6 free maid and housekeeper templates by setting, residential, hotel, Airbnb turnover, commercial, and private household, with pay data and the FLSA and domestic-service guidance the generic templates skip. Download as DOCX.
A maid keeps a home, hotel, or space clean and orderly, and the same role goes by many names: housekeeper, house cleaner, room attendant, cleaning lady. Writing the job description well starts with the setting, because a residential cleaning company, a hotel, a short-term rental host, and a family hiring directly all need a different version of the same core work. Most templates give you one generic page. This one is split by setting, with the pay and compliance details the generic versions skip.
At FirstHR, we build for the small cleaning companies, hotels, and short-term rental hosts that make this hire directly, where an owner or manager writes the posting. The six templates below cover residential, hotel, Airbnb turnover, commercial, private household, and a general version, and they add the pay benchmarks and the FLSA and domestic-service guidance the generic templates leave out. The guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals, and the cleaner templates are a useful companion for non-residential roles.
TL;DR
A maid or housekeeper cleans homes, hotels, or facilities, and the role is the same work across titles like house cleaner, room attendant, and cleaning lady. It is non-exempt and hourly, with a pay anchor near $16.66/hour (BLS mean for maids and housekeeping cleaners, May 2024) and a median around $34,660 a year. A housekeeper hired directly by a household is a domestic-service worker with its own FLSA rules. Download six templates by setting as DOCX.
What a Maid or Housekeeper Does
A maid or housekeeper performs cleaning duties to keep a home, hotel, or facility clean and orderly: cleaning and sanitizing kitchens, bathrooms, and living areas, changing linens, restocking supplies, and following a checklist or standard. The work is hands-on and physical, often on weekend or variable shifts, and the specific tasks shift by setting.
The federal occupation is maids and housekeeping cleaners (37-2012), defined as performing any combination of light cleaning duties to maintain private households or commercial establishments such as hotels and hospitals. Maid, housekeeper, house cleaner, room attendant, and cleaning lady all map to this one occupation, so the title you post is mostly about the setting and how your candidates search.
Maid Duties and Responsibilities
Maid duties cluster into four areas: cleaning and sanitizing, linens and rooms, supplies and waste, and standards and safety. A strong job description picks the responsibilities from each area that match your setting rather than listing every possible task.
Cleaning and sanitizing
Clean kitchens, bathrooms, and living areas
Dust, vacuum, sweep, and mop
Disinfect high-touch surfaces
Linens and rooms
Change linens and make beds
Reset and stage rooms or spaces
Refresh towels and amenities
Supplies and waste
Empty trash and recycling
Restock toiletries and supplies
Manage the cleaning cart or kit
Standards and safety
Follow the checklist and client requests
Use cleaning chemicals safely
Report damage and maintenance needs
The emphasis shifts by setting: a hotel room attendant leans into room resets and quotas, a turnover cleaner into staging and photos, and a private housekeeper into laundry and household tasks. For a structured way to scope the role, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by your setting and the title your candidates search. The core structure is the same across all six, but each emphasizes the duties, schedule, and compliance that fit a specific kind of cleaning role. Use this guide to choose the closest fit, then adjust.
Residential Cleaning Company
The base version
For a residential cleaning business: clean client homes to standard, travel between jobs, follow each client's checklist. The baseline maid and house cleaner template.
Hotel Housekeeper / Room Attendant
Hotels and resorts
For a hotel or resort: reset guest rooms between stays, change linens, restock, and meet a daily room quota to brand standard.
Airbnb / Vacation-Rental Turnover
Short-term rentals
The turnover version most templates miss: same-day checkout-to-checkin resets, photo checklists, staging, and restocking for a short-term rental.
Commercial / Office Cleaner
Offices and buildings
For office buildings and cleaning contracts: offices, restrooms, and common areas, often on an evening or early-morning shift.
Private / Residential Housekeeper
Household employer
For a family hiring directly: cleaning, laundry, and household tasks in a private home, with the domestic-service compliance note built in.
House Cleaner / Cleaning Lady
General synonym version
The general version under the title your candidates search, whether cleaning lady, maid, or housekeeper. Use it when the setting is flexible.
Match the Template to the Setting
A residential cleaning company: Residential. A hotel or resort: Hotel Housekeeper / Room Attendant. A short-term rental: Airbnb / Vacation-Rental Turnover. Offices or buildings: Commercial / Office Cleaner. A family hiring directly: Private / Residential Housekeeper. A flexible or general role: House Cleaner / Cleaning Lady. Every version is non-exempt and hourly; put a pay range in the posting.
6 Free Maid Job Description Templates
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: company and job summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, pay, and how to apply, with an EEO statement. Fill in the brackets and post.
