How wonderful to hear your reports on last evening’s moderator/treasurer zoom call. I am giving thanks this morning for the positive experiences you are enjoying regarding online program/worship attendance and finances.

The webinar information about Pastor Parish Relations Committees is as follows:

Tuesday, April 28 at 7:30 pm ET, Stephen Boyd will lead a live Zoom training on Pastoral Relations Committees. This meeting requires advance registration; you may do so here. Please share with your networks.

The SWC Executive Board convenes on Friday to make decisions regarding a proposal to offer emergency no-interest loans to SWC congregations for essential ministry expenses. Details about that program will be sent to you after the board actions.

This morning I received the “working from home” toolkit for which I was waiting. Access it HERE. You will find in the single PDF:

Checklist for Emergency Telecommuting Preparation
Notice to Staff template
Temporary Telecommuting Policy template
Short-term Telecommuting agreement template

A MS Word version of the toolkit is available here for easy editing for your ministry setting.

As a reminder, employers need to consider the additional expenses employees incur because they are working from home. For example, my internet service needed to be upgraded in order to handle the video and telephone traffic. Having a conversation with staff members working from home about added expenses and offering reimbursement in part or in full is important.

Also as a reminder, if your church needs to consider reducing the hours and compensation for exempt employees like clergy a number of legal considerations are important to keep in mind. Under the law exempt employees are entitled to their entire compensation package regardless of the number of hours they work. Exempt employees may be reclassified as non-exempt and there are legal considerations for this action. A call agreement with a clergy person is an employment contract. It’s not as simple as asking an exempt employee to work fewer hours for less money. If you are faced with reducing exempt employee compensation and would like further assistance please contact me for resources.

Hourly employee compensation and hours may be changed. The following steps (not legal advise, just best practice guidance) are important when implementing such a change:

Clearly articulate the reason a change is necessary and the new schedule and compensation terms in any governing body decisions
Be sure the plan for reductions is based in objective data and avoids any element of discrimination
Determine whether the reductions are temporary or permanent. A furlough is the temporary suspension of work and pay with the intention of recalling the same employee to the same or similar position and pay. A lay off is the permanent ending of an employee’s employment; the position may be filled in future but an application process will be used to do so and the employee may or may not be rehired.
Give the employee notice of the decision, the effective date, the reasons for it, and its anticipated duration (could be until such time as…).

We will plan to reconvene in two weeks time for further discussion of resuming in-person gatherings. By that time a set of draft recommendations will be available for your consideration and feedback before they are released to the entire conference. I value you as conversation partners in establishing these recommendations given the high likelihood that not all pf our congregations will be able to resume in-person gatherings at the same time due to variations in local situations particularly between states and public health jurisdictions.

Also available are the latest documents regarding:

May you continue to find the blessings in this moment. Peace be with you!!

Bill