Some of you might know this, but for those that don't, I've been working for the family business for going on 12 years now. The early years were great, I was in school all winter and really only worked the long hours all summer. Sure I still worked some during the school year, but not much. Then, as I got into highschool, things got a bit worse. I was taking two to three weeks a semester off for work so I could help my dad cover jobs. It wasn't too bad, the pay was better then anyone else my age and I really enjoyed the job.

Then my first year of college. It was awesome. Met really cool people, shot a lot of pool, drank a good bit of booze, smoked cigars, played video gams all night. Pretty much the typical freshman year life. That is until the end of second semester when I flunked out.

Ok... no more school. Working full time now. This is when the job starts to get really shitty. I have to fight to get wage increases to get matched to people with less experience and less certifications then me, even though i'm the "crew leader" on these jobs. My father refuses to hire more help and starts to expect the rest of us to put in 60 - 70 hour weeks to try and keep up, we (my crew) were usually working out of town all day and then putting a few hours a night in at the shop. Fast forward three months, we are all getting burned out and he starts expecting even more.

So, I get my shit together and back off to school (really pisses my father off). Things go good but I'm still expected to work for him while at school as well as covering jobs when I'm back home. May comes, and I'm back at work full time.

This has to be the worst its ever been working for him. He has three times the work scheduled for this summer with less people and less time to cover it, he is trying to get it all in while I am at home. I've been trying to keep up, but I keep getting my ass reamed because I'm not getting all the jobs he wants done, done. They get partway, and then I am told to get going on the next job.

Then he gets his dirtbike and it goes way downhill. He is now expecting me to do the wrenching on his dritbike at night after covering jobs all day. So now, when I'm in the shop I just zone and surf the net. 100% burnout hit about three weeks ago.

Last night was the last straw. He knew I was planning on coming to Laramie to visit my girlfriend this weekend and take part of Friday (today) off to travel. He gets back from a job in CO (Ragely, Animal knows what I'm talking about) and he isn't home two minutes and he starts threatening me trying to get me to stay the weekend and cover a job that he agreed to while he was in CO.

I almost quit right there.

But... I didn't. Keep my mouth shut and listen to his tirade. Just sit there silently, not responding. He finally gets pissed off and walks away to get ready for a work meeting yet that night. Him and my mother leave for the meeting, I pack my shit and leave for Laramie.

So... the advice; on the four hour drive over here (got here at 2am) all I could think about was quiting working for him. The more I thought about it, the more comfortable with the idea I became. So, should I just totally fuck his schedule up and turn in my two week notice? Or should I "man up" and live in this hell for another three months until classes start again? I have a standing job offer back home that I could start there tomorrow if I really needed to, so it isn't a matter of I need this job. I just don't know if I should screw my father as bad as he has screwed the rest of us employees.

And another thing... I am the most experienced and highly certified employee (other then my father) but there is one douche working for us that is making $4 an hour more then me now, even though my father has lied to me repeatedly saying that I am making the same as all the other "top hands."

This is why I NEVER under any circumstances, work for or with family. I've known people who have great stories and I know of some who are going through pure hell, and you sound like the latter.

Being the person I am, I'd stick it out for the 3 months. Maybe you can work something out.

plus working on his dirt bike and working weekends? you gotta be kidding
its how he is expecting me to pay him back for helping me out when I didn't ask him for help, he just decided he was going to help me anyway.

Fuck him.

Yeah, he's your dad, but he's a slave driver.

You're his worker, you quit, he's SOL. Find another job and get an apartment far away from home.

Quiting will make the time you spend with him ackward. If you do it, try to do it in a way that doesn't burn your bridges.

Find another job and get an apartment far away from home.
I already own a house on the other side of the state (300+ miles away from him). I'm not planning on going home for at least a year after the next semester starts.

You could fuck his wife.

Well I have been in this exact same position. My dad worked me like a ******. But I guess I'm about ten years older than you now.

When I look back on it and see how other people around me have turned out I'm glad I was put in that situation. It seems like shit at the time but compared to other people who work at a burger joint or something you will be so much better off later in life. You're learning little things now that you'll use the rest of your life.

Without resistance in life you will never grow.

yep....difficult situations like this can turn into great opportunities
and just how can it be turned into a great opportunity? Just because I will be out looking for a different job?

happened to me after I was fired for insubordination :)

You? Insubordinate? Never would have guessed that.

Honestly, I'd quit. Plain and simple, he is your father but you are a grown person working for a company. Work is work your family life should have no bearing on it what so ever. they are 2 different aspects of your life, treat them that way. Tell me if he wasn't your father what would you do? You need to take a step back and look at it from an outside POV. In the end he will still be your father but he shouldn't set up jobs that he isn't staffed for. It will bring eveything down. I can't build rockets thus i'm not a rocket scientist. He should know better then to pick up jobs that he can't complete.

Just my .02 hope whatever you choose to do turns out well for you. Stand up and tell him how it is.

Fred

Tell me if he wasn't your father what would you do?
I woulda quit two and a half years ago.

honestly, i'm not a very greedy person, i don't need a lot of money. That amount of stress just wouldn't be worth it. I'd rather be happy then rich.

Yes, but i'm saying that you shouldn't base decisions on income, but whether or not it will help you move toward a happy/happier life.

I am assuming he knows your feelings but if he doesn't, just put down the tools and tell him the shit has got to change.