Download All 6 Job Description Templates
Residential, hotel room attendant, Airbnb turnover, commercial, private household, and general house cleaner. All in one DOCX.
Template 1: Maid / House Cleaner (Residential Cleaning Company)
For a residential cleaning business: clean client homes to standard, travel between jobs, and follow each client's checklist. The baseline maid and house cleaner template.
Maid / House Cleaner Job Description (Residential Cleaning Company)
MAID / HOUSE CLEANER JOB DESCRIPTION (RESIDENTIAL CLEANING COMPANY)
[Company Name] is hiring a House Cleaner to clean homes and spaces to a high
standard. You will handle general cleaning: dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and
cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, leaving each space fresh and tidy. A reliable,
thorough cleaner who takes pride in the work is ideal. (Also posted as cleaning
lady, maid, or housekeeper depending on the role.)
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Clean and sanitize kitchens, bathrooms, and living areas
•Dust, vacuum, sweep, and mop
•Change linens and make beds as requested
•Empty trash and restock supplies
•Use cleaning products safely
•Follow the cleaning checklist and any special requests
•Leave each space tidy and guest- or owner-ready
•Report damage, supply needs, and concerns
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Reliable, punctual, and detail-oriented
•Able to stand, bend, reach, and lift [up to 25] lbs
•Cleaning experience a plus; training provided
•Reliable transportation if traveling to jobs
•Trustworthy in clients' homes and spaces
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Pay range: $_____ to $_____ per hour [+ tips if offered]
To apply, [apply in person at / email] __.
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer.
Pay, FLSA, and Domestic-Service Rules
This is the part the generic templates skip: cleaning roles are non-exempt and hourly, the pay belongs in the posting, and a housekeeper hired directly by a household falls under a specific domestic-service regime.
Non-Exempt, Hourly, with a Domestic-Service Wrinkle
Maids and housekeepers are non-exempt and owed overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, whether they work for a cleaning company, a hotel, or a rental operation. A housekeeper employed directly by a private household is a domestic-service worker, still owed minimum wage and overtime, though a live-in housekeeper may be overtime-exempt, and the household has I-9 and tax obligations as the employer. Many states set higher minimum wages. Confirm specifics with an advisor. This is general information, not legal advice.
Maid roles start from reliability, attention to detail, and the physical ability to do the work, with experience as a plus rather than a requirement. Keep the requirements honest about the physical demands and the schedule.
Requirement
What to look for
Experience
None required for most roles; on-the-job training provided
Education
No formal education requirement
Physical
Able to stand, bend, reach, push carts, and lift around 25 lbs
Reliability
Punctual, trustworthy, and detail-oriented; references for household roles
Transportation
Reliable transportation if traveling between homes or sites
Classification
Non-exempt, hourly; overtime over 40 hours a week
Keep the posting neutral and inclusive, since the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on a protected characteristic, and the SHRM guide covers the standard sections of a job description.
Maid and Housekeeper Pay
Maids and housekeepers are paid hourly, with pay varying by setting, region, and experience. Set your range using federal data as a baseline, then adjust for your local market.
Median Around $34,660 a Year (BLS)
The federal occupation for maids and housekeeping cleaners had a median annual wage of about $34,660 and a mean hourly wage of about $16.66 as of the May 2024 data, across roughly 1,356,800 workers, with about 193,500 openings a year (BLS via O*NET). Pay runs higher in high-cost states and lower in low-wage states.
In practice, hourly pay commonly runs in a roughly 14 to 22 dollar range, higher in states like Hawaii, California, New York, and Massachusetts that set higher minimum wages. Hotel and commercial roles tend to sit near the median, private and luxury household roles can pay more, and the steady churn in cleaning means a clear, competitive pay range in the posting helps you attract reliable cleaners. National compensation surveys are a useful reference for regional detail.
Hiring Cleaners for a Small Business
A large hotel chain hires housekeepers through a dedicated department. A small cleaning company, a boutique hotel, or a short-term rental host does not. The owner or a manager writes the posting, screens applicants, and onboards the new cleaner, often between everything else. Here is how to write the posting for that reality.
Pick the title and setting your candidates actually search, then post the matching version
Maid, housekeeper, house cleaner, room attendant, and cleaning lady are largely the same work under different names, and the right title depends on your setting and your local market. A residential cleaning company usually posts house cleaner or maid, a hotel posts room attendant or housekeeper, a short-term rental host posts turnover cleaner, and a family hiring directly posts housekeeper. The duties overlap heavily, cleaning, sanitizing, linens, restocking, and following a checklist, but the schedule and context differ a lot between a hotel quota, a same-day rental turnover, and a private home. Rather than forcing one generic template, the versions here are split by setting so you can post the one that matches the work and the title people in your area search for. Pick the closest fit, fill in the brackets, and adjust.
