Staff at Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre have started a petition for parking permits, following new charges implemented by St Albans City and District Council.
The Holywell Hill location is owned by the local authority, and operated by Everyone Active on their behalf.
Previously, two hours of free parking had been offered at the site, but a £1 fee will now be charged to non-members.
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The new petition, which calls for parking permits for employees, has now reached 272 signatures.
The petition, created by Maddie Hammond, claims that the new charges are "already deterring people from using the health & fitness facilities".
The petition continues: "As a result. the employees at Westminster Lodge who need to access the car park for long hours daily, are either being forced to park much further away - making them more likely to be late for work - or they are being fined, penalised, and criminalised for daring to park at their own place of work where they are just trying to earn a living."
Chris Traill, St Albans City and District Council's strategic director for community and place delivery, said: “We have been talking to our leisure centre contractor Everyone Active about parking arrangements for their staff at Westminster Lodge.
"A number of options are being considered.
"We have a car parking strategy that commits us to operating our car parks in a fair and efficient way and we certainly do not discriminate against any particular group.”
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