Fitness and Lifestyle Group 'the Way We Work' initiative looks to change scheduling and freeze staff pay

A move by the Fitness and Lifestyle Group (FLG) to change the weekly rosters of some of its staff is understood to have caused significant concerns among group fitness managers.

Launched via a national video call at the end of August last year, the internal 'the Way We Work' initiative is understood to have set out new class limits and scheduling arrangements - potentially resulting in lower pay for many instructors - while also imposing a new scheduling regime with less flexible hours.

Since the FLG announcement, Australasian Leisure Management is aware that FLG staff have coalesced, particularly in online forums, prompting many to join unions.

At the same time, the workers have been researching their rights investigating the enterprise agreements (EAs) governing Fitness First and Goodlife, as well as the Fitness Award. They also compared their conditions against the National Employment Standards, which lay out minimum rights and conditions for all workers.

In the process it has been learned that Goodlife had not negotiated a new EA in years and that its 'zombie agreement' was set to expire in December 2023.

While workers are understood to have wanted to bargain collectively for improved conditions, Goodlife defaulted back to the minimum standards outlined in the Fitness Award.

Reports indicate that FLG has been unwilling to negotiate the proposed 'the Way We Work' changes.

At the time of writing, the United Workers Union (UWU) is understood to be set to launch an online public petition to gain support for the group fitness managers.

The petition will demand that FLG management “immediately correct any pay discrepancies under their existing pay structure" and that FLG “commit to a pay structure overhaul that values employees contribution, developed in consultation with union members.”

Click here to view the petition.