I feel like my boss is taking advantage of me??

[dawn16]

@actor4life20 Hhhmmm….smells like tax fraud.

 

[davidalbracht]

@dawn16 Hard to say, as there's not a lot of detail. If she's a "contractor" yeah sure, it's legal. The free membership would likely be considered non-monetary compensation.

 

[slp40]

@actor4life20 If you’re working 5 hours for free then you aren’t really getting paid 20/hour. This is just a fancy way to say you’re going to make the same amount of money but in exchange for more of your time.

I have been coaching for a while (6 years this month) and have been to a few different gyms in that time. In my experience, the gyms who require coaches to work for free to get their membership are always, without fail, the lesser quality gym. It’s hard for you to not walk into your scheduled shift thinking “man I could just mail this in and it doesn’t matter because these are my free hours anyway.” It makes it an unenjoyable experience for the coach as well as the members when that happens.

I have also had conversations with gym owners in the past letting them know that I enjoy working at their gym and would like to continue, but I will not work for a free membership. More often than not, they can see my perspective if layer out respectfully, and we can come to an agreement.

I think there must be some give and take if this is a job you want to pursue. Most gyms are not going to be able to offer you good pay, benefits, etc. so you will need to work in multiple places to make ends meet. If this is the case, there’s no way I, or most others, could afford to work for 2-3 free memberships every month that I don’t need.

In short, yes I think this is the owner trying to pull a fast one. Yes, I think you will need to have a conversation about how this can be made to better suit you if you wish to continue. Best of luck!

 

[bynet]

@slp40 Eh I work a class or two a week and I get a free membership out of it. Saves me a 100+ for about 3-4 hours of my time. I consider that and having a key to the place a solid trade off. I don't depend on the income so it's more of a hobby to me.

 

[slp40]

@bynet Sure. I certainly wouldn’t claim that you’re not a good coach without knowing you. There will be exceptions to what I’ve said. But even if you only consider your ability to do your job “practicing” it for 40 hours a week vs someone who does it for 3-4 hours a week for fun/ membership, there is going to be a trade off in quality at some point.

 

[dawn16]

@slp40 Having overseen coaching development at multiple facilities. The best non-owner coaching I have ever seen has come from part time high performers who coach (often for free) one or two hours a week to give back to the community.

The worst coaching I have ever seen is from "full timers" who coach because they don't know what to do with their lives or aren't capable of doing "more." \

Doing something for fun is a completely different experience then doing something for money.

 

[slp40]

@dawn16 Perhaps. I just wouldn’t be able to say I’ve seen the same.

 

[actor4life20]

@slp40 It would make sense. A coach at my gym started working out with clients while coaching since the announcement... And stretching during the class he was coaching right after

 

[joyfuljourney]

@actor4life20 Don't take the free membership, and just pay for your membership instead. Your Boss is free to run the business anyway he sees fit.

Gym rates should vary a lot even in the same town. I own two gyms, one location rent is $1900 a month, the other in the same town is $11,000. Those gym memberships don't cost the same.

 

[mariusk]

@joyfuljourney This is the best answer. Just tell your boss you will pay for your membership and will get paid $20/h for every hour you work. Or cancel your membership but continue to coach and join the $85/m gym.

 

[truthcker]

@actor4life20 There are so many people with level one certifications around now, it all comes down to supply and demand . Many would coach for just free membership

 

[argamon]

@truthcker Yeah this was my initial thought as well. My brother lives in a different state than me and is a level 1 coach. He did that in order to get a free membership to his box. He doesn't have a lot of money so he coaches a couple of times a week and gets a free membership in return to a nice crossfit gym. He is also allowed to get clients and use the space for 1:1 coaching - those people pay the gym dues and the fee for 1:1 coaching. Even when I go to visit, I have to pay the day pass fee.

 

[digofanart]

@argamon That's how I started with my facility. If I coached 8hrs a month it would cover my membership. Anything over 8 was paid for. Now I get paid for everything but that was after over a year of working there.

 

[actor4life20]

@truthcker Among my colleagues, not even everyone has their level one. that's a good point, though

 

[4godabove]

@actor4life20 This alone screams "bad box" to me. If the owner is not invested in hiring coaches with their L1 (nor helping them towards attaining it) and is ok with coaches coaching members, who aren't "qualified" thats all kinds of red flags.

Not saying the L1 makes someone a good coach but it should be the bare minimum if you are going to coach others.

 

[webbotpredicts]

@actor4life20 Wait, people are actually paying money to be coached by people who don't even have their level one? I consider level 1 coaching certification a crossfit HQ scam but still, that's downright idiotic.

 

[actor4life20]

@webbotpredicts That's basically why I never followed classes. I ended up getting coached by someone that only watched the class haha. I open gym 100% of the time

 

[aimee3915]

@actor4life20 Definitely tell him you don’t want the “free” membership then and want to get paid instead for the 5 hours that go toward it. Take that money then go down the road to the boxes that are under $100.

 

[4godabove]

@truthcker Maybe that fair if that was the initial agreement, but the owner is obviously taking advantage here knowing he has an upper hand and that's truly shitty.

 

[farmerdex]

@actor4life20 This isn’t unheard of. My first box I coached at did that in 2008. When I opened a gym I swore never to charge staff for memberships. Everyone runs their business differently. If you think you can do it better, go ahead. If this is the only gym in town they could use the competition.

The comment on your gym doing well financially; do you know this ? All gyms are hurting these days. Rent and equipment are expensive. COVID has decreased membership across the board. It could be his way of ensuring his staff are committed as those who coach a lot will make more money this way. From my experience, coaches that are really only in it for the free membership are more trouble than they are worth.