UUA Office of Church Staff Finances
Guided by Unitarian Universalist values,
we equip congregations for excellence as employers
and their staff for financial competence and well-being. |
Compensation and Staffing News |
Editor's Note: Benefits Tune-up Month
Dear Readers,
The 7th edition of our popular Benefits Tune-up Workbook is now available. We're especially pleased to introduce a new complement to the Workbook this year – a Benefits Tune-up Tip Sheet for employees. See our lead article!
We have added the Empdata Online Input Form to the list of links below. All W-2 employees need to be included on your Empdata form, whether or not they qualify for Employer Contributions. This form makes it easy to add employees and submit changes.
As the Annual Certification process concludes, please continue to let us know about changes to your staff and lay leadership all year long. For staff, this includes salary and hours changes, new home addresses, terminations, and retirements. Keep these links handy!
Faithfully, |
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Jan Gartner, Compensation and Staffing Practices Manager |
Show Your Staff the Love: Tune Up Your Benefits |
Providing employee benefits is a legal commitment. In large organizations, benefits are administered by well-equipped HR professionals. But in our congregations, those who manage UUA benefits often receive little or no training. A longtime administrator who "knew it all" may have left few instructions for their successor. Or a new treasurer may miss some eligibility details, despite diligently reading through plan documents and webpages. How can leaders stay on top of the rules and requirements? |
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Enter the Benefits Tune-up Workbook! First introduced in 2017, it has become one of our best-known resources. Leaders appreciate the one-bite-at-a-time presentation of eligibility criteria, enrollment windows, and other legal essentials – with yes/no questions, short fill-in-the-blanks, and plenty of white space. We encourage congregations to make a practice of completing the Workbook annually, or whenever a new staff or lay leader takes over responsibility for benefits administration. Additionally, it's a good idea to review it as you onboard new employees. By offering our values-based benefits and ensuring that they are administered properly, you are showing your staff the love!
New this year: A recent suggestion from our religious professional Advisory and Communications Team inspired us to create a Benefits Tune-up Tip Sheet for employees of participating congregations. We urge staff to be knowledgeable about the basics of eligibility and enrollment so that they can help ensure legal compliance within their employment settings. |
Submit Your Splits Annually
Our Health Plan Contribution Report, aka the "Splits Form," is a U.S. Department of Labor requirement for employers offering the UUA Health Plan. For each Plan participant, you need to show how much of the premium is funded by the Employer and how much by the Employee.
By popular request, we've transitioned Health Plan contribution reporting from monthly to annual. Yes, now you only need to "submit your splits" at the end of the calendar year! Although you won't need it for a while yet, for your convenience, you can access the Splits Form at the button below. (This process only applies to the Health Plan, not to other UUA insurance plans.)
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Withholding Income Taxes for Ministers
Ministers are allowed to choose whether or not to have income taxes withheld from their pay.
If your minister elects to have taxes withheld, those will get remitted along with the withholdings of your other employees. Just remember that congregations may not withhold or remit any Social Security/Medicare taxes for ministers as the minister must pay those directly as "self-employment taxes," or SECA tax. Ministers are considered self-employed ONLY for the purpose of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Your minister may "over-withhold" on their income taxes in order to cover their Social Security/Medicare portion. (The shift from extra income tax to SECA obligation is taken care of through the minister's quarterly payments.)
Please review our Ministerial Compensation resource at the button below for guidance on dual tax status, the housing allowance, and optional withholding. |
Lay Leaders Preparing for Seminary: A Scholarship
Are you, or is someone you know, a lay leader in Unitarian Universalism who will be entering the first year of seminary in 2024, or is undertaking undergraduate work to prepare for seminary? The Rev. Chuck and Nancy Thomas Scholarship honors Rev. Chuck Thomas’s career and his family’s commitment to lay leadership in Unitarian Universalism by awarding this
scholarship to one such student each year. Thomas Scholars qualify for this award by demonstrating their outstanding commitment to Unitarian Universalism as lay leaders.
For more information and to apply for this and other ministerial scholarships available from the UUA, click on the button below. Applications will be accepted beginning February 15, 2024 and must be submitted no later than April 15, 2024. |
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