Compensation and Staffing News

February 2022

Benefits Tune-up Month!
 UUA Office of Church Staff Finances Mission
Guided by the values of our faith,
we equip congregations for excellence as employers
and their staff for financial competence and well-being.
Editor's Note: We're aware of continued formatting quirks on certain platforms. Thanks for your forebearance!
Tuning Up Your Benefits

It's Benefits Tune-up Month! Show your staff the love by ensuring that you are correctly and confidently administering UUA benefit plans.

Our popular Benefits Tune-up Workbook, now in its 5th edition, will help you understand key documents, eligibility criteria, enrollment windows, and more while providing a path to putting sound systems in place to ensure compliance with Plan rules. We urge all congregations participating in any UUA benefit plans to complete the Workbook annually - as well as whenever a new congregational leader becomes a responsible party. Make it a team effort among a small group of staff and lay leaders who have benefits administration responsibilities.
Check Out the Benefits Tune-up Workbook

Introducing Our Compensation and Benefits Specialist

We're delighted to welcome Sean Griffin to the Church Staff Finances Team as our Compensation and Benefits Specialist! Sean is responding to compensation-related inquiries and supporting congregational leaders in being faithful employers faithful to the law and to our values. Sean shares the email comp@uua.org with Jan Gartner, Compensation and Staffing Practices Manager.
Sean is thrilled to be part of the Compensation Team after serving as Executive Director for a UU congregation in Maryland. Prior to that, he pursued a career in the performing arts working onstage, behind the scenes, and in multiple administrative roles. Sean resides in Silver Spring, MD with his partner, the Rev. Katie Romano-Griffin, and their 65 pound bi-lingual ball of doggy chaos and love, ¡Dale! Sean is an avid photographer, committed homebrewer, and dreaming sailor who is honored to support UU congregations in living their values and caring for their staff. 

UU Retirement Plan Tip #6

From September through June, we're diving into the UU Retirement Plan's Top 10 Tips.

Tip #6: Employer Participation Agreement Elections and Changes

Each participating employer in the UU Retirement Plan has an Employer Participation Agreement (EPA) on file with the Office of Church Staff Finances. As a reminder, your EPA spells out the specific commitments you've made, including the employer contribution percentage you are offering to eligible staff. Be sure that you know where your EPA is kept and the elections you've chosen. (You'll need your EPA to complete the Benefits Tune-up Workbook.)

Once an EPA has been approved by our office, it stays in force unless or until the congregation submits a new EPA and has it approved by the Retirement Plan Committee for the next calendar year.
See UU Retirement Plan Top 10 Tips
COVID-19 Resources
Please make sure staff participating in the UUA Health Plan receive this information about getting reimbursed for over-the-counter COVID test kits.
Get Reimbursed for At-Home COVID Tests
The UUA continues to help leaders meet pandemic-related challenges by creating and refreshing resource pages in the LeaderLab Library. Note that our Pandemic Safety and Strategies page marks a shift away from providing specific guidance based on metrics, instead offering strategies for risk reduction. We also have a new page addressing risk accommodations for staff.
Review UUA Pandemic Safety and Strategies
Make Accommodations for Staff at Greater Risk
A Note about Insurance Forms

Some of you wonderfully organized people have downloaded and saved forms from our website for future use. While this may seem to be a timesaver, you won't necessarily be pulling up the current version of a form the next time you need it. (We've updated many of our forms recently.) The safest practice is to return to the link on our webpage. Bookmark this page to access commonly used insurance forms with a single click.
Find UUA Insurance Forms
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