Contractor agreement for a fitness instructor

Gyms engage fitness instructors in two ways that look alike and are not: a freelance instructor paid per class to teach the gym's timetable, and a personal trainer who pays the gym for the right to train their own clients on its floor. The agreement has to say which arrangement it is, set the pay or the licence fee, allocate the safety and insurance obligations, and leave the instructor self-employed in substance, which the per-class model in particular does not always achieve. I draft that agreement, for the gym or for the instructor, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool is used to check status engagement by engagement; no document can guarantee the outcome.

Who this is for

Gyms, studios, leisure centres and fitness businesses in England and Wales engaging freelance class instructors and personal trainers, and instructors and trainers who want an agreement that reflects how they work.

What matters in a fitness instructor's agreement

Classes, sessions and how the instructor is paid

Where the instructor teaches classes on the gym's timetable, the agreement should state the classes, the fee per class or per hour, how classes are offered and accepted (the instructor may decline), cancellation by either side and the fee for late cancellation, cover arrangements, and interest on late-paid invoices as the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 provides; where the instructor runs their own classes in the gym's space, the agreement should state the room hire or revenue share and that the participants are the instructor's clients.

The personal trainer licence model

A personal trainer paying the gym a monthly licence fee for the right to train clients on its floor is in business on their own account: the agreement should grant a licence to use the gym's facilities to deliver training to the trainer's own clients, state the fee and what it includes, say that clients contract with the trainer and pay the trainer, set the trainer's obligations to members and the gym's rules, and provide for the gym to introduce members to the trainer on stated terms. The gym charges VAT on the licence fee if registered, and the arrangement should not be combined with duties the gym directs, such as floor shifts, without recognising that those duties may be worker status work.

Qualifications, insurance and first aid

The agreement should require the instructor to hold the qualifications the gym specifies for each class or discipline, a current first aid certificate, professional and public liability insurance at a stated level, and membership of any professional register the gym requires, to notify the gym if any lapse, and to screen participants for health conditions as the gym's procedures require; the instructor's own safeguarding obligations apply where children or vulnerable adults are taught, with checks under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 where the activity is regulated.

The gym's safety duties and the instructor's

The gym, as occupier and as the business whose undertaking affects members, owes duties under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 and section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 that the agreement cannot transfer, and should maintain its equipment under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; the instructor is responsible for the safe conduct of their sessions, for instructing participants properly and for reporting equipment faults. The agreement should allocate those responsibilities and require each side to hold the insurance its responsibilities need.

Control, cover and worker status

A freelance instructor who is offered classes and may decline them, is free to teach elsewhere, can arrange cover by another qualified instructor with the gym's approval, and is paid per class rather than per hour of attendance is self-employed; one who is rostered to a fixed timetable, required to attend staff meetings and floor shifts, given the gym's programme to deliver and unable to send cover is likely to be a worker under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 with rights under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Working Time Regulations 1998, which the per-class model does not change. The agreement reflects a self-employed engagement where that is the arrangement, and the gym should engage employees where it wants control.

Members, clients and leaving

The agreement should say who owns the relationship with participants: class participants are the gym's members, personal training clients are the trainer's, and the data of each is held by the relevant party as controller under the UK GDPR; it should run on notice with termination for breach of the gym's rules, safety failures or lapsed insurance, and should provide a non-solicitation of the gym's members for a reasonable period where the gym introduced them, without a non-compete that stops the instructor working at other gyms, which the agreement could not enforce against a self-employed instructor and which would itself point to employment.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

Our instructors teach set classes on our timetable each week. Are they self-employed?

They can be, if they are free to decline classes, teach elsewhere and send cover, and are paid per class. If the gym requires attendance, sets the programme and treats them like staff, they are likely to be workers whatever the agreement says. The agreement reflects the first arrangement.

A personal trainer pays us a licence fee. Can we also require floor shifts?

You can, but floor shifts directed by the gym are work the gym controls and may be worker status work with minimum wage rights. The agreement keeps the licence model separate from any duties the gym directs.

Who is liable if a member is injured in a class?

The gym for its premises and equipment, the instructor for the conduct of the session. The agreement allocates the responsibilities and requires each to hold the insurance that covers them; neither can exclude liability for injury caused by its own negligence.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Contractor agreement for a yoga teacher
• Getting an AI-drafted membership terms checked

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.