Class of worker

Part A - Short definition:

Not applicable

Part B - Detailed definition:

Class of worker refers to whether an employed person is an employee or is self-employed. The self-employed include persons with or without a business, as well as unpaid family workers.

Reported in:

2011

Reported for:

Population aged 15 years and over in private households, who worked since January 1, 2010. The variable usually relates to the individual's job held during the week of Sunday, May 1 to Saturday, May 7, 2011. However, if the person did not work during that week but had worked at some time since January 1, 2010, the information relates to the job held longest during that period.

Question number(s):

Derived variable: Questions 44 and 45

Responses:

Employee
Self-employed
Self-employed (incorporated business)
Without paid help
With paid help
Self-employed (unincorporated business)
Without paid help
With paid help
Unpaid family worker

Remarks:

Employee

This category includes persons who worked for others in the context of an employer-employee relationship. This includes persons who worked for wages, salaries, commissions, tips, piece-rates, or payments 'in kind' (payments in goods or services rather than money).

Exclusion:

'Employee' does not include working owners of incorporated businesses even though they may receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, piece-rates, or payments 'in kind' (payments in goods or services rather than money).

Self-employed

This category includes persons whose job consisted mainly of operating a business, farm or professional practice, alone or in partnership. This includes: operating a farm, whether the land is rented or owned; working on a freelance or contract basis to do a job (e.g., architects, private duty nurses); operating a direct distributorship selling and delivering products such as cosmetics, newspapers, brushes and cleaning products; and fishing with own equipment or with equipment in which the person has a share. The business can be incorporated or unincorporated. Self-employed persons include those with and those without paid help. Also included among the self-employed are unpaid family workers. They are persons who work without pay in a business, farm or professional practice owned and operated by another family member living in the same dwelling.