Contractor agreement for a yoga teacher

Yoga teachers work for several studios, run their own workshops and retreats, and are paid per class, per head or by revenue share, and the agreement with each studio has to fit that pattern rather than borrow from an employment contract: which classes, what pay, whose students, what happens when the teacher is away, and what the studio can require without taking on an employee. I draft that agreement, for the studio or for the teacher, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. Whether an individual is self-employed is checked case by case with HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool, which no agreement can pre-empt.

Who this is for

Yoga, pilates and movement studios in England and Wales engaging freelance teachers for timetabled classes, workshops and courses, and teachers who want an agreement they can use with every studio.

What matters in a yoga teacher's agreement

Classes, pay and revenue shares

The agreement should list the classes the teacher is offered on the studio's timetable, the fee per class, a per-head rate above a stated number or a revenue share, how new classes are offered and may be declined, the notice for cancelling a class by either side and the fee where the studio cancels late, the interest the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 adds to invoices paid late, and the position where a class is cancelled for low numbers; a teacher who cannot see how the pay is calculated cannot check it.

The teacher's own classes and workshops in the studio's space

Where the teacher runs their own workshops, courses or retreat preparation in the studio's space, the agreement should treat that as room hire: a fee or a share, the teacher's own booking and pricing, the participants as the teacher's clients, and the studio's facilities as described; the two models (teaching the studio's classes and hiring its room) should be kept distinct in the agreement so that each is paid for on its own terms and the room hire is not treated as the studio directing the teacher's work.

Qualifications, insurance and the teacher's responsibilities

The agreement should require the teacher to hold a recognised teaching qualification at the level the studio specifies, current first aid training where the studio requires it, and public liability and professional insurance at a stated level, to screen students for injuries and conditions before class and to adapt the practice accordingly, and to report incidents; the studio, as occupier, owes students the duty under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 and is responsible for its premises, equipment and the environment of the room. Teaching children or vulnerable adults brings safeguarding obligations and checks under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 where the activity is regulated.

Music, content and intellectual property

Playing recorded music in classes needs the licences the studio holds for its premises, and the agreement should say that the studio holds them for its timetabled classes and the teacher relies on them, or that the teacher holds their own for their own events; sequences, class plans and recorded content the teacher creates are the teacher's copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and where the studio records or streams classes it needs a licence from the teacher, with the teacher's name and image used only as agreed.

Control, cover and worker status

A teacher who may decline classes, teaches at other studios, arranges cover by another qualified teacher with the studio's approval and is paid per class is self-employed; a teacher required to teach a fixed timetable, attend meetings, follow the studio's sequences and seek permission to teach elsewhere 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 that per-class pay does not remove. The agreement reflects the self-employed arrangement and the studio should employ teachers where it wants that control.

Students, data and leaving

The agreement should say that students who book the studio's classes are the studio's customers, whose data the studio holds as controller under the UK GDPR, that participants in the teacher's own workshops are the teacher's, and that the teacher may tell students where else they teach but may not use the studio's lists; it should run on notice with termination for breach, with a non-solicitation of the studio's students for a reasonable period where the studio wants one, and no restriction on the teacher teaching elsewhere, which would be unenforceable and would 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

Can we stop a teacher from teaching at the studio down the road?

Not under a self-employed arrangement: a restriction on working elsewhere would be hard to enforce and is itself a mark of employment. You can protect your student lists and require a reasonable non-solicitation.

Who pays for the music licences?

The studio, for music played in its timetabled classes on its premises. A teacher running their own event in the room may need their own; the agreement says which applies.

A teacher cancelled a class at short notice. Can we deduct from their pay?

You can set a notice period and a consequence in the agreement, such as the teacher arranging cover or forfeiting the class fee, and the agreement does. Deductions from pay for other classes are not something a self-employed arrangement supports.

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 fitness instructor

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.