You could always apply for another job and use someone that you know will give you a good reference as well as let your dad know you shopping around and see what happens worked for someone I know.

I wouldn't wait three months if nothing changes, because nothing will change after that and he is still going to want you to work, school or not.

I wouldn't wait three months if nothing changes, because nothing will change after that and he is still going to want you to work, school or not.
Nothing has changed in four years. Its not like anything is going to change in three months.

Allright... here's my 2¢... Also, "ragely"... nice typo even if it wasn't intended :D
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Quiting will make the time you spend with him ackward. If you do it, try to do it in a way that doesn't burn your bridges. But... You don't want to get preferential treatment just because you're family. That doesn't mean you should get (or take advantage of) special situations like that. Put in your two weeks just as any other employee would, give him notice and the last day, handshake and goodbye. Don't want to fuck up a good reference because you're pissed off with the company.
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You could fuck his wife. Dude... family business... dad's the boss... that would make boss's wife... yeah. Eww.
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and just how can it be turned into a great opportunity? Just because I will be out looking for a different job? I liked what I did at DWC. That's why I kept going back summer after summer. I was learning stuff, and gained *tons* of experience along the way. When I was in school and living with parents they got away paying me jack shit for what I did. But at that time, I didn't care because I had zero expenses. Fast forward a few years... i've got my own apartment, truck payments, utilities, insurance, etc. Also going to school part-time. I'm the top of my class, straight-a star student (Mostly because I had learned everything they were teaching me at UWyo, the whole degree was a rehash of what I learned in 2yrs at UW) and I'm talking with classmates and the starting pay where they're working doing basic instrument assembly is what I'm making doing contract inspections for NASA. Yes, I'm making the same amount of money testing shit for the fucking space shuttle as joe-blow assembling toys makes. That's about the time I realized I was really getting screwed financially by them. But, what they weren't paying me in cash they paid me in experience. I learned how to run a CNC mill and lathe, and really polished my welding skills. I was also their IT guy, when a computer broke I was the guy that fixed it. I did calibration and repair on über-sensitive modal AE receivers and signal conditioners. To hire a guy off the street that could cover what I was doing would cost them at least $5/hr more than they were paying me.

Then came my layoff. Old machinist comes back into the company (Legal dispute with a 3rd party was settled), all of a sudden I'm not needed anymore. Fuck, how am I going to pay for my truck now? let alone apartment, that was half my damn paycheck every month. 3 months pass without a paycheck, and I get an offer through a staffing agency. They pay me $1.50/hr LESS than I was making at DWC doing basic assembly work. Really nothing more than just a set of hands turning a screwdriver all day. Man, I was really getting the shaft. And, I was highly underutilized. 2 years at a university in electrical engineering, and a year and a half through another degree and I'm turning screws all day.

First week of work at AMS passes. I think they're starting to realize i'm a bit sharper than the other kids they usually get through the agency. First month passes. Several times this past month they've been like "Holy shit, you know how to {make ethernet cables | program in labview | run a spectrum analyzer | solder SMT stuff}?!" as I'm looking around like "uh, nobody else here knows how to {make ethernet cables | program in labview | run a spectrum analyzer | solder SMT stuff}? That's scary... what did I get myself into?"

Two months pass, they want me full-time. If they don't do something to keep me there, they're going to lose me. They realize I'm worth more than the agency is paying me, and that I could find meaningful work elsewhere for a LOT more $ than I was making. Also find out there's some HR issues at AMS, as well as a minimum hour contract through the staffing agency that must be completed before they can bring me on full-time. 3.5mos after I stepped into that office, they pull me into the conference room and hand me some paperwork to go through. HOLY FUCK, they're giving me a $6/hr raise from my current hourly rate? AND covering ALL OF MY HEALTH INSURANCE??? (Which is NOT cheap once the insurance company finds out you're into rodeo) AND GIVING ME A FUCKING HIRING BONUS!!!

I've been there for a little over 9mos now, they're looking at moving me into a Test Engineering Technician position. I'll be doing a lot more circuit design, and designing/assembling the instruments used in the manufacturing and calibration process. I'm already training my replacement for the work I'm currently doing. Got an email today they want my input at a meeting regarding the new product development (Other people who received invites to the meeting include 3 engineers, the test engineer, QA inspector, and the director of manufacturing... my supervisor wasn't even invited). Performance reviews are happening sometime before the move, I expect to hear more about it then. Honestly, I'm really glad DWC kicked me out. I'm finally starting to get into the position I want to be in. If they hadn't given me the boot, I'd probably still be there, and I *might* have gotten another $1/hr raise. In hindsight, their laying me off was the best thing that happened to me there, and I walked away with experience AMS is really glad I have (and they're willing to pay me for it).

Now I'm getting bites on my resume from Ball Aerospace. I think that once they call a few references they'll pull me in for an interview, and I'm fairly confident I have a good shot at a job out there if they do that.

Yikes, this is turning into a really long post. Anyways, as I've said before... Even if you have to take a pay cut, once they [the new company] finds out you really know your shit and that resume of yours (You are working on that, right? I'll help you out with it, but I'm not going to write it for you :P ) isn't just bullshit, the pay will come with time. 1 year after a layoff, i'm completely recovered (financially) from 3mos without a paycheck, and have enough $ left over at the end of the month for toys (Hello, radios!) and still keeping enough for the down payment on a house in the not-too-distant future.

73 DE KDØAIH AR SK

...fuck his wife.