Over half of all UK bosses are asking their employees to do this – are you? We all want to work in a clean office, but scrubbing toilets definitely wasn’t in the job description.

Productivity in the workplace continues to fall, but it isn’t just money and a lack of progression that is stopping employees from giving it their all.

Clean office - Compelo

Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs and maximise profits, but they might be shooting themselves in the foot.

A recent survey conducted by Furniture123 found that more than half of UK workers perform cleaning duties in their place of work. Despite 85% of respondents claiming that their company employs a cleaner, 55% of employees have been involved in office clean-ups.

On average, UK workers spend three minutes each day cleaning the office, which costs companies 13 working hours each year.

Of course, we all want a clean office. However, emptying bins, cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming weren’t listed on the job description.

Clean office - Compelo

Clean office: Top cleaning tasks wasting work hours

The biggest time-waster for employees is cleaning their desks. After numerous cups of coffee and the leftover crumbs from lunchtime, 85% of employees spend time cleaning their personal area each week. Likewise, 52% also clean the kitchen area.

It isn’t unreasonable to expect workers to tidy up their own messes. Although, a large number of employees also spend time performing far less reasonable tasks.  For example, 47% of UK workers vacuum on a weekly basis, while 47% have also had to empty the bins.

Clean office - Compelo

While less common, employees have also had to take time out of their day to care for the office plant (17%). They also wash the windows (11%) and mop the floor (8%).

However, the most ludicrous of all, 15% of employees clean the office bathroom each week.

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