Whether you’re a professional trainer or a gym owner that has trainers working at your facility, make sure you’re using the right type of personal trainer agreement.
Because the wrong contract can land you in legal hot water. For example, you can end up being liable for personal injuries that occur during training, extra taxes, and penalties.
As a general rule of thumb, if a client contracts with you to work directly as a trainer, that agreement will be structured so that you’re doing the work as an independent contractor instead of an employee.
Ideally, you’ll use a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation as an additional protection shield instead of contracting as an individual. That’s a key part of running a business long term.
What about personal training a gym’s members?
The contract between the gym owner and the trainer will either be structured as an employment agreement or as an independent contractor agreement. And the gym’s members aren’t parties to the contract between trainer and owner.
One of the big dangers is having this agreement between personal trainer and gym owner disguise an employment relationship by pretending it’s an independent contractor relationship instead. Because if you get caught by the government, that’s where issues like back taxes, penalties, workers and unemployment compensation contributions, etc. kick in.
Does this mean a personal trainer should never work as an employee? Of course not. There are times that it makes sense to get a steady paycheck from an employer instead of working as a freelance professional. This is particularly true when you don’t have a bunch of clients when starting out as a trainer.
Yet it does mean you don’t disguise one relationship as another (employee versue independent contractor) if you want to avoid liability dangers.
Whether you’re a gym owner or a personal trainer, if you need help putting the right liability waivers and training contracts, it’s probably time to schedule a phone consultation with Business Lawyer Mike Young.
