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. |
Retirement and Insurance Plans
Compensation and Staffing Guidance
Aid Funds |
Compensation & Staffing News |
Editor's Note: About This Newsletter |
Dear Readers,
We're relaunching our newsletter with a fresh look, including a revised color palette and a black banner near the top naming the products and services of our office. You also may have noticed that this issue came from "UUA Office of Church Staff Finances" rather than "Compensation and Staffing." I'm still the editor, and we're leaving the title the same, but we wanted to make it clearer that Compensation and Staffing News is a product of the whole Church Staff Finances team.
You will sometimes receive important targeted communications from our Insurance, Retirement, and Compensation Teams. Keep your My UUA information current so that we reach the right people. |
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New leaders or employees? Changes to staff salaries or addresses? Please let us know!
Faithfully, |
Jan Gartner, Compensation and Staffing Practices Manager |
Paying for Other Health Insurance: New Information
Whether your congregation offers the UUA Health Plan, a different group health plan, or no health plan, you might choose to help employees pay for insurance they get from other sources, such as through a spouse, an individual plan, or Medicare.
The Affordable Care Act changed the rules about reimbursing for other insurance. In the early days of the ACA, our team did research, got clarifications from legal counsel, and created guidance for congregations. But over the past year (nearly a decade later), not only were we finding our longstanding guidance hard to verify, we discovered information to the contrary. So we consulted with an employee benefits attorney. Our new understandings necessitated that we change our guidance substantially. In short, here's a rule that you can apply to any form of other health insurance:
The simplest, most legally compliant way to help employees pay for health insurance from another source is to increase their taxable income.
This approach comes with two very important and related caveats:
- The increase cannot be contingent upon the employee's purchase of coverage.
- You cannot require substantiation of the premium expense.
In other words, you wouldn't be reimbursing based on employees' actual costs. We recognize that this may run counter to your current protocol. We don't take a position on whether you should or shouldn't help employees pay for insurance obtained through other sources. But if you do so, we urge you to establish a clear, transparent, equitable – and legal – policy.
We are not legal or tax professionals. Thank you for your grace as we shift gears. Paraphrasing Maya Angelou, We did then what we knew how to do. Now that we know better, we do better. See the article below for more on the subject of reimbursing employees for other insurance, including potential alternatives to the arrangement above. |
UU Retirement Plan Restatement Progress
It's an exciting time for the UU Org Retirement Plan (UUORP). On August 12th, the UUA Board approved the restated Plan document with an implementation date of January 1, 2025.
In addition to introducing updates to comply with recent changes in federal law, the restatement makes the Plan easier to administer by our nearly 600 participating employers and incorporates changes designed for greater equity. All participating employers will need to adopt the newly restated Plan document, submit new Employer Participation Agreements, and confirm that current staff data is up-to-date prior to implementation.
If your organization participates in the UUORP, thank you for identifying your Primary Contact for the restatement process. This week, all Primary Contacts will receive an email providing the resources needed to guide you through the restatement process.
If your organization does not currently participate in the UUORP, feel free to reach out to the UUA Retirement Plan Team at RetirementPlan@uua.org to learn more about this great benefit for your staff.
For more information about the restatement, visit our Restatement hub at the button below, and reach out with any questions. |
News from Our Insurance Team
Health Plan Audit
Each year, our Health Plan gets audited by RSM, LLP, with information requested from select congregations. Please keep your eye out for information requests from RSM for our 2024 audit. It’s crucial to respond to these requests promptly to ensure a smooth process; this is a contractually mandated IRS reporting requirement. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Insurance Plans team at InsurancePlans@uua.org!
Open Enrollment Webinar
Does your UU organization participate in the UUA Health, Hospital Indemnity, and/or Dental Plans? Employees, along with organizational leaders who help administer these plans, are encouraged to join us for our 2025 Open Enrollment webinar on October 10 at 1:00 ET.
Did you miss your initial enrollment period upon hire? Have you become newly eligible due to increased hours? Are you thinking of moving up a level in the Health Plan? Wondering about the Hospital Indemnity Plan? As a leader, do you have questions about eligibility or enrollment forms? This is the perfect opportunity to learn more and get your questions answered.
Register today at the button below! You'll receive email updates and reminders, along with the recording, when available. |
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The UUA Office of Church Staff Finances provides general information to
help equip and empower congregational leaders in their decision-making.
We are not legal or tax professionals and we do not track state law. Congregations are solely responsible for their legal obligations. We encourage you to consult your own legal and tax advisors for specific guidance. |
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