Hybrid working is becoming the standard for many organisations and alongside you’re your office cleaning services are affected. Commercial office cleaning has a growing impact on employee attendance and sick leave. With shared desks, rotating schedules and communal spaces, a well-maintained office can play a vital role in reducing illness, building employee confidence and encouraging consistent in-office attendance.

Understanding how office cleaning affects health and productivity is essential for creating a successful hybrid workplace. In this blog, we discuss the importance of commercial cleaning in office environments and how it is vital for protecting your employees.

 

The Link Between Office Cleanliness and Employee Health

External environments can directly influence the internal mental, emotional, and physical state of a person. From office window cleaning services to daily office cleaning, these services play a huge role on these feelings, due to their effects on the smell, look and feel of an office environment.

How Germs Spread in Shared Office Environments

From contact with high-touch surfaces and surface contamination, germs in shared office spaces can travel through many ways.

High-touch surfaces in hybrid offices are frequently used points, such as door handles, light switches, desks, keyboards, printers and kitchen appliances. These office features pose as a high risk for germ transmission, due to frequent contact by a large number of people. These items and areas require daily cleaning and disinfection to mitigate germ spread and improve employee health.

Many hybrid working offices allow for hotdesking days for employee wellbeing. Although, hotdesking can be the cause of increased cross-contamination due to the rotating desk use. Cleaning Matters found that the level of microbiological activity is 18% higher on hot-desking workstations than of those in a fixed-desk environment.

The same research by Cleaning Matters found that shared computer mice had a 41% higher microbiological reading compared to a mouse used by one individual. Although hotdesking is a great initiative for employee culture, it can pose as a risk for employee health.

To mitigate these risks, it is vital to liaise with your commercial cleaning provider to create an effective office cleaning specification to suit your employee working hours.

The Role of Professional Office Cleaning in Infection Prevention

A clear infection prevention strategy within a corporate environment can include these core pillars:

Pillar	Visible Cleanliness	Infection Prevention
Primary Goal	Aesthetic appeal and organised workspace areas.	Reduction of pathogen transmission.
Focus Areas	Dust-free surfaces, clear floors, and tidy desks.	High touch point disinfection: door handles, elevator buttons, shared desk equipment, etc.
Methods Used	Disinfection and microfiber dusting.	Eco-friendly cleaning agents and targeted dwell times.
Health Impact	Improves morale and psychological comfort.	Directly reduces absenteeism and prevents viral outbreaks.

 

Creating a Cleaning Strategy That Supports Hybrid Attendance

Within hybrid working offices, cleaning strategies need to be flexible, intentional, and aligned with the employee usage of each space. One strategy will not work for all spaces. This is why it is critical to have open, honest conversations with your office cleaning provider to be able to establish the best routine for you and your employee schedule.

The Cost of Sick Leave for Hybrid Offices

By tailoring commercial office cleaning plans to hybrid work patterns and clearly communicating cleaning efforts, your organisation can improve attendance, reduce sick leave and build employee trust.

The risks of high-level employee sick leave for hybrid offices can include:

Productivity Loss from Unexpected Absences: A study found by HRVision showed that unplanned absences, productivity in offices was down by 40%. Translating to missed deadlines, delayed projects, and a decline in overall output.

Impact on Collaboration: Findings from Asana shows 60% of a worker’s day is spent on communication with employees. When employees in-office days are missed, these collaborative tools become clogged with crisis management rather than productive work. This ultimately adding to the decrease of productivity and crucial operational works.

Financial Implications for Employers: Whilst conducting research, the British Saefty Council found that workplace illness cost businesses an estimated £138 billion in a single year. This data also showed that on average, 49.7 days of lost productivity, per UK employee, per year due to poor health, with 7.8 days attributed to formal sick leave, marking the highest sickness absence rate in a decade.

Aligning Cleaning Schedules with Hybrid Work Patterns

To mitigate the cost of sick leave on offices, you need to ensure your employees feel they have an environment where they feel safe and valued.

Hybrid working means offices often experience peak attendance on specific days, commonly mid-week. Aligning professional office cleaning schedules with these patterns ensures shared spaces are hygienic when they are most heavily used. Whilst creating a detailed and effective cleaning schedule, it is important for facility managers to consider the following:

• Peak hours of office areas.
• Peak days of in-office attendance.
• Preference on daytime versus after-hours cleaning.
• Preference on cleaning agents.

Adjusting cleaning days to peak attendance helps prioritise high-risk areas such as hot desks, meeting rooms, kitchens, and washrooms. Daytime versus after-hours cleaning should also be carefully considered. After-hours office cleaning allows for thorough disinfection without disruption, while selective daytime cleaning can support hygiene in high-traffic areas.

Incorporating eco-friendly office cleaning methods into schedules can further support employee wellbeing, improve air quality and reduce exposure to harsh chemicals while maintaining high cleaning standards.

 

Partner with DOC Cleaning today to enhance your office spaces

With over 50 years of experience of offering best-in-class corporate cleaning services, we can create a flexible, eco-friendly office cleaning strategy that reflects your office needs and requirements.

Get in touch today to discuss a tailored office cleaning specification for your business.