Cleaning roles are non-exempt and hourly, and a private household has its own compliance rules
Maids and housekeepers are non-exempt, hourly employees entitled to the federal minimum wage and overtime over 40 hours in a workweek, whether they work for a cleaning company, a hotel, or a rental operation. There is rarely an education requirement, and the closest national benchmark is a median around 17 dollars an hour. One nuance most templates ignore: a housekeeper employed directly by a private household is a domestic-service worker with a specific FLSA regime, still owed minimum wage and overtime, though a live-in housekeeper may be exempt from overtime, and the household itself has I-9 and tax obligations as the employer. Classify every cleaner as non-exempt, track hours since cleaning runs weekends and split shifts, and check your state, since many set higher minimum wages. This is general information, not legal advice.
Cleaning is high-turnover, so the hiring-to-onboarding loop has to be fast and repeatable
Cleaning roles turn over often, and a cleaning company, hotel, or rental operation hires continuously, which makes a fast, repeatable process worth setting up once. The people side is ordinary operations made consistent: a quick offer, the I-9 and tax forms, a signed safety and chemical-handling acknowledgment, and a short first-shift checklist covering the cleaning standard and client or room expectations. FirstHR fits this for a small cleaning business, hotel, or short-term-rental operator: e-signature for the offer and policy sign-off, an onboarding wizard and task workflows that turn the job description into a new-hire plan, training modules for cleaning standards and chemical safety, and document management for I-9, tax forms, and signed acknowledgments. Because pricing is flat rather than per employee, a cleaning operation pays one rate even through heavy seasonal turnover. To be clear about scope, FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a scheduling or field-service system, and it does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with those providers. Applicant tracking is coming soon.
From Hiring to Onboarding
The job description is step one. Once a candidate accepts, the same document becomes the basis for the offer and onboarding, and because cleaning is high-turnover, a smooth, repeatable process pays off every time you hire.
Send the offer
Confirm the role, hourly pay, schedule, and non-exempt classification in writing. An offer letter template makes this fast for an hourly cleaning role.
Run a first-shift checklist
The I-9 and tax forms, a walkthrough of the cleaning standard, the checklist or photo standard, and chemical safety.
Cover safety and standards
Orient the cleaner on chemical handling, client or room expectations, and your quality standard, with a signed acknowledgment.
Store the records
Keep the signed offer, I-9, tax forms, and acknowledgments organized, ready for state new-hire reporting.
Once your offer is ready, the offer letter template handles the next step, and an onboarding template gives the new cleaner a structured start. FirstHR connects the offer, paperwork, e-signatures, training acknowledgments, and onboarding workflow in one place, so a small cleaning company, hotel, or rental operator can run the same fast process every time it hires. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a scheduling or field-service tool, and it does not run payroll or administer benefits, so connect those separately. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Key Takeaways
Maid, housekeeper, house cleaner, room attendant, and cleaning lady are the same core role under different names; the setting drives the differences.
Use the template that matches the setting: residential, hotel, Airbnb turnover, commercial, private household, or general.
The role is non-exempt and hourly, with overtime owed for hours over 40, and the pay anchor is a BLS mean near $16.66 an hour (median about $34,660 a year, May 2024).
A housekeeper hired directly by a private household is a domestic-service worker with its own FLSA rules; a live-in housekeeper may be overtime-exempt.
Most competitor templates omit the pay range and the Airbnb turnover version; both are built in here.
Cleaning is high-turnover, so a fast, repeatable hiring and onboarding process pays off every time you hire.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a maid or housekeeper do?
A maid or housekeeper performs cleaning duties to keep a home, hotel, or facility clean and orderly. The core work clusters into four areas: cleaning and sanitizing (kitchens, bathrooms, and living areas, plus dusting, vacuuming, and mopping), linens and rooms (changing linens, making beds, and resetting spaces), supplies and waste (emptying trash and restocking), and standards and safety (following a checklist and handling cleaning chemicals safely). The federal occupation, maids and housekeeping cleaners, is defined as performing any combination of light cleaning duties to maintain private households or commercial establishments such as hotels and hospitals. The specific duties shift by setting: a hotel room attendant works to a room quota, a turnover cleaner resets a rental on a tight window, and a private housekeeper adds laundry and household tasks. This page includes residential, hotel, Airbnb turnover, commercial, private household, and general versions so you can match the template to your setting.
What is the difference between a maid, a housekeeper, and a house cleaner?
They are largely the same role under different names, with the setting driving the distinction more than the title. Maid and house cleaner are most common for residential cleaning, whether through a cleaning company or a private home. Housekeeper is used in both hotels and private households, and in a hotel the specific title is often room attendant. Cleaning lady is an informal synonym for the same residential work. The federal data groups all of them under one occupation, maids and housekeeping cleaners, because the core cleaning work is the same. The meaningful differences are about context: a hotel housekeeper works to a daily room quota, a residential cleaner travels between client homes, a turnover cleaner resets short-term rentals on a deadline, and a private housekeeper often adds laundry and light household tasks. Post under the title your candidates search in your area and use the template that matches your setting.
