Pros and cons of working for your partner’s company
The Realities Of Working For Your Husband’s Company
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A very good friend of mine works for her husband’s company. He needed a graphic designer, she is a graphic designer, and the rest is history. She really is very valuable to the company, and the job is sort of perfect for her. It was, naturally, pretty nice that she didn’t need to go through the hell that is applying to jobs, going through rounds of interviews, negotiating salary, facing rejection, and all the other things the rest of us who don’t work for our partner’s companies deal with. It’s been interesting witnessing their dynamic. And I’ve even had other friends tell me their partners offered them jobs at their companies and asked me if they should take the position. I couldn’t give a definitive answer on that, because personality types, as well as the specific business, play big roles in the dynamic. But here are some of the universal pros and cons of working for your partner’s company.
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You get time off when you ask for it
You won’t need to beg for time off to go to a family reunion, take care of your kids, or even see a friend. Your spouse is obviously going to give you that time off. Heck, he may even be taking the same time off sometimes.
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But coworkers resent you for it
Your coworkers may resent you for the fact that you can come and go as you please. They don’t think about the fact that you make up for the work eventually—they just know that they need to put in a request for time out months in advance, and don’t always get it.
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You can set your own hours
You definitely get to set your own hours. Your partner trusted you enough to marry you, so he knows that if you say you’ll get your work done that you’ll get it done. So you aren’t restricted to the arbitrary 8 to 5 schedule that everyone else is.
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But you’re always on the clock
That being said about the schedule, you’re pretty much always on the clock. You don’t get to leave your work at the office. Your work comes home with you, eats dinner with you, and sleeps next to you because you work with your spouse. And if it’s his company (rather than just someone else’s he works for) he is often thinking about work.
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You’re down when he’s down
If you both worked at different places, then when one person had a bad day, there would be a good chance that the other was having a great day, and could lift the other person up. But you work at the same company, so you have bad days on the same days. That makes for one toxic home environment.
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But you’re up at the same time, too
You do, however, get to celebrate and understand one another’s victories in ways most couples don’t. When he’s in a great mood, you likely are too because you work at the same place and experienced the same win. So celebrations are double the fun.
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If he treats you like an employee, it feels bad
If your spouse treats you like an employee, not showing any special treatment, he feels guilty. And you have to admit that, you don’t like that feeling either.
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If he treats you like his wife, colleagues resent you
If he your partner does show you special treatment, your colleagues ostracize you, and you don’t get the camaraderie side of the office. That also doesn’t feel great.
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You can take work trips together
You get to go on lots of work trips together! If he’s traveling, you likely are, too. Your meals, hotel, entertainment are more are covered for the both of you. Work trips don’t need to separate you.
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You may neglect personal trips
But, because you travel together for work, you can subconsciously begin to believe that that was your vacation and stop planning romantic vacations. But nothing can replace a true vacation.
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You’re a part of an important part of his life
You are a key player—an important piece—in a very big part of his life. When he thinks about his empire, he thinks of you, and all the things you’ve done for it. It can make you closer than the typical couple.
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For better or for worse…
On the other hand, when things aren’t going well at your partner’s company, he can also associate you with his failures and disappointments. If he feels you messed things up, you’re in trouble as a wife and business associate.
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Job security
Your husband probably won’t fire you. I mean, he might but, that would be because you were getting a divorce, too.
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Fear you couldn’t strike out on your own
I know my friend often feels insecure that, if she didn’t have the job her partner gave her, she wouldn’t have been able to find one on her own. But, it’s a silly and useless insecurity. She does have the job. She’s great at it. He appreciates her work. That’s that.
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You know too much
Your partner definitely can’t pretend that things are going well at work if they aren’t. You know too much. You know the ins and outs of the place. He can’t protect you from concerns about the company and money because you’re in the trenches with him.
