How WellNest Vets, Background-Checks and Trains Every Cleaner

Every person who cleans your home for WellNest is a W-2 employee of WellNest Professional Cleaning. Not a contractor, not a gig worker matched through an app. Before anyone sets foot in a customer’s home they’ve been through a phone screen, a live interview, a criminal background check with E-Verify, and a full supervised day of cleaning. Training continues after that, which is the fifth step and the one that never really ends. About 5% of applicants make it through.

You are letting someone into your house, often while you’re at work. Here is exactly who that is and how they got there.

Why we start with the employment question

There’s a difference between a company that employs its cleaners and a platform that connects you with one. It’s easy to miss, because both of them send someone to your door.

When the cleaner is a W-2 employee, one company hired that person, checked them, trained them, pays them, and is responsible for what happens in your home. When the cleaner is an independent contractor found through an app, the responsibility is less clear, and it can be hard to work out whose it is.

WellNest hires, vets, background-checks, E-Verifies, trains, bonds and insures every crew member directly. If something is ever damaged, tell us within 24 hours and we’ll make it right. Documentation is available on request; we’re happy to provide it.

The five steps

1. Phone screening

The first conversation covers communication skills, cleaning experience and legal status to work. Many applicants don’t get past this step.

2. Live interview

An in-person interview helps us determine reliability and whether the person’s values line up with how we work. Showing up when you say you will is absolutely critical for this work.

3. Background check

A criminal background check and confirmation of legal work status. We also verify tax payment. This is the step people ask about most, and it’s a straightforward yes: nobody joins a WellNest crew without a criminal background check.

4. Field day training

A full day of cleaning on-site, under the supervision of a manager. Someone can interview well and still not be good at this work, and the only way to find that out is to watch them do it.

5. Ongoing training

Training doesn’t stop at hiring. Crews are supervised and coached against customer feedback, so what we learn from one home makes its way into the next.

Roughly one applicant in twenty completes all five steps.

What bonded and insured covers

“Bonded and insured” gets used loosely, so here’s what it means at WellNest. Every employee is bonded and insured by us, which means one accountable company carries proper liability coverage for every person who enters your home.

That’s a different thing from employment status, and it’s important to ask about both for any company you’re considering. Insurance tells you what happens if something gets damaged. Employment status tells you who trained the person holding it and whether the same person can come back next month.

The same crew, whenever possible

Whenever we can, we send the same crew to your home, because it’s better for you and also for us. A team that has cleaned your house eleven times knows which cabinet sticks and which rug can’t take water. And they are likely to be more efficient as well.

Our team has an average tenure of over four and a half years, and collectively more than two centuries of experience. Low turnover is what makes sending the same crew possible; a company cycling through people every few months can’t promise it.

When you’re not home

Most of our customers are out during their cleaning. We work out an entry method when you book: a smart lock code, a garage code, a key kept locked and secured at our office, or a key left with your front desk, doorman or a neighbor.

This kind of arrangement works because our vetting is thorough and real. Our five steps are foundational and that’s why we’re specific about them.

You’ll also always have an English-speaking point of contact. You can reach the office by phone, text or email during a cleaning if you need to, and anything you’d like passed to your team can go through us.

House cleaning in Vienna

We’ve covered Vienna and the Tysons corridor since 2016. We know the area very well, across Maple Avenue corridor, Wedderburn, Little Vienna, the Center Street area and neighborhoods such as Vienna Woods, East Vienna Woods, Dunn Loring Woods and Nottoway Park. Every crew working these neighborhoods is highly trained and familiar with the region. You can see what recurring service looks like locally on our Vienna house cleaning page, and across Northern Virginia generally.

Get your price

You can get a price online in under a minute. Enter your ZIP code, bedrooms, bathrooms and how often you’d like us to clean, and the number comes right back.