Employing family members and voluntary staff
Family employees - consider your motives
In order to avert problems, think carefully before employing family
members. Awareness of the possible pitfalls will help avoid underperformance
of the business and/or employees.
Consider the following issues before deciding to employ members
of your family:
- You should only do so if they want the job.
- They need to be willing to work for respect, ie not to expect
respect from colleagues simply because of family connections.
They must also show equal respect for non-family colleagues.
- You should think about how suitable the family member is for
the job you need doing.
- Promote on merit and in accordance with the business' policy,
ie when the family member has the required skills and competencies
and is the best person for the job.
- Arrange for family members to seek experience outside the business:
this will increase their contribution to your business.
- You may be indirectly discriminating against non-family members.
See our guide on how to prevent discrimination and value
diversity.
- Remember you are in business to make a profit and to be competitive.
- Apply the same pay policy and appraisal procedure to both family
and non-family workers.
Download
a family business rulebook from the BDO Centre for Family Business
website (PDF).
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