What do you never skip, and what can wait?" | Prioritization | Restrooms and trash first, logs anything skipped and tells the supervisor |
| Chemical safety | "A spray bottle has lost its label. What do you do with it?" | Safety awareness | Does not guess or use it, sets it aside, gets the right labeled product or tells the supervisor |
| Floor care (floor tech) | "Walk me through stripping and refinishing a VCT floor in a hallway." | Technical skill | Signs and barriers, stripper dwell time, scrub and pick up, neutral rinse, thin coats with drying time, burnish |
| Security and trust | "You find an office door unlocked and a laptop on the desk at 1 a.m. What do you do?" | Integrity | Does not touch it, locks up per procedure and reports it |
For hotel and hospital cleaning roles, use the housekeeper screening questions. If the role also covers light repairs, compare it with the maintenance technician job description template.
Common mistakes in janitor job descriptions
No shift times
"Nights" means different things. Post the start and end times and days.
No workload
Give the square footage or route as an estimate. Candidates use it to judge the pace.
"Must know chemicals"
Training on your products is your obligation. Say you provide it.
Teen hires on the compactor
Under-18 workers may not operate compactors. Assign that task to adults and say so.
Before you publish
- Setting, shift times and workload estimate are in the title and summary.
- Chemical training and, where it applies, bloodborne pathogen lines are present.
- Age lines match the compactor, ladder and hour rules.
- Pay, differentials, EEO statement and accommodation contact are present.
Questions people ask
What safety training do janitors need?
OSHA's hazard communication standard requires employers to train employees on the hazardous chemicals in their work area at initial assignment and whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced, including labels and safety data sheets. Janitors who may contact blood or other potentially infectious materials, such as in healthcare settings or restroom cleanup with sharps, may also be covered by the bloodborne pathogens standard.
Can a 16- or 17-year-old operate the trash compactor?
No. Federal Hazardous Occupations Order 12 bans workers under 18 from operating compactors and balers. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds may load, but not operate or unload, certain scrap paper balers and paper box compactors that meet federal safety standards. Say in the posting who runs the compactor.
Do janitorial companies in California need to register?
Yes. The California Labor Commissioner's Office says the Property Service Workers Protection Act requires janitorial employers to register, renew the registration every year, and provide sexual violence and harassment prevention training to workers at least once every two years, in person, through a qualified organization.
Should a janitor posting require English?
Only to the level the job needs. EEOC guidance says an English fluency requirement is permissible only if required for the effective performance of the position. Name the real task, such as reading chemical labels and the work order, rather than writing fluent English required.