Difference between Domestic Housekeeping, Institutional Housekeeping and Commercial Housekeeping
Housekeeping has diversified over the years. The term “housekeeping” has even been interchangeably used between household help, hotel housekeeping, and office janitors. Like “Cleaning” and “Sanitizing”, the term housekeeping must be differentiated according to the type your space needs. After all, each category provides different levels of training and cleaning, and of course, cost.
Essentially, Domestic Housekeeping focuses on managing the cleanliness of homes or one’s residence, while Institutional Housekeeping focuses on managing the cleanliness of hospitality institutions such as hotels, cruise lines, resorts, and such. Meanwhile, Commercial Housekeeping focuses on offices, stores and shops.
The Difference: Domestic Housekeeping
Domestic Housekeeping directly involves household work involving homes. Carried out by a domestic household help (or domestic helper or home caretaker), services revolve around cleaning bedrooms, toilet and bath, kitchen and dining areas and common areas. It may also include cooking and washing dishes, laundry and ironing clothes.
Domestic housekeeping contracts have long durations, regardless of frequency of service. Cleaning can be done on a daily or weekly basis, but you will be dealing with the same person (ideally) either for a year or longer.
Domestic housekeeping skills training is very rare. It is not provided in any level of education, and usually, household helpers are expected to already know the basics of cleaning, and are only trained to perform the level of cleanliness the employer wants.
Salary: P4,500 per month (PH) as per Wage Order No. RB XI-DW-02 DOLE
In practice – P6,000 per month or more depending on arrangements
The Difference: Institutional Housekeeping
This is a common housekeeping service as we see them in hotels, resorts, inns and such. Carried out by “housekeeping” staff, services strictly involve cleaning of guest rooms, toilet and bath, and common areas only.
Housekeeping staff are hired because of their housekeeping skills executed on a daily basis on multiple guest rooms, as well as soft skills that include interacting with guests. That being the case, they enjoy benefits such as longer contract durations, social welfare benefits, and bonuses.
Training for Institutional Housekeeping is very common. It is present in some units in Hotel and Restaurant Management courses, it is available in TESDA courses, as well as in workshops.
Salary: P14,000 – P15,000 per month (as per Jobstreet)
The Difference: Commercial Housekeeping
On the other hand, Commercial Housekeeping deals with managing and maintaining the cleanliness of offices, stores and shops. They are employed to keep common areas such as operation floors, conference rooms and washrooms clean.
Majority of the commercial housekeeping personnel are janitors and are in-house employees, enjoying company and mandatory benefits. For some small offices and stores, they hire a commercial cleaning company for one-time weekly or monthly general cleaning of their space.
Commercial housekeeping staff requires training ranging from general equipment use (vacuum, steamers, etc) to cleaning and organizing spaces (arranging stuff specific to an office). There are housekeeping training available that covers both.
Salary: P12,000 – P14,000 per month
BONUS: Industrial Housekeeping
There is a profession such as an Industrial Cleaner who manages the cleaning and safety of industrial workspaces such as factories and industrial plants. They do daily cleaning to keep the operations area safe for working, and then occasionally would do a monthly cleaning to remove accumulated oil and dirt that can be hazardous to employees.
Due to the unique requirements of each factory and industrial plant, companies employ and train industrial cleaners to match their needs. Primarily, they need to have Occupational Safety and Hazard (OSH) training as accidents can occur in these workspaces.
Salary: P19,000 – P21,000 per month
