This article covers how to label a cleaner as an independent contractor, invite cleaners to jobs instead of assigning them directly, and manage invite responses and reassignments.

If a contractor you hired works for another ZenMaid user, you will need a unique email for your account. A simple solution is the “+1 email trick.” For example, if the contractor’s email is cleaner@gmail.com, you can enter cleaner+yourcompany@gmail.com in ZenMaid. Both addresses go to the same inbox, but ZenMaid treats them as separate logins.

The invite option requires the Pro or Pro Max plans.

If you hire contractors, the Independent Contractor (IC) feature makes it easier for you to see which of your cleaners are contractors and which ones are regular cleaners. Contractors have a purple Contractor label next to their names in the Cleaners list, as well as in the invite and assignment modals.

To label your IC as a contractor, follow these steps:

If you work with contractors or want the ability to sometimes invite your cleaners to jobs, on each appointment (after creation), you'll see the option to select how many cleaners are needed for the appointment and then invite anyone you wish to potentially do the job, along with making them a pay offer.

Check the box next to each cleaner you want to invite.

The invite on the appointment details will look like this.

Your cleaners can quickly review the job details in their mobile app and respond through the email invite, where they can accept, decline, or counter with their own price. A counter-offer counts as an acceptance at the price the cleaner submitted.

Jobs cannot be accepted through the mobile app at this time, but the job itself can be viewed if the contractor needs more details.

Once a cleaner accepts the job on the email invite, you will be notified through the mobile app and in the notifications on the desktop.

The colored dot on an appointment reflects the invite status of the whole appointment, not the response of any single cleaner:

Assigning a cleaner closes every outstanding invite for that appointment, including invites that were already accepted or declined. Wait for replies first if you want to compare responses. See Understanding Closed Invites below.

Once you have sent invites out, they cannot be resent to the same contractors. Invites for the same job could be sent to any contractors that were not originally invited.

When a bid is marked as closed in grey, it is an indicator that cleaners were assigned to the job before others were able to either accept or decline. In this case, it is advised to schedule cleaners after you get responses from everyone, just in case a preferred cleaner responds late to their email invite. If cleaners are already assigned to the appointment, they will be notified that the job is already assigned.

Currently, there isn’t a direct option to uninvite a cleaner once they’ve been invited to an appointment. However, ZenMaid makes it easy to adjust assignments without confusion: simply assign a different cleaner to the appointment.

Once a new cleaner is assigned, the original bid automatically closes. The contractors who were invited receive an in-app notification letting them know the job is no longer available, provided they have that notification enabled. Contractors who already declined receive it as well. No email is sent for this, so follow up directly if a contractor needs to know right away.