Guidelines for Real Estate Agents

This section provides information to employers on the way they would need to complete certain blocks on the Record of Employment (ROE). This information pertains to real estate agents.

Who Is a Real Estate Agent?

In the view of the authorities, a real estate agent is someone who holds a licence issued by a provincial authority for working in the sale or purchase of real estate on a commission basis.

When Does an Interruption of Earnings Occur for a Real Estate Agent?

The authorities have specified that an interruption of earnings only occurs when a real estate agent’s licence is surrendered, revoked or suspended. This is applicable unless the agent stops working because of:

• Illness

• Injury

• Quarantine

• Pregnancy

• The need to care for a newborn or a child placed for the purposes of adoption

• The need to provide care or support to a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death or,

• The need for a parent to care for a critically ill child

Therefore, if the agents stop working for any other reason, the authorities would not consider them as having experienced an interruption of earnings as long as the contract continues. This is because the agent continues to hold the licence that enables them to work as real estate agents.

It is worth mentioning that the action of simply returning the licence to the broker while the office is closed for the winter is not sufficient for proving that the actions of the agents are irrevocable. Similarly, this action of returning the licence to the broker while the office is closed for the winter is not sufficient for proving that the agent no longer possesses such a licence.

Block 6: The Pay Period Type

In Block 6, the employers would need to enter ‘Weekly’ as the pay period type.

Block 10: The First Day Worked

In this block, the employers would need to enter the employment start date. In some cases, the employers might find that the employee previously experienced an interruption of earnings during this period of employment. As such, it is likely that the employers might have issued the Record of Employment (ROE) to this employee. In this scenario, the employers would need to enter the first day the employee returned to work after they had issued the previous Record of Employment (ROE).

Block 11: The Last Day for Which Paid

In Block 11, the employer would need to enter the employment end date. Alternatively, the employer would need to enter the last day of insurable employment. This is especially so in case the employer is issuing the Record of Employment (ROE) for another reason (such as maternity leave) that begins before the end of the contract.

Block 12: The Final Pay Period Ending Date

In Block 12, the employer would need to enter the date of the Saturday of the week in which the date the employer has specified in Block 11 falls.

Block 15A: The Total Insurable Hours

In some cases, the employer might be aware of the number of hours that the real estate agent actually worked for. As such, the employer will probably be aware of the amount that the real estate agent received for the hours worked. In this scenario, the authorities would consider the hours that the real estate agent worked for to be insurable hours. For instance, consider a situation where a real estate agent has an employment contract. The contract specifies 32 hours as the usual hours of work per week. In this case, the employer would need to credit the real estate agent with 32 insurable hours per week.

In some cases, the employer might not be aware of the actual number of hours worked. In this case, the employer and the real estate agent would need to reach an agreement on the number of insurable hours that the worker would normally have required to put in for earning the remuneration paid. It is worth mentioning that the hours agreed upon would need to be reasonable given the circumstances of the employment.

However, it is possible that in some cases no contract or agreement on hours exists. In addition, it is possible that the employer and the real estate agent might not be able to reach an agreement on the contract or hours. In this case, employers would need to determine the number of insurable hours by dividing the insurable earnings by the applicable minimum wage for the province or territory where the employee is working. It is worth mentioning that the applicable minimum wage for the province or territory would need to be in force as on January 01 in the year the earnings were payable. It is also worth highlighting that the result cannot be more than seven hours per day or 35 hours per week.

Block 15B: The Total Insurable Earnings

Employers would need to determine the amount that they would need to enter in Block 15B for real estate agents. For this, they would need to calculate the average weekly earnings the real estate agent received. They would need to use the weekly averaging formula for accomplishing this. Once they have calculated the average weekly earnings, they would need to multiply the amount obtained by 27 (or less in case the period of employment is shorter than 27 weeks). Lastly, the employers would need to add any insurable amounts the real estate agent received on account of the separation. For more details on this, the employers would need to go through ‘Block 17: The Separation Payments’. The amount resulting from these calculations is the real estate agent’s total insurable earnings.

For instance, consider a situation where Martin worked for an employer on a contractual basis. He worked for a span of 48 weeks until his contract ended. In this situation, the employer will need to complete the Record of Employment (ROE) for Martin. To complete Block 15B, the employer would need to use the weekly averaging formula as demonstrated:

• The employer would need to add up all of the insurable earnings that Martin received during the 48 weeks of the contract, to arrive at a figure of $64,195.28

• Martin did not use all of his vacation pay

  • As such, the employer would need to pay him the remaining $2,450 due to Martin because of the separation

  • Therefore, the employer would need to subtract this mount from the total insurable earnings i.e. $64,195.28 – $2,450 = $61.745.28

• For calculating the average weekly earnings, the employer would need to divide these insurable earnings by 48 weeks i.e. $61,745.28 / 48 = $1,286.36

  • Therefore, the employer would list Martin’s average weekly earnings as $1,286.36

Similarly, for calculating the amount that the employer will need to enter in Block 15B, the employer would need to:

• Multiply the weekly average earnings by 27 i.e. $1,286.36 x 27 = $34,731.72

• Add any payments the employee received on account of the separation

  • In this case, Martin’s employer would need to add the vacation pay that Martin received i.e. $34,731.72 + $2,450 = $37,181.72

• Finally, the employer would need to enter the figure of $37,181.72 in Block 15B

Block 15C: The Insurable Earnings by Pay Period

For real estate agents, employers would only need to complete Block 15C if they are issuing the Record of Employment (ROE) electronically. For completing Block 15C, employers would need to use the average weekly earnings amount they calculated for Block 15B. This would enable them to complete all the applicable pay period fields in Block 15C, with the sole exception of PP 1 (the final pay period). In the PP 1 field, the employers would need to add any insurable amounts that the real estate agents received because of the separation to the average weekly earnings amount.

For instance, consider the example of Martin given earlier. His employer completes Block 15C on Martin’s Record of Employment (ROE) as follows:

• PP 1 – The final pay period i.e. $1,286.36 in average weekly earnings plus $2,450 in vacation pay

• PP 2 through 48 – The full pay periods, with each having $1,286.36 in average weekly earnings