Is a maid or housekeeper exempt or non-exempt under the FLSA?
Non-exempt and hourly. Maids and housekeepers do manual cleaning work that does not qualify for any of the white-collar exemptions, so they are entitled to the federal minimum wage and overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. This is true whether the cleaner works for a residential cleaning company, a hotel, or a short-term rental operation. Because cleaning often runs weekends, split shifts, and travel between sites, employers should track hours carefully and pay overtime when it applies. One nuance: a housekeeper employed directly by a private household is a domestic-service worker, still owed minimum wage and overtime, although a live-in housekeeper may be exempt from overtime under a specific rule. Some states set higher minimum wages than the federal floor. Classify cleaners as non-exempt and confirm your state rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
How much does a maid or housekeeper make?
Maids and housekeepers are paid hourly, with pay varying by region, setting, and experience. The federal occupation, maids and housekeeping cleaners, had a median annual wage of about 34,660 dollars and a mean hourly wage of about 16.66 dollars as of the May 2024 data. In practice, pay commonly runs in a roughly 14 to 22 dollar an hour range: higher in high-cost states like Hawaii, California, New York, and Massachusetts, and lower in low-wage states. Hotel and commercial roles tend to pay near the median, private household and luxury roles can pay more, and self-employed cleaners may charge 25 dollars an hour or more but cover their own costs. For a posting, benchmark to your local market and your setting, and publish a clear hourly range where required, since being upfront about pay helps attract reliable cleaners in a high-turnover trade. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is an Airbnb or vacation-rental turnover cleaner?
A turnover cleaner resets a short-term rental property between guest stays, usually on a tight same-day window between checkout and the next check-in. The work goes beyond standard cleaning: in addition to cleaning top to bottom, the turnover cleaner changes and launders or swaps linens, restocks consumables like toiletries and coffee, stages the space to match the listing photos, takes completion photos as proof, and flags any damage or maintenance needs to the host or property manager. Speed and reliability matter more than in most cleaning roles, because a missed or late turnover can mean a canceled booking. It is a growing employer segment as short-term rentals expand, and most generic maid templates do not cover it, which is why this page includes a dedicated turnover-cleaner template. A W-2 hourly turnover cleaner is non-exempt and overtime-eligible like any other cleaner.
Do small cleaning businesses and Airbnb hosts hire maids directly?
Yes, constantly. Residential cleaning companies, small hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, short-term rental hosts and property managers, and offices are the core employers of maids and housekeepers, and most are small operations that hire directly through an owner or manager rather than a recruiting team. The role is high-turnover and hires continuously across a deep candidate pool, which makes a fast, repeatable hiring and onboarding process valuable. FirstHR fits there: e-signature for the offer and policy acknowledgments, an onboarding wizard and task workflows that turn the job description into a new-hire plan, training modules for cleaning standards and chemical safety, and document management for I-9, tax forms, and signed acknowledgments, all at flat pricing that suits seasonal and variable cleaning headcount. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with a payroll provider, and applicant tracking is coming soon.
What should a maid job description include?
A strong maid job description names the setting and the title your candidates search, residential, hotel room attendant, turnover cleaner, commercial, or private household, then includes a short summary and groups responsibilities into cleaning and sanitizing, linens and rooms, supplies and waste, and standards and safety. State the physical demands honestly, the standing, bending, and lifting, and the schedule, including weekend, evening, or variable shifts common in cleaning. Be clear about the FLSA classification, non-exempt and hourly with overtime, and include an honest hourly pay range, which many competitor templates omit. Note that no experience is required if you train, which widens your candidate pool. For a private household role, add the domestic-service compliance note. Close with an equal opportunity statement and clear apply instructions, then bridge into onboarding once someone accepts. This is general information, not legal advice.
How does FirstHR help after I hire a maid or housekeeper?
FirstHR handles the people side of the hire, which matters in a high-turnover trade where you onboard often. Once a candidate accepts, you can send the offer with e-signature, turn the job description into a new-hire onboarding plan through the onboarding wizard and task workflows, deliver cleaning-standard and chemical-safety orientation through training modules, and store the signed offer, I-9, tax forms, and policy acknowledgments in document management ready for state new-hire reporting. Because pricing is flat rather than per employee, a small cleaning company, hotel, or rental operation pays one predictable rate even through seasonal turnover. To be clear about scope, FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a scheduling, dispatch, or field-service system, so it organizes the hire and onboarding rather than routing cleaning jobs. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with those providers, and applicant tracking is coming soon.
