FamilyBizFair: Transparent Compensation & Ownership Pathway for Family Business Employees

I need some outside perspective because I’m not sure if I’m overreacting or not.

This is going to be more of a relationship-type advice than a business-type advice, but let me take a crack at it anyway. I think there are two things that need to be addressed: your expectations, and your finances. Most important thing first: a single 23-year-old making McDonald's-level wages shouldn't owe income taxes at the end of the year, full stop. If you're making $15/hr and working 40 hours per week, your *total* federal income taxes owed should be about $1,615 for the whole year. That could inch up a little bit as you add overtime, but unless you're making over $60,000/yr, you cap out in the 12% bracket and the first $15,750 is exempt from income tax entirely. If your parents refuse to adjust your withholdings, then you need to start putting savings away to pay your taxes at the end of the year. The IRS has an income tax calculator on their website; use it. But just real quick: if you didn't get a Form W-2 this past January and instead got a Form 1099, you're misclassified and your parents are engaging in some tax fraud and violating labor laws. That's a much bigger problem and you need to have a really serious think about how badly you want to keep working for them. Now, the second thing is expectations. You didn't share what you do for them or what the business is, but a *lot* of parents exploit their kids' desire to please when they work for the "family" business. If you don't start treating this like you would any other job, you're going to join the endless ranks of people who toiled away at family businesses their whole careers and got nothing for it. If you're being promised a future stake in the business, get a contract for actually receiving equity or else quit. If you've been told that you'll be taught how to do the job better to get a raise, get a written development plan and make them stick to it or else quit. If you're being told that a raise will come in the future, get it in writing or else quit. I really don't think it's a good idea for children to work for their parents in any serious way. You're at the onset of your career and have a terrific opportunity to develop valuable skills and get great experience. Don't squander it on anyone not taking you seriously, especially if it's your parents. Good luck.

This is going to be more of a relationship-type advice than a business-type advice, but let me take a crack at it anyway. I think there are two things that need to be addressed: your expectations, and your finances. Most important thing first: a single 23-year-old making McDonald's-level wages shouldn't owe income taxes at the end of the year, full stop. If you're making $15/hr and working 40 hours per week, your *total* federal income taxes owed should be about $1,615 for the whole year. That could inch up a little bit as you add overtime, but unless you're making over $60,000/yr, you cap out in the 12% bracket and the first $15,750 is exempt from income tax entirely. If your parents refuse to adjust your withholdings, then you need to start putting savings away to pay your taxes at the end of the year. The IRS has an income tax calculator on their website; use it. But just real quick: if you didn't get a Form W-2 this past January and instead got a Form 1099, you're misclassified and your parents are engaging in some tax fraud and violating labor laws. That's a much bigger problem and you need to have a really serious think about how badly you want to keep working for them. Now, the second thing is expectations. You didn't share what you do for them or what the business is, but a *lot* of parents exploit their kids' desire to please when they work for the "family" business. If you don't start treating this like you would any other job, you're going to join the endless ranks of people who toiled away at family businesses their whole careers and got nothing for it. If you're being promised a future stake in the business, get a contract for actually receiving equity or else quit. If you've been told that you'll be taught how to do the job better to get a raise, get a written development plan and make them stick to it or else quit. If you're being told that a raise will come in the future, get it in writing or else quit. I really don't think it's a good idea for children to work for their parents in any serious way. You're at the onset of your career and have a terrific opportunity to develop valuable skills and get great experience. Don't squander it on anyone not taking you seriously, especially if it's your parents. Good luck.