The long hours associated with church work may be all for the glory of the Lord, but according to a new law, when many part-time pastors and church secretaries leave late at night with heavier eyes, they may leave with heavier pockets, too.
A new provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that took effect Aug. 23 reclassified employees in such a way that many church employees were cut out of exemption from legally-required time-and-a-half pay for hours in excess of the 40-hour work week.
For Alabama Baptist churches, that’s huge, said Jim Swedenburg, coordinator of annuity and insurance services for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. Churches can’t count these nonexempt employees’ extra hours as “volunteer ministry” anymore — they’re legally bound to pay them.
Swedenburg said the financial impact could be of epic proportion if churches donʼt know how to diffuse the blow. “The new laws (will) impact churches quite heavily,” he said.
The federal government passed the new provision in hopes of making more employees eligible for extra pay, Swedenburg said. They didnʼt, however, factor the impact on churches into the equation.
“Weʼre urging churches to write their congressman if they want it changed. Thereʼs a lot of debate still going on about it in Congress,” Swedenburg said. “Weʼre hoping the pressure will cause the federal government to reconsider the cases of churches and ministers.”
But until then itʼs important for churches to re-evaluate and have their affairs in order, he added. “There are ways to structure your payroll to better accommodate the new law,” Swedenburg said.
First, he said, churches must determine which employees are exempt from time-and-a-half pay and which are not. A salaried employee is not necessarily exempt anymore.
“There are many criteria to classify in the different exemption categories, but basically an employee has to make at least $455 per week ($23,660 yearly) and either be a computer technician or have an advanced knowledge in a specialized area,” Swedenburg said.
Do pastors and other full-time ministers meeting the $455 per week requirement classify as having “advanced knowledge?” Most likely, Swedenburg said, and on-the-job training counts just as much as seminary training in this case.
If they make the minimum pay requirement, secretaries and other office employees can be exempt, too, according to an article by Lorelei M. Krucki, director of payroll for modern business associates in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“Employees of this sort are exempt if their ʻprimary dutyʼ is performing office or nonmanual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employerʼs customers and includes ʻthe exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance,ʼ ” Krucki wrote.
But many secretaries and part-time ministers fall short of the minimum pay requirement. Where does this leave them?
A legally accurate one youʼll find with pen in hand, filling out time sheets, Swedenburg said. “Usually, an audit of this nature consists of, ʻHere is what youʼre doing wrong, fix it and we will be back in a month to check,ʼ ”he said.
“Chances are good of being audited at some point in time, and we want churches to have the information so they can be within the law,” Swedenburg said.
Practically speaking, this means if a nonexempt, full-time church treasurer keeps the books for pay during the week and then does any bookkeeping at all after her paid 40 hours, she must be paid time and a half.
After that first 40 hours, Swedenburg said, “If she is at work in the church doing something she would normally do while on the job, legally, she must be paid overtime compensation.”
If the nonexempt church secretary works 40 hours between Monday and Friday, then opens the church early on Sunday morning to make copies for someone, does that qualify for overtime pay? Absolutely, Swedenburg said.
Church meetings at night? Those count too, he explained. And there is no such thing as “comp time” outside the flexibility of the week of the pay period.
“It will take time for this mind-set to work its way into Baptist churches, and there are ways to help this happen in your church,” Swedenburg said.
Share with others: