"There is no reason why the state government should not be directly employing cleaners," Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday said.

"If a cleaner is being paid to clean a public sector workplace or building, they should be directly employed by the government.

"Contract cleaners are often paid award wages - that is, the bare minimum - and many have been victims of wage theft.

"The contract cleaning industry also sees the job security of cleaners threatened frequently as contracts change. This means they don't have job security and, despite working in the one industry, often miss out on things like long service leave if a contract change occurs, even if the job they do doesn't change."

Ms Munday said it was grossly unfair most contract employees who worked to support the public sector through COVID-19 were not given the same rights to pandemic leave.

"This is especially true of cleaners who we were very literally relying upon to protect worker and community health and safety," she said.

"There's been a lot of lip service paid to the importance of cleaners throughout the pandemic but it's time that the lip service ended. If we really respect our cleaners, we should give them the time they need to clean, pay them properly and protect them at work."

Clark Labor MHA Ella Haddad said it was clear contracting out this essential service resulted in insecure employment for cleaners, poor pay and conditions, poor workplace practices, and constant turnover of management.

"Their role is essential - COVID-19 made that clearer than ever. These workers should be treated as such and provided with the same conditions and entitlements as other state service workers," Ms Haddad said.

"This money is already in the budget. It costs the government more to employ cleaners through labour hire companies than it would to directly employ them as state service employees."

A government spokesperson said the Tasmanian government utilised a combination of direct employment and contract cleaning for the provision of cleaning services across government facilities.

"The government continues to maintain these services through its commercial partnerships and supports this as the appropriate arrangement to ensure this work continues to be completed appropriately," the spokesperson said.

"Companies who provide cleaning services to the Tasmanian government must comply with all workplace laws and requirements under the Work, Health and Safety Act 2012, the Fair Work Act 2009 and relevant awards as part of their contractual obligations."

The spokesperson said additional support was provided by the Tasmanian and Australian governments to both employers and employees in response to COVID-19, through initiatives such as the JobKeeper scheme, guarantee of employment for casual staff and increased leave provisions.