Trades, logistics & industry
Backup for cleaning companies and the sites they look after
Mindtime backs up the mailboxes, laptops and shared folders where your contracts, rosters and staff records live, and stores immutable copies in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. One copy is air-gapped, and every backup job is checked.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Cleaning companies need backup because they hold payroll records, ID copies and client-site details for many employees, and the law sets how long some of that must be kept. Mindtime backs up the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace accounts, laptops and files around your HR and planning software, in its own Dutch and German data centres.
What's at stake
The data cleaning companies can't afford to lose
Employee files and ID copies
A cleaning company often employs many people on part-time contracts. Their ID copies, contracts and payroll data have to be kept, and kept safe, for years after they leave.
Client-site instructions
Cleaning schedules, floor plans, key registers and alarm procedures are what allow a replacement cleaner to work at a client's building tonight. Lose them and you are phoning every client.
Contracts and quality reports
Service level agreements, inspection reports and tender documents prove what was agreed and delivered. They are usually scattered across mailboxes and shared folders.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of cleaning companies
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
ID copies: five years after employment ends
Employers must check an employee's original identity document and keep a copy in their records. The copy is kept for five years from the end of the calendar year in which the employment ended, and then destroyed. [1]
Payroll records: seven years
Payroll administration is one of the basic records the Belastingdienst requires you to keep for seven years. [2]
Fingerprint clocking is a known pitfall
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens fined a company that required employees to scan their fingerprints for time and attendance registration. Biometric data has extra protection under the GDPR. [3]
NIS2: not your sector, but maybe your client's
Cleaning is not a sector listed in the Cyberbeveiligingswet. Organisations that are listed, such as healthcare providers, must address security in their relationships with direct suppliers and service providers, which can include their cleaning contractor. [5]
When it goes wrong
A deleted roster folder
Illustrative example: a regional cleaning company's planner keeps the rosters and key registers for all client sites in a shared OneDrive folder. A colleague tidying up deletes the folder, and the deletion syncs to every laptop before anyone notices. The office restores the folder from Mindtime's Microsoft 365 backup, and the evening shifts go out with the right instructions and access details.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for cleaning companies, workload by workload
- Microsoft 365 backupRosters, site instructions and HR documents in OneDrive and SharePoint are one sync away from disappearing.
- Google Workspace backupCompanies on Gmail and Google Drive need a copy outside Google if a shared drive is emptied or an account is removed.
- Laptop and endpoint backupPlanners' and managers' laptops hold local copies of schedules and contracts that are not always synced.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| AFAS (AFAS Online) | ERP, HR and payroll in AFAS's cloud. Check AFAS's export and retention terms; Mindtime protects the mailboxes, laptops and files around it. |
|---|---|
| Nmbrs | Cloud payroll and HR software. For data held by Nmbrs, check their export options; Mindtime backs up the payslip exports and HR documents your office keeps in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. |
| Exact Online | Exact keeps your bookkeeping in its own cloud. Mindtime protects the email and shared drives where contracts and invoices circulate before and after they reach Exact. |
| Rosters, key registers and site instructions | Often spreadsheets in OneDrive, SharePoint or Google Drive. Mindtime backs up Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, so a deleted or overwritten file can be brought back. |
Before you switch
What cleaning companies ask us first
Our payroll provider keeps our data. Isn't that a backup?
Your provider keeps its own records under its own terms. The ID copies, contracts and rosters in your mailboxes and shared folders are your responsibility, and those are what Mindtime backs up.
We're mainly a field business with a small office.
That is exactly why it helps to have someone else watch the backups. Mindtime monitors them 24/7 and checks every job, and you can try Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup free for 7 days.
What about the privacy of our staff data?
Data is encrypted with AES-256 in transit and stored only in Mindtime's own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. Mindtime is ISO 27001 audited and signs a data processing agreement with every contract.
FAQ
Questions about backup for cleaning companies
Should we back up ID copies of former employees?
Yes, for as long as you are required to keep them: five years from the end of the calendar year in which the employment ended. After that the copies must be destroyed, so backups should not keep them indefinitely either. Discuss your own retention policy during the demo so the backup setup matches it.
Can Mindtime back up the phones our cleaners use?
Mindtime backs up mobile devices as well as Windows, macOS and Linux laptops. Often, though, the data that matters on a cleaner's phone sits in an app run by its supplier. The bigger risk is usually the office: the planners' laptops and the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace accounts where rosters and reports are kept.
What happens if a manager's laptop is stolen?
Files backed up from the laptop can be restored to a replacement device. Because admin actions in the backup console require multi-factor authentication, someone holding the stolen laptop cannot simply log in and delete your backups. Report the theft, change the user's passwords, and restore the rosters and contracts the manager was working on.
What is the quickest way to begin?
Book a free 15-minute demo, or start the 7-day free trial for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup and protect your mailboxes and shared folders first. Support is in Dutch, German and English if you have questions along the way.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.