A September 4, 2024 article by Diginex highlights systemic labor risks in the property cleaning industry, including precarious low-wage employment, lack of union representation, worker isolation, and exploitation. For SMG Corporate Services, which operates in this sector, these challenges underscore potential shortcomings in safeguarding worker rights and human dignity.

SMG Corporate Services provided 10 days of paid COVID sick time for housekeepers working at UConn Health between March 2020 and December 31, 2021, and negotiated a limited benefit aligned with updated CDC quarantine guidelines through SEIU Local 32BJ. However, the policy did not extend additional leave for reinfections, leaving employees vulnerable during repeated COVID infections.

A 2014 report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission revealed widespread underpayment, mistreatment, and abuse of office cleaning staff, particularly affecting migrant workers and women in the commercial cleaning industry. Such issues, which include wage theft, excessive workloads, and lack of dignity at work, are indicative of pervasive labor rights abuses that companies in the sector, including SMG Corporate Services, may be complicit in.