Suspended from a gym as a Self-Employed Personal Trainer

justeeen

It is my first time writing here and I write on behalf of a friend so I apologise if I do not have all the detail!!


My friend is employed by a top UK gym chain and has been working as a Personal Trainer for almost 3 years now. There was an attack on her house and graffiti to her and her manager's cars (manager at the gym).

The culprit is unknown, but there have been other instances involving the same personal trainer (my friend). The gym manager has suspended my friend from coming into the gym and says this is to protect members of the gym.

There is no evidence of wrong doing by my friend that would justify being suspended, but the manager is clearly worried about the extent of what the culprit is capable of. The easiest thing to do is sack the personal trainer who is under a self-employed contract with the gym.

This doesn't feel right and there has to be some laws that this violates?

Please could anyone offer any advice?

ohreally

Is she self employed or employed as the status is unclear?

Is the suspension on full pay?

Takeaway_Addict

asquith wrote: »

It is my first time writing here and I write on behalf of a friend so I apologise if I do not have all the detail!!


My friend is employed by a top UK gym chain and has been working as a Personal Trainer for almost 3 years now. There was an attack on her house and graffiti to her and her manager's cars (manager at the gym).

The culprit is unknown, but there have been other instances involving the same personal trainer (my friend). The gym manager has suspended my friend from coming into the gym and says this is to protect members of the gym.

There is no evidence of wrong doing by my friend that would justify being suspended, but the manager is clearly worried about the extent of what the culprit is capable of. The easiest thing to do is sack the personal trainer who is under a self-employed contract with the gym.

This doesn't feel right and there has to be some laws that this violates?

Please could anyone offer any advice?

As Ohreally says, they need to clarify their status of work. check the government guidelines to whether they are self employed or employed

justeeen

ohreally wrote: »

Is she self employed or employed as the status is unclear?

Is the suspension on full pay?

Thanks for the reply.

She is self-employed, but there will be a contractual obligation between her and the gym. Without directly seeing the contract and taking it apart that way, is this not unreasonable that without reason they are suspended from Personal Training in the gym?

tomtontom

asquith wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

She is self-employed, but there will be a contractual obligation between her and the gym. Without directly seeing the contract and taking it apart that way, is this not unreasonable that without reason they are suspended from Personal Training in the gym?

If she is truly self employed then this comes down to what her contract for services states.

justeeen

tomtontom wrote: »

If she is truly self employed then this comes down to what her contract for services states.

Thanks for your reply - So I guess there is no point us discussing further until I look at the statement of services specifically? Am I to expect a clause in there that will allow this to happen?

Thanks again for the quick replies, and sorry my questions/details are really vague!!

Horace

If your friend is truly self employed then she can choose where she works - so she could have several gyms that she works for. It could be that the gym where she has been working as a personal trainer no longer require her services - this happens.

All this stuff about vandalised vehicles etc is just a red herring.

justeeen

Horace wrote: »

If your friend is truly self employed then she can choose where she works - so she could have several gyms that she works for. It could be that the gym where she has been working as a personal trainer no longer require her services - this happens.

All this stuff about vandalised vehicles etc is just a red herring.

I'm not sure what you mean by this Horace?

The issue is that the gym are sacking my friend (the personal trainer) because someone has vandalised her car and the manager of the gym's car. So they've suspended her from Personal Training at the gym after years of service just because she is a victim to criminal activity.

Nebulous2

They aren't sacking your friend though. They are telling her that her services are no longer needed / required.

If a dispute your friend has knowingly or unknowingly got herself involved in has spilled over to the manager's car, then that creates a problem for her, regardless of whether she is a victim herself.

If she was an employee the company would have to tread very carefully and would have a duty of care towards her.

As she is self-employed they can decide they no longer want her services. How they do that will depend on her contract, but it is likely to allow them to terminate it at will.

Your friend should be trying hard to show she is doing as much as she can to resolve the situation. Things like reporting every incident to the police, giving them whatever information she can, possibly consider setting up CCTV at home.

She should also be logging everything, dates, times, incidents, strange phonecalls, discussions with the company and manager etc.