France lockdown: Can I still get my house cleaned?
Reader question: We have a cleaning lady - can she still come and work for us during lockdown?
Yes, technically, but on a case by case basis, depending on your arrangement, the cleaning company, and if your cleaning lady feels comfortable doing so.
The national lockdown rules do not specifically state conditions for this, however, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on October 29: “In a professional environment, the idea is that activities will continue. All companies that are not administratively closed must be able to continue to work as normally as possible.
“This will be the same for all the caring professions, home help, and childcare.”
During the first confinement, some cleaning companies asked their staff to stay at home and not work, but others continued to work with extra precautions in place.
The attestation forms state that work must only be done if it “cannot be postponed”.
Ultimately, whether she continues to come to work for you, and/or you continue to pay her even if she does not come to your home to clean, will depend on the terms of your agreement and/or contract with her, her company, or the company she works for - and her own decision.
If she does come to your home, you will need to maintain physical distancing and take precautions such as wearing masks.
She will also need to sign her own attestation exemption form, which is available to print and download here (in French). There is an English version available and also an easy-read version with pictograms. There is also a digital version available via the TousAntiCovid smartphone app.
In order to come to you to work, she will need to tick the first box on the form, which reads “Déplacements entre le domicile et le lieu d’exercice de l’activité professionnelle" (trips between home and site of work).
Alternatively, depending on your arrangement, she may ask you to sign a Justificatif de déplacement professionnel form, which is a “permanent form” (e.g. You can use the same one for each trip of the same purpose), especially if she works with you regularly.
This form states her details and the details of the work, and will require you to sign and date the form as her employer. She will not need the general attestation form as well as this for her trips to and from your home.
Related stories
English and easy-read French lockdown travel forms available
Supermarkets in France banned from selling ‘non-essentials’
