The Janitors' Closet

Confirming driver licenses

Just caught a news release that Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has rolled out a pilot program to allow employers to verify state driver licenses presented as ID during a job interview.  The program exists just in Mississippi so far, but is set to expand to other states.

Most interviewees present a driver license as ID in the interview process; as a matter of fact, here in
Arizona, state law requires job applicants to have a current Arizona license, and we are allowed to require same.  So we do.  Arizona called in and re-issued all licenses several years ago, in compliance with 9/11 legislation; the new licenses are quite difficult to counterfeit, if one knows what to look for (microprinting, hologram, black-light images, etc.).  Further, my background checking agency can e-mail me a black and white copy of the license photo the state has on file; comparing that with the photo on the license presented by the applicant makes a fake license easy to spot.

Finally, as a charter member of Homeland Security's IMAGE program, my staff received several hours training in detecting fake ID.

So we have quite a good handle on the identity of those folks before we screen them (court records, civil & criminal; driver records; residence history; credit).  And we screen everyone we're looking at putting on, whether for janitorial, floor and carpet cleaning, or supervisory positions.  Much more effective, screening folks once you've confirmed their identity.

Cleaning house the aerobic way

Once again, in "Exercise in Utility", the Wall Street Journal has showcased my janitorial industry with a front page article (Jan 24, 2012).

Steve Markovitx "does squats while washing windows. He performs lunges and hip twists while using the vacuum cleaner, 'the most versatile exercise machine' he knows. He burns so many calories that he can forgive himself for occasional indulgences, such as vanilla ice cream slathered with peanut butter."

Without commenting on the bit about slathering ice cream with peanut butter, I can verify the exercise content.  My janitorial crews are almost universally fit; those past workers I've stayed in contact with are largely "large".

And, truth be told, I need to get out with my crews a bit more often.

In the same article, a Carol Torgan "suggests 'doing toe raises to strengthen the calves while vacuuming, washing dishes or brushing your teeth.' Still, she warns that the overzealous could hobble themselves with such ailments as knee bursitis—also known as housemaid's knee—or suffer from "increased inhalation of chemical fumes from cleaning agents.' "

Sounds like all they need is a people friendly chemical kit.

Are schools making kids sick?

Caught an article in CNN Health on the links between students' health and indoor air quality: the debilitating presence of mold, airborne dust and other pollutants in schools.

According to author David S. Martin, "Figures are hard to come by, but studies have estimated that a third or more of U.S. schools have mold, dust and other indoor air problems serious enough to provoke respiratory issues like asthma in students and teachers.  A national survey of school nurses found that 40% knew children and staff adversely affected by indoor pollutants."

Mold is not quite the concern here in Arizona's dry Sonoran desert as it might be in moister locals, but we do perform a visual inspection for it when doing a Greenguard Environmental Institute based facility inspection for a client.

Dust (see above about a dry Sonoran desert), however, is a biggie.

Using HEPA filtration on our vacuums, vacuuming rather than dust mopping tile floors, using microfiber damp mops rather than string mops, and microfiber wipes rather than feather or lambs wool dusters, we've the systems in place to remove, rather than redistribute, dust, and to keep it out of the air.  We also measure indoor air quality - airborne dust particles in the size range of most allergens - and share results with our clients.  In a tightly sealed facility, cleaned multiple nights per week, we generally see a substantial reduction in airborne dust.  It's called "cleaning for health".  Clients appreciate the benefit.

If a school kid is home sick from a pathogen or allergen he inhaled at school, he cannot learn.  If a client is home sick from a particle he inhaled at work, he cannot sign our check...

Janitor jobs: Gingrich vs Juan Williams

So, is janitorial work demeaning?  More so, say, than not working but accepting food stamps?

I wrote a while back about Newt Gingrich's comments that inner city kids might benefit by being allowed to do part time work around their schools, including janitorial work, so as to earn money (hard to do in many inner cities) and to learn, early, vital job skills.  Same subject came up, via pundit Juan Williams, in last night's presidential debate; here's the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm51_20GEoU&feature=player_embedded

While I didn't start in janitorial (lived in the suburbs, so mowing lawns was available - I began at 12 or 13), the basic point is well noted - the earlier one learns to support oneself, rather than assuming an entitlement, the more likely he is to continue throughout life.

And, sorry, I've never seen honest work as demeaning.  Particularly janitorial work.  We clean buildings to keep people safe and healthy.  Not an inconsequential task.

Arizona sales tax "loopholes" leave state $10 billion short

Caught an article in our local Arizona Republic, noting that "loopholes" in our tax system forgo the collection of $10 billion annually, greater than the entire state budget.

"People don't pay state sales tax on a host of goods, including horse vitamins and motion picture equipment.  They also don't pay a tax on services, such as haircuts and massages", according to the article, by a reporter that I usually respect.

My first thought was that a tax on services (Arizona, and most states, do not tax services) would require me to tax my clients for the janitorial service we provide, adding 7.3% to their monthly bill.  In looking at the pricing differential that convinces many prospects to choose another service, or to keep the office cleaning in-house, I strongly suspect that that increase would would convince many of my clients, and of everyone else's clients, to cancel service and take the work in-house.  As a rule, clients have much less experience, and industry knowledge, in areas of "cleaning for health", or safety, or environmental concerns, so moving a large chunk of commercial janitorial work out of the hands of the professionals would lead directly to less desirable health, safety and environmental results.

Tax policy does have the occasional unintended consequence.

A couple other points I noticed:

Of that $10 billion, about $3.5 billion is in exemptions - "loopholes" - for goods not currently taxed, according to the article "often at the urging of lobbyists.  They are either egregious examples of special treatment or well-reasoned exemptions to taxation, depending on political and fiscal views."  Got me to wondering if we really could collect $3.5 billion on things like "horses' vitamins and motion picture equipment".  Also mentioned was food sold at rodeos, surely a huge potential revenue source.

Only deep into the article was a mention made of the general food tax exemption, which, if you run the figures, turns out to be better than a quarter of that $3.5 billion.  I guess the groceries exemption would be an example of the evil lobby put together by folks who buy groceries.  Not mentioned is the huge potential revenue stream possible by taxing real estate purchases.  This would be a good time to initiate that tax - not much property is selling locally, so folks would have time to adjust before they're likely to buy.

One also wonders how much of the remaining $6.5 billion, not currently collected on services, would really be available by taxing "such as haircuts and massages".  Had the article really wanted to explore the realities of the "close the loopholes" proposal, it might have mentioned taxing financial services, legal services, education, and health care (everything from doctor visits to surgery) - surely larger sources of revenue than haircuts and massages.  Wonder if anybody would mind.

One man's tax loophole is another man's heart surgery.

Photo ID and DOB to purchase cleaning chemicals

Caught an article on a new Illinois law requiring presentation of photo ID for one to purchase common cleaning and maintenance chemicals, such as Draino.  This will protect the public  from those criminals and terrorists who use such in their nefarious activities....

Conversely, a proposal to require the presentation of photo ID at the poling place languishes in the Illinois Legislature.  One is tempted to speculate on whether such legislation as the chemical purchase ID act might be a bit less common if voters were require to show ID.

On the security front, the chemical photo ID law also requires the purchaser to provide, and the store clerk to note down, his address and date of birth.  A good start on stealing someones identity involves acquiring his DOB, address and driver license information (what most folks present when asked for ID).  Perhaps we need some legislation to screen store clerks, and to safeguard the personal information that they are now required to acquire.  And maybe some background checking, and employment standards, on the state employees that would need to be made responsible for the implementation and oversight of the store clerk screening/personal information securing program.

This could be a whole new jobs creation program.