When I had graduated from high school, I wanted to take on a part time job for my expenses and I was too proud to take money from my parents.
I worked out at 24 Hour Fitness regularly, so when I saw a flyer about a job fair, I thought it was a perfect opportunity. The fair went great, I was offered a job, and I kept that job through most of my time in university.
Towards the end of my undergraduate career, I wanted to speed up my graduation process, so I took on an overtime load at school (21 units when full time was 18). By this point, 24 Hour Fitness had become a full time job—I was working six days per week and the hours were difficult. I’d have shifts that would end at 11:30pm, only to have to be clocked in again at 6:00am the morning after.
It became too much. I asked my service manager, a woman named Kimberly, if I could reduce my availability. I wanted to work 4 days per week since my studies were becoming more demanding. I was denied on account that our club was short-staffed; as a matter of fact, I was asked to “dig deeper” for the team. I was young, I was foolish, and I was overly trusting, so I did just that. I went “above and beyond,” but without added compensation.
We staffed up a few months later. I was stretched thin. I wasn’t sleeping, I was barely eating, it was a nightmare trying to balance work and school. Still, I did what was asked, I “dug deeper” and pulled through for the team! With more hands on deck, I asked my management yet again to review my availability, so that I might dedicate more time to school.
I was called into the club manager’s office, which was a first—the club managers at 24 Hour Fitness would largely ignore the service end of the business, focusing solely on sales. His name was Jeff, we’ll say.
Jeff explained to me that what I was asking for was impossible for the business to provide. They couldn’t cater to my individual needs, or else they’d have to do so for the rest of the staff, which would pose an issue to our service management. He then gave me an ultimatum:
Keep your current workload, or we’ll reduce your hours to a single half-shift per week. A meager four hours. After a certain point, a schedule like that doesn’t qualify as employment, meaning that they could do an “administrative termination”, which would mean that I would be removed from the schedule without being “technically fired”, barring me unemployment benefits.
Looking back, I’m sure it was bullshit, but I didn’t know any better. I was scared, since I’d never encountered a situation like that before.
I was pressured into resigning, despite the fact that I wanted to keep my job. Members caught wind of it and started a petition to keep me on board, but I left. I realized then that I never mattered to that company. They had the gall to ask me for help when they needed it, but they could only offer me a resignation letter when I needed it.
24 Hour Fitness is a horrible, disgusting company.