Reference check questions for housekeepers

A housekeeper works alone in other people’s spaces: a guest’s room with a laptop on the desk, a client’s kitchen with the mail on the counter, a hospital room where the cleaning steps matter for the next patient. An interview cannot show you how the candidate behaves there, and a background check shows only what made it into a record.

The people who know are the supervisor who inspected the candidate’s rooms and the client who let them in every week. They can tell you whether rooms passed inspection on heavy checkout days, what the candidate did with a ring found under the bed and whether anything ever went missing. Ask for those specifics, and ask how long the reference has seen the candidate’s work.

Who to ask

• An executive housekeeper or housekeeping supervisor who assigned the candidate’s rooms and inspected them.
• The owner or team lead of a residential cleaning service who sent the candidate into clients’ homes.
• An environmental services supervisor, for hospital, clinic or senior living work, who saw how they followed cleaning and infection control steps.
• A long-standing private client, for a housekeeper who has worked for households directly.

Questions to ask, by competency

Choose the competencies that matter most for the position and two or three questions from each. Ask every reference the same set, and when an answer is a rating, ask for the example behind it.

Trust and discretion

Housekeepers work alone among other people’s belongings, often with keys or door codes. Guests and clients have to be able to trust them without watching.

1. How did the candidate handle items left behind or found while cleaning, such as cash, jewelry or a phone?
2. Did a guest or client ever report something missing after the candidate had cleaned? How was it resolved?
3. How did the candidate respect privacy, for example Do Not Disturb signs, closed doors or personal papers left out?

Cleaning standards

A room or home is judged by what the last person missed: the hair in the shower, the dust on the headboard, the smudge on the mirror.

1. When you inspected the candidate’s rooms, what did you find, and how often did one need redoing?
2. On a heavy checkout day, did the candidate still follow the full cleaning checklist, or did steps get skipped?
3. Out of five, what would you give the candidate for attention to detail compared with other housekeepers you have supervised, and what are you basing it on? (rating)

Pace and reliability

A hotel cannot sell a room until it is clean, and a client may be waiting at home for a team that is late.

1. How did the candidate manage a full board of rooms or a full day of homes? Did they finish on time without cutting corners?
2. When the candidate was scheduled for weekends and holidays, could you rely on them to arrive on time?
3. How did the candidate handle a last-minute change, such as an early check-in, a rush room or an extra home added to the day?

Safety and infection control

Cleaning chemicals, wet floors and soiled linen are hazards. In health care settings, a skipped cleaning step can pass an infection to the next patient.

1. Did the candidate use cleaning products as directed, with the right dilution and gloves, and never mix them?
2. For hospital or senior living work, did the candidate follow the steps for isolation rooms and soiled linen every time?
3. Did the candidate report damage, maintenance problems or safety hazards they found in a room, such as a broken lock or a leak?

Close the reference

End every reference the same way: ask whether they would hire or work with the candidate again and why, what support would help the candidate do their best work, and whether there is anything else you should know. The general question bank explains why the first of these matters most.

Checks a reference does not replace

• A criminal or other background check run by a third party. Under the FTC’s guidance, the candidate first gets a written notice, in a document of its own, that a consumer report may be used, and gives written permission before you order it.
• The federal exclusion list, for health care facilities. If the housekeeper will work for a hospital, nursing home or other health care employer, the HHS Office of Inspector General advises health care entities to check new hires and current employees against its List of Excluded Individuals/Entities, and says anyone who hires a person on the list may be subject to civil monetary penalties.

Warning signs to follow up

• Hesitation, or answers that suddenly turn general, when you ask how the candidate handled guests’ or clients’ belongings.
• A supervisor who describes rooms that often needed redoing, especially on busy days.
• Only coworkers from the same floor or team as references, and no supervisor or client.
• Private household work with vague dates, and no client willing to speak with you.

One warning sign is a reason to ask another question, not a verdict. Reference check red flags covers how to check a concern fairly.

Questions to leave out

Ask only about the work. Before an offer, the EEOC’s guidance says an employer may not ask a third party, such as a former employer, any question it could not ask the candidate directly. Leave out health, medical leave, age, family plans and other protected characteristics. What to leave out has the full list.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the requirements that apply to your organization, and in your state, with your counsel or HR policy office.