Coaches Underpaid for coaching

[LucyTRA]

I recently had an 'appraisal' with my immediate boss at the leisure centre I coach at. This is very casual work and there are some months that I don't rack up any hours at all, and some when I do 30. During my appraisal my manager asked me about development plans and I said I was booked to begin my L3 coaching modules in September, and she said 'I know youre working towards your L2 right now...' I explained that I completed my L2 last September! She looked surprised and told me that they have only been paying me the L1 rate.

I looked back through my emails and found the one where I forwarded confirmation of my passing the course in October (takes 4 weeks for exam results to come through) and also a conversation I had directly with her before the exams stating when they would be. I have been unable to access my payslips because they are done via a stupid online system and nobody ever gave me my login details ('next time youre in, I'll give them to you!') When I queried my pay with them before I was told that it's paid 2 months in arrears (or something) so that was why it wasn't what I expected.

Today my manager found me and said that they will not be backdating the pay they failed to pay me and they wont even update my current rate until something (which she couldn't explain to me) has been done. I'm angry that nobody queried why I was running sessions by myself (which L1 coaches aren't insured to do) if they still thought I was a L1. Has anyone had experience with this and how did you handle it?!

 

[LucyTRA]

I recently had an 'appraisal' with my immediate boss at the leisure centre I coach at. This is very casual work and there are some months that I don't rack up any hours at all, and some when I do 30. During my appraisal my manager asked me about development plans and I said I was booked to begin my L3 coaching modules in September, and she said 'I know youre working towards your L2 right now...' I explained that I completed my L2 last September! She looked surprised and told me that they have only been paying me the L1 rate.

I looked back through my emails and found the one where I forwarded confirmation of my passing the course in October (takes 4 weeks for exam results to come through) and also a conversation I had directly with her before the exams stating when they would be. I have been unable to access my payslips because they are done via a stupid online system and nobody ever gave me my login details ('next time youre in, I'll give them to you!') When I queried my pay with them before I was told that it's paid 2 months in arrears (or something) so that was why it wasn't what I expected.

Today my manager found me and said that they will not be backdating the pay they failed to pay me and they wont even update my current rate until something (which she couldn't explain to me) has been done. I'm angry that nobody queried why I was running sessions by myself (which L1 coaches aren't insured to do) if they still thought I was a L1. Has anyone had experience with this and how did you handle it?!

Oh, and the difference between the L1 and L2 rates is around £5 per hour.

 

[gymdog]

I'm angry that nobody queried why I was running sessions by myself (which L1 coaches aren't insured to do) if they still thought I was a L1. Has anyone had experience with this and how did you handle it?!

Well, we don't have anything exactly like this in the US, but can you report this to the governing body? Are there other coaching jobs you can take? If so, I would report it and move on. If they aren't following the correct rules and procedures, more situations like this are going to come up or it could be a personal liability to you or your career.

As far as getting back pay, again it's hard to tell because this is really location specific, but if there a wage/labor department you can complain to? Depending on local laws, there may be some sort of legal remediation.

But first, I would set up a meet with the head of the division of your leisure center's payroll (I assume this is government funded and fairly bureaucratic) and explain the situation and what can be done, and what specifically needs to be done to fix the pay rate. Now, the right person to talk to is probably not your boss who you talked to before. Presumably your boss is a staff coordinator for gymnastics and activities and doesn't administer the payroll in this case. You need to talk to payroll so you stop getting vague answers.

 

[LucyTRA]

But first, I would set up a meet with the head of the division of your leisure center's payroll (I assume this is government funded and fairly bureaucratic) and explain the situation and what can be done, and what specifically needs to be done to fix the pay rate. Now, the right person to talk to is probably not your boss who you talked to before. Presumably your boss is a staff coordinator for gymnastics and activities and doesn't administer the payroll in this case. You need to talk to payroll so you stop getting vague answers.

You're right about that - she is responsible for 'education' which is basically all of the kids activities, including gym and tramp. She does not do the payroll BUT she does know who coached each session, and I refuse to believe that she never put 2 and 2 together to wonder why on earth I was coaching by myself if she genuinely thought I was a L1. I'm basically calling bull on her not knowing - there was so much discussion about it before I qualified AND they would have been in an insurance dead end if something had gone wrong and I really was only a L1 and coaching alone.

I'm not really sure how to handle an email to HR or payroll without sounding like I'm blaming her or saying that she hasn't done her job properly... (which is kinda how I feel)


Leaving isn't really an option, nowhere else close and I train there too

 

[gymdog]

I would just contact payroll and say "hello, so and so, my supervisor in education, let me know that my pay is not currently correct and it can't be corrected until certain steps are taken. Can we set up a meeting to go over what you need from my end? Thanks!"

 

[coachmolly]

Can you organize a face to face meeting? I am really bad at this as I hate confrontation- or anything that even vaguely resembles confrontation- but I have worked for a few gym owners who have been disorganized/forgetful and making an off hand comment did very little to get gears moving. It would be brushed off, forgotten, whatever and never actually addressed. My first coaching job I worked for about a month without pay or even being told whether or not I had been hired just because the owner didn't get around to it. I was in a constant state of anxiety not knowing what was happening and after lots of grief and tears not knowing whether or not I had a job the owner finally got around to sitting down and talking with me, telling me I was doing fine, and making sure I got back pay. He turned out to be a great guy to work for, just made an initial "oops" that was overlooked for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Make sure to take in notes- documentation of when you got the certification, that you have been coaching above L1 capabilities for some time, and would like some answers about why all of this has been lost (really a safety issue if they are that unconcerned about who is left alone with the kids) and info on how to log into the payroll system.

 

[gymdog]

Yes, I agree with Molly. It is is easy to assume but some people are just absent minded or overlook something. I think you need to pursue the issue a little higher.

Documenting and compiling all your certification materials and confirmations into one portfolio is also great advice. Having this on hand will prevent you from having any delays with setting up other meetings to provide them documents.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

what is it you say over there? Piss Off! find another coaching job. as if we make a million dollars as it is...

 

[LucyTRA]

what is it you say over there? Piss Off! find another coaching job. as if we make a million dollars as it is...

This isn't a purpose built gym owned by a single person or family, it's a large chain of leisure centres with facilities up and down the country. I'm not sure that telling them to piss off would have any kind of effect - I'm one of thousands of employees, and I'd really like to keep them on side and continue working for them and training there if possible, I just want them to pay me!