There was a chronic problem at this workplace with contacting workers outside of work hours, often with requests and instructions; I was told at training that it was expected that we would respond to these before our next shift in the studio. Pointing out that being asked to work off the clock was illegal was met with a surprising array of personal insults, refusal to compensate those hours worked, threats to not pay an entire paycheck, sudden demands for money (for classes provided free long before, as a perk of employment), and threats to call the police.
In addition, this workplace was engaging in offering monetary perks to clients in exchange for positive ratings on common review websites, such as Yelp.
In sum, this is a workplace that has several actual or possible illegalities and ethical violations, ranging from denial of compensation for hours worked to breach of (verbal) contract, to filing false police reports, to violating terms of service of common review websites. Some of these are quite severe. In addition, there is a clear issue with severe bullying.
These are enormous cons, and I would caution all prospective employees to completely avoid working at this place.
