No. You, your spouse and your children are excluded from the qualifying employee count, whether or not they draw a salary from the acquired business. That exclusion is separate from their immigration position; a spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one may qualify as derivatives if they are otherwise eligible and admissible.
Relatives in the business, and relatives on the petition
If your spouse or child manages the business you are buying, exclude that position from your qualifying count and document the remaining positions. Other relatives require their own eligibility analysis; do not automatically exclude every related employee. On the immigration side, age protection for a child is fact-specific and no outcome should be promised; each family member is assessed for admissibility individually. Where a child is close to twenty-one, ask counsel how the acquisition timeline interacts with their eligibility.
The age calculation is not simply the birthday: part of the time a petition sits with the government can be subtracted, and the family must then act within a set period once a visa becomes available. The first review should identify who is a derivative, which civil records are needed, and whether a child’s timing needs individual legal analysis.