Merry Maids is an international

franchisor Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

which sells and supports residential cleaning services franchises throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Merry Maids was founded in 1979, and was acquired with

ServiceMaster ServiceMaster Brands is an American privately held company owned by Roark Capital Group that provides residential and commercial services. Its headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, after moving there in 2020 from Memphis, Tennessee. Br ...

in 1988. In 2007, the company had over 8,000 employees.

Organizational structure

Merry Maids has 1,400 independently owned and operated franchises worldwide. It is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of ServiceMaster.

History

Timeline

* 1979 – Merry Maids was founded in Omaha, Nebraska by Dallen Peterson. Dallen worked with his family to create the company's system and franchise the company. * 1988 – ServiceMaster Brands purchases Merry Maids.

Safety record

In 2015, Merry Maids was awarded the Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence by the U.S. state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, with a record of no work-related injuries for over 1,580 days and no work-related fatalities in 23 years of operation.

Labor relations

Several Merry Maids franchisees in the United States have been sued by their employees and by United States federal agencies for

labor law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

violations. In 2015, the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts * ...

upheld an

unfair labor practice An unfair labor practice (ULP) in United States labor law refers to certain actions taken by employers or unions that violate the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (49 Stat. 449) (also known as the NLRA and the Wagner Act after NY Senator Ro ...

order issued by the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Na ...

(NLRB) against a Merry Maids franchisee, Merry Maids of Boston, in a dispute over the right of a labor union to hold a union representation election among its employees. The First Circuit ruled that the NLRB had jurisdiction in the case, and rejected the franchisee's claim that the behavior of certain employees made a fair election impossible.

References

{{reflist , 30em , refs = {{cite web , url = http://webcasts.acc.com/handouts/Case_Law_241_3970_ACC_Handout-_Employment_Law_Update-_W__Anthony.pdf , last = Anthony , first = William J. , last2 = Lewis , first2 = Jackson , date = n.d. , title = Employment law update , website =

Association of Corporate Counsel The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), founded as the American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA) in 1983, is a professional association serving the business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, as ...

, language = en , access-date = 2017-11-09 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171109213555/http://webcasts.acc.com/handouts/Case_Law_241_3970_ACC_Handout-_Employment_Law_Update-_W__Anthony.pdf , url-status = live , archive-date = 2017-11-09 {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CBcrpIkb458C&pg=PA94 , last = Ehrenreich , first = B. , last2 = Hochschild , first2 = A.R. , date = 2004 , title = Global woman: nannies, maids, and sex workers in the new economy , publisher = Henry Holt and Company , language = en , isbn = 978-1-4299-6305-3 {{cite web , url = https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/merrymaids/282578 , date = 17 December 2015 , title = Merry Maids franchise information , website = Entrepreneur , language = en , access-date = 2017-07-01 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171109020541/https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/merrymaids/282578 , url-status = live , archive-date = 2017-11-09 {{cite journal , url = http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1274&context=jbtl , last = Kurin , first = Jaclyn , date = 2017 , title = A third way for applying U.S. labor laws to the online gig economy: using the franchise business model to regulate gig workers , journal = Journal of Business and Technology Law , volume = 12 , number = 2; Art. 4 , pages = 193–226 , language = en , via =

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

Digital Commons {{cite book , url = https://archive.org/details/unofficialguidet00jaso , url-access = registration , page
298
, last = Rich , first = J.R. , date = 2007 , title = The unofficial guide to opening a franchise , publisher = Wiley , series = Unofficial Guides , language = en , isbn = 978-0-470-13193-0 {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cSDAxOi-rjIC&pg=PT140 , last = Vanderkam , first = L. , date = 2010 , title = 168 hours: you have more time than you think , publisher = Penguin Publishing Group , language = en , isbn = 978-1-101-43294-5 {{cite book , url = http://www.dli.pa.gov/Individuals/Workers-Compensation/publications/Documents/2015%20WC%20Annual%20Report.pdf , last = Wolf , first = Tom , last2 = Manderino , first2 = Kathy M. , date = 2015 , title = Pennsylvania workers′ compensation and workplace safety 2015 annual report , publisher =

Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is a cabinet-level agency in the Government of Pennsylvania. The agency is charged with the task of overseeing the health and safety of workers, enforcement of the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction ...

, Bureau of Workers’ Compensation , location = Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA , language = en , access-date = 2017-11-09 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170617150016/http://www.dli.pa.gov/Individuals/Workers-Compensation/publications/Documents/2015%20WC%20Annual%20Report.pdf , url-status = live , archive-date = 2017-06-17 {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6G9Stwg7eP4C&pg=PA82 , last = Zook , first = C. , last2 = Allen , first2 = J. , date = 2010 , title = Profit from the core: a return to growth in turbulent times , publisher = Harvard Business Review Press , language = en , isbn = 978-1-4221-5713-8

External links

Official Website
Franchises American companies established in 1979 Business services companies established in 1979 Cleaning companies of the United States Companies based in Memphis, Tennessee