Why Fitness Studios Should Think Twice Before Offering Free Classes In Exchange For Work

It's become increasingly common for fitness studios to offer customers free access to classes in exchange for performing tasks around the studio. This is often seen in yoga studios, where patrons can access free yoga classes if they help with cleaning tasks or tasks at reception. However, these studios may be taking on more risk than they realize, as only compensating patrons with free classes, a form of payment "in-kind," may breach employment standards legislation.

Are the patrons employees?

Whether these patrons may be entitled to more than just free classes largely depends on whether the law considers them "employees" of the studio. In Friends of Animals, Re, the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal (the "Tribunal") considered the following interrelated statutory definitions of "employee," "employer," "wages," and "work" under section 1 of the B.C. Employment Standards Act (the "ESA"):