My aunt runs her own business, which, good for her I know it's not easy. But she is and always has been a garbage human being and we have never gotten along because of that. Waaaaay back in the day she used to run an escort service where she had many “girls” who worked under her. Obviously this business was illegal but that's how she used to make her money to support herself, the exploitation of others. The “girls” would often short change her, backstab her, and otherwise betray her (honestly, good for them cause she deserved it) because of how poorly she treated them. I only know about it because she'd complain to my mother and I'd happen to hear about it. I'm mentioning all this to really paint the picture to show how she hasn't changed despite running a more legit business now.
She eventually closed her illegal business because she wanted to be a mom and couldn't risk getting arrested. She now runs a legal cosmetology business but she's still a garbage human so of course she's still exploiting workers. She's struggling to find someone to fill a position that does bookings/customer service/admin/payroll, however, she wants to classify this person/people as 1099 contractors. She's offering $15-20/hr but expects 6 day weeks at 50+ hours, and as a 1099 that would mean the worker has to cover 100% of the payroll taxes for themselves, bringing the hourly pay down closer to $13-$17/hr after taxes (at least in my state). The only reason she's gotten away with it so far for so long is the person who's been taking this abuse lives in a third world country and works virtually. Now this person is reducing their hours to part time and my aunt is panicking because she can't keep anyone in the position longer than a month or two. She blames it on my generation being lazy (I'm 30). My generation isn't lazy, we're sick of being abused and taken advantage of. No one wants to work 6 days a week every week with virtually no work/life balance and no overtime pay.
She wants me to take this job thinking I won't screw her over like everyone else has because I'm family but like… Why should I get screwed over by her just to make her business successful for her? I'm suffering some serious anxiety because during the phone call I was speaking very positively because I'm a freaking pushover but after we hung up?? The details really started to settle in my head:
- Classified as 1099
- Expected 6 day/50+ hr weeks
- Responsible for 100% of employment taxes
- Zero benefits (no paid sick leave, 401k, vacation pay)
- Micromanaged by a boss from hell
- Expected 60 days notice if you want to quit but you'll never hear the end of her b*tching if you want to leave her
I just can't do it. Idk how to tell her politely to go f*ck herself tomorrow and there's no way in hell I'll take the job. This kind of nonsense is everywhere in the US but it's especially sickening when it's your own family (results are still out on that) who sees nothing wrong with running you ragged and misclassifying you to save herself money. I guess I just needed some internet support that I'm not crazy denying her.