D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwab said Thursday that Ultimate Performance Fitness (UP Fitness), a personal training company, will pay $450,000 to trainers and the District to resolve allegations that the business failed to pay wages owed to trainers and improperly used a commission payment structure.
Under the terms of the agreement with the Office of the Attorney General, UP Fitness will be mandated to pay $254,190 to more than 30 personal trainers who were not compensated for required work time and routinely deprived of overtime wages.
The company also will be required to pay a penalty of $198,809 to the District, cease its improper use of a commission payment structure for trainers, and ensure that employees receive overtime wages for any hours worked beyond 40 hours per week.
“With this settlement, we are not only recovering unpaid wages and overtime for dozens of personal trainers — we are also sending a strong message to businesses that they can’t use sham commission compensation structure to shirk their legal obligation to workers,” Schwalb said. “We encourage workers and others in our community to contact our office if they believe a business may be violating labor laws — we follow up on tips, and we are often able to reach positive resolutions for workers.”
Sean Ramsey, a personal trainer and former UP Fitness employee, thanked the attorney general’s office for its efforts.
“They listened to us and stood up for us,” Ramsey said. “It feels amazing knowing that we will finally be paid for all of our work and knowing that other trainers who followed us at UP Fitness won’t go through what we did.”