A bit of background, we live in Virginia and my partner was interested in training at one of the group gym classes nearby. They have been a member for months now and the gym had posted that it was looking for more trainers, so she applied.
This gym is a national chain of that has 45 minute work out camps every day for a group of people and is only open for classes.
So my partner went to the interest meeting where they laid out how it would work. The “applicants” would need to come up with a workout in the right format and present it to the existing trainers, run it exactly like a normal camp demonstrating the moves and everything. She had nailed this step, doing really well and the gym wanted to move forward to the next step, which is “shadowing” classes run by an existing trainer.
My partner had to go to 12-15 hours worth of camps, in most cases running the entire camp with the training watching and providing feedback. At the final assessment, the gym owner ultimately told her no, which stinks, but thats how it goes. She was told she wouldnt be paid for any of the time she had been shadowing or the initial interest meeting. The meeting I fully understand, but to me she was providing services for the gym and she should be compensated.
Any advice on this would be great, we are unsure what to do with the situation if its even legal to not compensate for these sort of trial periods.
Thanks!