Human Resources

From the HR Support Center: Key Practices to Keep the Workplace Safe

In 1970, when Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act into law, an estimated 14,000 workers were killed on the job every year. Fifty years later, that number is down to 5,333, but safety in the workplace remains a paramount concern, and not...

29 April, 2021

Is a Minister’s Social Security Allowance Taxable?

Is a Minister's Social Security Allowance Taxable? Yes. Unlike non-clergy employees, clergy do not have Social Security or Medicare taxes taken out of their paycheck. The Church also does not pay any matching portion to IRS, so the Minister has to pay both halves, the employee...

28 April, 2021

Employee Overpayment Can Lead to Problems

You may have overpaid an employee because someone entered the wrong information into the system. Or maybe the employee or his or her supervisor submitted inaccurate data. Either way, this type of error is usually easily fixable. You do have to follow certain procedures, however. Reclaiming...

26 April, 2021

From the HR Support Center: Can I require employees to turn on their cameras during meetings?

Yes, generally, you can require employees to have their webcam on during meetings. You may, however, want to take things like low internet bandwidth, equipment failure, software incompatibility, mental health, environmental circumstances, privacy issues, and other reasonable concerns into account when setting expectations. For example,...

22 April, 2021

To avoid paying FICA or withholding income taxes, can churches classify paid workers as independent contractors?

No. Churches cannot classify paid workers as independent contractors in an effort to save money. They must follow the law. For a non-clergy employee, the church generally must withhold income and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes from the employee’s pay and deposit the taxes with...

21 April, 2021

IRS to Recalculate Taxes for Unemployment Break

Legislation signed in March allows taxpayers who earned less than $150,000 in modified adjusted gross income to exclude unemployment compensation up to $20,400 if married filing jointly and $10,200 for all other eligible taxpayers. The legislation excludes only 2020 unemployment benefits from taxes. Because the change...

19 April, 2021

From the HR Support Center: An employee says that the stress of the job is affecting their mental health. How should we handle this?

This employee may just need to talk through their concerns and get your help prioritizing or delegating. They may, for example, feel like every single thing on their to-do list is life-or-death by Friday at close of business, when that’s not really the case. Some...

15 April, 2021

4 Tips For Handling Church Staff Problems

I worked on staff at a church for 10 years and what I found interesting is that most people (who don’t work in ministry) have the perception that you sit around all day reading the bible and listening to praise and worship music. Anyone who has...

14 April, 2021

Back to the Office? Not So Fast…

Lockdown restrictions are lifting and in-person offices are feasible once more. But the news is being handled differently from one company to the next. Business owners need to consider what their workers want before they start planning for how — or whether — they will...

12 April, 2021

From the HR Support Center: Can we ask employees for proof of COVID-19 vaccination?

You can ask employees for proof that they’ve received the COVID-19 vaccine, but you need to be careful about how you ask for it and what you do with the information. You should ask employees to provide proof that only includes their name, the date of...

08 April, 2021