When you own a Texas gym, there are legal agreements you want to have in place to protect yourself and your business. Here are the most common legal documents for protecting Texas fitness facilities.
1. Texas Gym Membership Agreement.
You’ll want to have a written Texas gym membership contract that complies with the Texas Health Spa Act, biometrics law, and other applicable federal and state laws. If you don’t comply with the health spa act, all of your membership contracts could be void, i.e. you can’t enforce them against your members if they decide not to pay as agreed upon.
2. Media Release.
This type of agreement lets you take photos and record videos of gym visitors and members to use for promoting your business in social media, on your website, and in your other advertising.
3. Liability Waivers.
Both members and guests should sign personal liability waivers where they assume responsibility for any injuries that happen when at your gym premises. To be enforceable, these must be crafted carefully and should be a separate legal document from the membership contract. And the right person should be signing (e.g., a child can’t sign if you want it to be enforceable).
4. Employment Agreement.
If you have employees (front desk staff, personal trainers, etc.), you should have written employment agreements in place for each of them to protect Texas gym.
5. Independent Contractor Personal Trainer Agreements.
If you have personal trainers working at your gym on an independent contractor basis, you’ll want this type of written agreement signed by each of them. Note that you can’t treat employees as if they are independent contractors. Because if you get caught, you’re looking at big tax and legal headaches, including payment of back taxes, unemployment and workers comp contributions, and penalties.
Now if you need legal help putting the right contracts in place to protect your Texas gym and yourself, it’s time to schedule a phone consultation with Texas Business Lawyer Mike Young.
