I dont have employees - IO work alone and prefer it that way. So, I dont have experience handling cleaning employees. As an RN, I did deal with lots of employees or various skill ranges. Cleanexp, you mentioned employees carrying company money around. In a residential cleaning company, dont customers pay ahead? Or make a deposit? Why would your employees be handling money at all. I must be missing something here.
I am sure it can be hard sometimes to hire people who are very honest and professional in behavior. In my area of Florida, I often see ads for cleaning employees and the pay rate is awful! $8-12 is about it. At that low a pay rate, it must indeed be difficult to find employees who meet our standards. Because I work alone, I charge pretty much the average hourly rate: $20/hour. And to be competitive, that is not written in stone. I have given certain customers a small break in the price, simply because I didnt want to lose them.