Illinois wants workers comp from your first part-timer, and does not license cleaners.

One employee, including a part-time employee. There is no minimum count. (820 ILCS 305/1; 820 ILCS 305/3). Construction is declared extra-hazardous by 820 ILCS 305/3 and is covered automatically, without any election. A part-time crew counts the same as a full-time one, and paying someone as a contractor does not change what the state calls them if you direct the work and supply the equipment.

Workers compensation in Illinois, in full

No state does. A janitorial bond is a third-party fidelity bond that pays a client when one of your employees steals from their building, and it is written because the contract asks for it, not because Illinois does. Commercial property managers in Chicago and its suburbs routinely list one in their vendor requirements alongside general liability and a certificate naming them as additional insured. The bond amount is whatever that packet says, so send us the packet rather than guessing.

Bonds, including the janitorial bond

Not at the state level, which surprises owners coming from trades that are licensed. What Illinois does require is the ordinary business tax registration and, from the first employee, workers compensation. Clients fill the gap the state leaves: their vendor packets ask for a certificate of insurance and often a bond, and those packets, not a license, are what decides whether you can bid on the building.

Workers comp for the crew, and the care, custody or control endorsement so damage to the property you are cleaning is actually covered. Then commercial auto if staff drive between sites in a company vehicle, because personal auto policies exclude business use and a van full of equipment moving between buildings is business use. A bond if the contract names one. Everything else depends on the buildings, and we place it building by building.

Every coverage a Illinois business needs, in one place

Insured means you carry liability coverage for damage you cause. Bonded usually means a janitorial service bond, which covers theft of a client’s property by your employees, a different thing entirely, and the one clients are really asking about when they let strangers into a building after hours. Most cleaning contracts want both, and the bond is inexpensive.

Yes, and it is the gap most cleaning policies have. General liability excludes property in your care, custody and control, which is a problem when the thing you damaged is the floor you were treating or the window you were washing. Care, custody and control coverage is the endorsement that closes it.

Not automatically. If they cannot produce their own certificate, expect their pay to be treated as payroll at audit and expect your policy to be the one that responds to their claims. Collect certificates before the first shift, not at renewal.

Add an umbrella or move the primary policy. A policy bought online for a small cleaning business is often capped well below what a commercial client asks for, and on our calls one owner could not raise hers to meet a vendor contract starting five days later. Send us the insurance page of the contract first. On one New York account general liability at $2,000,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 aggregate with a $3,000,000 excess layer and the additional insured, waiver and primary wording came to about $30,000 a year, which is the kind of number to budget before you bid.

Does my insurance meet the contract?

Because they read your website. On our calls an underwriter quoting a commercial cleaning company asked about hood cleaning, marble restoration and surgery center cleaning, all listed on the company site and none performed. Take old services off the site or explain them in the submission, because each one is a class an underwriter may rate you for.

Do insurance companies look at your website?

You need hired and non-owned auto, which is usually inexpensive and protects the business when an employee driving their own car for work causes a crash. Commercial auto is for vehicles the business owns or leases. On our calls a cleaning company bidding a school contract dropped a commercial auto quote once it was clear hired and non-owned auto answered the exposure.

Does personal auto cover driving for work?