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Nepotism...the great American tragedy!!! Unless, of course, you can treat a relative in exactly the same manner you treat your other employees. If you can do that, then there won't be any problems, right? Wrong! Orientation is going to be the key here. You will have to lay the groundwork, explicitly define responsibilities, and make a firm pronouncement that just because the person is family, the same employee rules apply. For example, if your employee is going to need a day off, a supervisor must be informed prior to the request; if an employee is ill, a supervisor must be notified as soon as the employees he/she will not make it to work; if an employee is not performing correctly, a supervisor will make train to adjustments. And so forth. On the other hand, a family employee will typically have a better attitude, be more loyal to the business, and work harder than other employees. The only other thing to watch for is wages: avoid the tendency to overpay new hires just because you love them! (On a personal note, some of my happiest business days were spent working with my daughter and daughter-in-law...both of whom have gone on to run their own very successful businesses.)