How cleaner pay is worked out
If you’re on a council or school contract, term-time cleaning pay follows the usual method:
FTE salary × (your hours ÷ 37) × (paid weeks ÷ 52.143)
Cleaning hours are often short (8 to 15 hours a week is common), so the hours fraction does most of the work. The hourly rate is the same as any full-time colleague on your grade. On SCP 3 in 2026/27 that’s £13.28.
Extra weeks in the holidays
Many schools ask cleaners to work an extra week or two in the summer for a deep clean. If your contract includes them, add them to your weeks worked. For example, 41 weeks instead of 39 adds two weeks of pay plus about 0.29 extra weeks of paid holiday.
If extra weeks are offered as overtime rather than written into your contract, they should still be paid, and if you work them regularly they may count towards your holiday pay.
Cleaning contractors
Many schools buy in cleaning from a contractor. If that’s your employer:
- Your pay and holiday are set by the contractor’s terms, not the Green Book (unless they were protected when you transferred under TUPE).
- You must still get at least the National Living Wage (£12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from April 2026).
- Holiday must still meet the statutory minimum. For part-year workers that’s 12.07% of hours worked, up to 5.6 weeks.
Use the holiday pay checker with your hourly rate to compare what you get with the minimum.
Worked examples
Calculated with the same method as our term-time pay calculator, using 2026/27 NJC pay spine values. Your council or school may put the role on a different spine point.
After-school cleaner: SCP 3, 10 hours, 39 weeks
Two hours each evening, term time only.
FTE salary £25,614.00, 10 of 37 hours a week, 39 weeks a year, holiday: Green Book (pro-rated).
Actual pay: £5,928.14 a year, £494.01 a month.
See the working
Working
- Hours fraction 10 ÷ 37 hours = 0.2703
- Full-time leave (all-year employee) 23 + 8 + 2 days = 33 days
- Full-time leave in weeks 33 days ÷ 5 = 6.6 weeks
- Term-time holiday weeks (pro-rated) 39 × 6.6 ÷ (52.143 − 6.6) = 5.652 weeks
- Paid weeks 39 weeks worked + 5.652 holiday weeks = 44.652 weeks
- Paid-weeks factor 44.652 ÷ 52.143 weeks in a year = 0.8563
- Actual annual pay £25,614 × 0.2703 × 0.8563 = £5,928.14
- Monthly pay (12 equal instalments) £5,928.14 ÷ 12 = £494.01
- Hourly rate £25,614 ÷ (37 hours × 52.143 weeks) = £13.28
- Weekly pay in a week you work £13.28 × 10 hours = £132.76
Worked at full precision and rounded only for display (money to 2 decimal places, factors to 4). Some employers use a days-based method or round at different stages, so your payslip may differ by a few pence.
Cleaner with holiday deep cleans: SCP 3, 15 hours, 41 weeks
Three hours a day, plus 2 extra weeks in the summer holiday.
FTE salary £25,614.00, 15 of 37 hours a week, 41 weeks a year, holiday: Green Book (pro-rated).
Actual pay: £9,348.23 a year, £779.02 a month.
See the working
Working
- Hours fraction 15 ÷ 37 hours = 0.4054
- Full-time leave (all-year employee) 23 + 8 + 2 days = 33 days
- Full-time leave in weeks 33 days ÷ 5 = 6.6 weeks
- Term-time holiday weeks (pro-rated) 41 × 6.6 ÷ (52.143 − 6.6) = 5.942 weeks
- Paid weeks 41 weeks worked + 5.942 holiday weeks = 46.942 weeks
- Paid-weeks factor 46.942 ÷ 52.143 weeks in a year = 0.9002
- Actual annual pay £25,614 × 0.4054 × 0.9002 = £9,348.23
- Monthly pay (12 equal instalments) £9,348.23 ÷ 12 = £779.02
- Hourly rate £25,614 ÷ (37 hours × 52.143 weeks) = £13.28
- Weekly pay in a week you work £13.28 × 15 hours = £199.15
Worked at full precision and rounded only for display (money to 2 decimal places, factors to 4). Some employers use a days-based method or round at different stages, so your payslip may differ by a few pence.
Cleaning supervisor: SCP 5, 20 hours, 39 weeks
Supervising a small team for four hours a day.
FTE salary £26,427.00, 20 of 37 hours a week, 39 weeks a year, holiday: Green Book (pro-rated).
Actual pay: £12,232.61 a year, £1,019.38 a month.
See the working
Working
- Hours fraction 20 ÷ 37 hours = 0.5405
- Full-time leave (all-year employee) 23 + 8 + 2 days = 33 days
- Full-time leave in weeks 33 days ÷ 5 = 6.6 weeks
- Term-time holiday weeks (pro-rated) 39 × 6.6 ÷ (52.143 − 6.6) = 5.652 weeks
- Paid weeks 39 weeks worked + 5.652 holiday weeks = 44.652 weeks
- Paid-weeks factor 44.652 ÷ 52.143 weeks in a year = 0.8563
- Actual annual pay £26,427 × 0.5405 × 0.8563 = £12,232.61
- Monthly pay (12 equal instalments) £12,232.61 ÷ 12 = £1,019.38
- Hourly rate £26,427 ÷ (37 hours × 52.143 weeks) = £13.70
- Weekly pay in a week you work £13.70 × 20 hours = £273.96
Worked at full precision and rounded only for display (money to 2 decimal places, factors to 4). Some employers use a days-based method or round at different stages, so your payslip may differ by a few pence.
Covers England and Wales. Northern Ireland not covered. Northern Ireland did not adopt the 2024 holiday changes for part-year workers, so these results don't apply there.
- Scotland: council staff are on SJC terms, not the NJC Green Book, and many Scottish councils use a 35-hour week. Change the full-time hours and holiday to match your contract.
- Academies: most academies follow the Green Book, but they don't have to. Check your contract for your full-time hours and holiday entitlement.
- Gross pay only: no tax, National Insurance, pension, overtime or allowances.