Do commission only employees need to be paid vacation pay?

Question

Note: I'm making this company as if it were located in Ontario, Canada. So all the proper rules and regulations of that region would apply to this company.

I'm currently using the software Quickbooks to set up a mock company and figure out how to pay employees that are commission only. When I create a new employee in the company I select the commission-only option for payment which is what I want. But after selecting this option the employee's vacation pay policy becomes this:

As a commission-only employee, John does not accrue vacation or sick time. Any vacation or sick time policies you've set up do not apply to John.

I was under the impression that ALL employees have to be paid a minimum of 4% vacation pay. After looking on some of the government's website regarding vacation pay and commissions, I can't seem to find any mention of an exemption for commission only employees. Thus contradicting what the Quickbooks software is telling me.

Therefore my question is:

Do commission only employees need to be paid vacation pay?

Answer 1

I am not a lawyer. I am not your lawyer.

The Labour Program has issued an interpretation on the definition of "wages", and specifically includes commission.

In section 166:

“wages”
« salaire »
“wages” includes every form of remuneration for work performed but does not include tips and other gratuities;

and in Section 183:

“vacation pay”
« indemnité de congé annuel »
“vacation pay” means four per cent or, after six consecutive years of employment by one employer, six per cent of the wages of an employee during the year of employment in respect of which the employee is entitled to the vacation;

And assuming that the employer and employee are, in fact, in an employee-employer relationship, it is likely that he/she will be entitled to 4% of the wages during the year of employment, including commission.