Ministry and Personnel Committees

Employee Classification

I don’t know if an employee is an employee or an independent contractor. What’s the difference?

Employment Standards Act (ESA) Guide: Employee Status

Independent contractors are not considered employees of the church and are not entitled to employee rights such as vacation, overtime and termination pay. Independent contractors are not directly supervised by the church, use their own tools to do the job, and invoice the church for their services. They cannot be disciplined by the church and they have the right to sub-contract their work. They generally have their own companies including an HST number.

In recent years, government legislation has provided clearer guidance for distinguishing independent contractors from employees. See Independent Contractor vs Employee Ontario Nov 2019 (PDF | 4 pages – November 26, 2019)  for a more detailed explanation of the difference between the two.

Are lay employees managed differently from our ministry personnel?

In many regards, yes, lay employees have different applicable policies than ministry personnel. Ministry personnel are exempted from the Ontario Employment Standards Act and policies pertaining to ministry personnel can be found in the M&P handbooks, The Manual, and Pastoral Relations: Supporting the Pastoral Relationship (PDF | 18 pages) November 2020. Lay employees fall under the Employment Standards Act. Some resources to assist you in managing lay employees are found below.

Resources

Contract Template Lay Employee Word

Job Description Template for Lay Employee PDF

Nine Tips for Managing Lay Employees PDF

Sample Interview Questions for Lay Employee

Sample Letter of Offer for Lay Employee Word

Health and Wellness

How many sick days are we required to provide to our employees?

ESA Guide: Sick Leave

Lay employees:

The ESA sets a minimum of three unpaid sick days for employees. Many United Churches offer a standard one paid sick day per month, pro-rated for part time employees.

For extended illnesses, employees who are a part of the UCC Pension & Benefits Plan (14 hrs/week minimum) can access a UCC sick leave provision called the Restorative Care Program. If medically supported and approved, an employee is provided with salary continuation (after a two week waiting period) and the employer is reimbursed 85% of the employee’s salary for up to six months. At that time, the employee is assessed for eligibility into a Long Term Disability program. For Restorative Care Program applications, please contact your Pastoral Relations Minister.

Ministers:

There is no prescribed limit to the number of sick days a minister may take. However, the Restorative Care Program described above is also available to all ministers working 14 hrs/week or more.

What resources are available for our employees if they need help?

All employees who work 14 hrs/week or more are automatically enrolled in the UCC Pension & Benefits program. This includes the Employee Family Assistance Program, a voluntary, confidential counselling service that allows your employees and their eligible family members to discuss personal or work-related problems and concerns in an understanding and professional environment away from the workplace. Short-term, solution-focused counselling is provided. Employees can access the program by simply calling:

• 1-800-387-4765 (English)
• 1-800-361-5676 (French)

Continuing Education

Office of Vocation – Standard for Continuing Education for Ministry Personnel – [ PDF – 11 pages ] – a guideline from the Office of Vocation outlining the framework of Competencies for Formation for Ministry and LIfelong Ministry Leadership, which offers a new way for ministry personnel to pursue growth and learning in context of ministry and leadership.

Do we pay out continuing education amounts to ministers, regardless of whether or not they are used?

Continuing education funds must be offered annually to all ministers in a call or appointment. It is the responsibility of the M&P Committee to discuss the use of these funds with your minister.

There are two methods to manage continuing education funds:

1. Taxable allowance method:
They can be paid out on a monthly basis through the minister’s pay cheque as a taxable allowance. This does not require the minister to submit receipts for expenses related to continuing education. It also means that the minister will receive these funds (and be taxed for them) regardless of whether they use it for continuing education or not. Obviously, the intent is that the minister does use them for continuing education, but this method leaves the implementation with the minister.

2. Expense method:
The funds are paid out on an “as used” basis in response to requests from your minister, and should be paid out for the year they are budgeted. This could be the calendar year, the church’s budget year, or the pastoral year (July 1 – June 30). Be clear with your minister about the year being used for continuing education funds and use this time period consistently from year to year.

With this method, if the funds are not spent by the end of the year, they are not paid out to the minister, nor are the funds rolled over into the next year. The only exception to this is if previous arrangements have been made between the ministry personnel and the pastoral charge/ministry unit to roll over a portion for a continuing education goal.

Note that with this method, the minister does not have to claim these funds as a taxable allowance on their income tax.

It does not matter which method you use. There are pros and cons associated with either method. What is important is that the M&P Committee and the minister agree on the method to be used so there are no misunderstandings.

Vacations

How much vacation do we give our lay employees? Is it the same for ministry personnel?

For lay employees, there is no policy or guidance from the UCC about how much vacation churches should offer to their employees. The provincial government’s ESA spells out the minimum amount you must give to lay employees. See the link above. As of 2021, the ESA mandates a minimum of two weeks vacation for employees who have worked less than five years, and three weeks for employees who have worked five weeks or more.

Ministry personnel are entitled to one month of vacation, regardless of number of years worked. See The Manual (2024) Section I 2.1.7 for more information about a minister’s vacation entitlement.

Can vacation days be carried over from one year to the next?

The rules again differ for lay employees and ministers. For lay employees, it is important to establish the vacation year (it can be the anniversary date of the employee’s hiring, or the calendar year). Lay employees have 10 months from the end of their vacation year to use their earned vacation days. (Example, employee is hired July 1, 2021 and earns two weeks of vacation during their first year of employment. The employee has until April 30, 2023 to use up the two weeks of vacation they earned from July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022).

For ministers, the vacation year is July 1 – June 30 (referred to as the “pastoral year” in the UCC). Ministers are not allowed to bank vacation from one vacation year to the next.

What happens if a lay employee or minister has not taken their vacation by the deadline?

It is the responsibility of the M&P Committee to track and schedule vacation. Ideally vacation scheduling is a mutual decision with an employee, but the employer does have the right to schedule an employee’s vacation. Plan well in advance to avoid situations where earned vacation has not been taken by the deadline. For lay employees, vacation entitlement earned but not taken by the deadline must be paid out as vacation pay to the employee. Employees may give up vacation time, but not the right to vacation pay.

Ministers must use their vacation by the deadline. There is no provision for paying out unused vacation to ministers.

M&P Committees can use a UCC vacation tracking tool to help track and schedule vacation.

For a list of people who are able to do pulpit supply for ministers’ vacation coverage in the summer please log into your church’s ChurchHub account and download the most current list there. For more info on how to do this please see their website support page here or if you have difficulties please contact ministry@united-church.ca for assistance

Video Resources

M&P Committee 101 – An Introduction to the Work of the M&P Committee

A video of the May 18, 2024 M&P Commitee 101 training workshop. Facilitated by regional Pastoral Relations Ministers, Rob Smith, Eun-Joo Park and Todd McDonald . The 101 workshop is intended as an orientation and training for new M&P committee members.

PDF of PowerPoint Slides

Managing  Lay Employees in the Church

An M&P Committee webinar held on October 27, 2021 about managing lay employees in the church. This was a joint webinar with Shining Waters, Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways regional councils. Facilitators were Dale Hildebrand, Pastoral Relations Minister for SWRC and Micol Cottrell, Acting Pastoral Relations Minister for ARWRC, HFRC and WOWRC