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Critical HR Information for Churches
As many of you may have noticed, the world of Employment Law-or the law governing how you interact with your church staff– is ever-changing with the new administration. Even though I deal with Human Resource topics daily, I still find myself behind the learning curve of current HR events.
On April the 2nd, my company, SourcePointe of Alabama-a Human Resources Outsourcing company- provided its clients a Lunch and Learn on the various topics of today’s hectic HR scene. As a benefit, I am passing along this information to you as a courtesy and investment into your ministry. With all of the changes, I want to first be sure you are protected. If you would like to view the presentation, please click here.
If you currently outsource your payroll, I would encourage you to give me a call today so I can work with you on strategies to save money, while providing you additional support through our company, SourcePointe. As a very high-level over-view, we provide the following:
Ø Payroll Administration including-
- Online reporting
- Garnishment administration
- Employee tax status changes
- Direct deposit
- IRS and DOL audits
- State and federal unemployment tax reports
- W-2 forms & Specialized reports
Ø Benefit Administration including-
- 401(k) retirement plan
- Medical plans
- Voluntary life insurance
- Short & Long-term disability
- plan administration
Ø Human Resources Administration and Compliance including consulting on-
- Fair labor standards act
- Family and medical leave act
- Equal employment opportunity
- Wage and hour regulations
- On-site consultations provided
Please enjoy the information provided to you and consider giving me a call if you have any further questions at 205.868.1557.
About the Writer:
Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.
FMLA- What You Need To Know
Continuing our new series for all business owners interested in making sure they are compliant with today’s HR Regulations, we are going to look at FMLA. As an HR Professional, I can barely keep up with all of these various laws and often have to refer to my handy dandy list of websites and law references. For your benefit, I have posted these below this post. These will be very quick spinets for your viewing pleasure. If you need additional information or have questions surrounding this post or any of the others in the series, please feel free to contact me using the information below. So, let’s get started!
Overview of the Law:
Compliance is required for companies with 50 or more employees (10 employees for government contractors). This law requires a company to allow its employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid protected leave in any 12 month period for childbirth, adoption, serious health condition experienced by the employee or one of their immediate family members.
Potential Consequences:
An employee can bring a lawsuit against their employer for a violation of FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) to recover lost compensation, reinstatement, promotion, and attorney’s fees.
Who enforces it:
Department of Labor is the main governing body for this regulation.
Record Keep Requirements:
Keep all basic employment data as referenced in earlier posts. Additionally, be sure to keep anything related to the employee during the dates of the FMLA leave including hours of leave, documents describing their benefits, premium payments and any type of correspondence. Proceed with caution in dealing with someone on FMLA leave.
Important Details:
In order for someone to be considered eligible for FMLA leave, they had to have worked at least 1250 hours over the last 12 months. For more information, please go to the DOL.gov or review information from the blog on FMLA from the HR Adviser.
Also, just a plug… SourcePointe is a great alternative for you if you are concerned about the numerous HR Regulations and employment law issues. For any size company or organization, the administration of your people is not only your greatest privilege, but also your greatest headache at times. If you are interested in learning more about potentially outsourcing the HR function in your company to allow you to focus more on growing your company or ministry, please contact us at SourcePointe. We will be happy to provide a consultation and proposal for you. Now is the time of year to begin considering not only what will make business easier in 2009, but what is more cost effective as well. We can help you. Call SourcePointe today!
Ok, as promised, here are some friendly websites for you to consider and cross-reference. They are some of my favorites for HR related questions:
HR Outsourcing: http://www.SourcePointe.net
Payroll Outsourcing: http://www.SourcePointe.net
General HR Questions: http://www.shrm.org
Great HR Blog: http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com
About the Writer:
Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.
Title VII-What You need to know
Today, we are going to begin a new series for all business owners interested in making sure they are compliant with today’s HR Regulations. As an HR Professional, I can barely keep up with all of these various laws and often have to refer to my handy dandy list of websites and law references. For your benefit, I have posted these below this post. These will be very quick spinets for your viewing pleasure. If you need additional information or have questions surrounding this post or any of the others in the series, please feel free to contact me using the information below. So, let’s get started!
Overview of the Law:
Prohibits discrimination in employment (anything to do with employment ie hiring, firing, corrective action etc) on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex or nationality.
Potential Consequences:
Damages would include punitive and compensatory up to $300,000 (check your state to be sure) including reinstatement, promotion, benefits, attorney’s costs, and potential back pay. Mega money.
Who enforces it:
EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is the sheriff. Depending on the case and the intensity of the claim and process, there could be a possibility of a jury trial.
Record Keep Requirements:
Companies are required to keep applications and any other hiring/employment data on file. For those companies with 100 or more employees, an EEO-1 must be filed annually.
Important Details:
This one law constitutes the basis for most of the employment discrimination claims. Employers with 15 or more staff are required to post a federal regulation synopsis poster in the break room or another visible place. For more information on this regulation, please visit http://www.eeoc.gov.
Also, just a plug… SourcePointe is a great alternative for you if you are concerned about the numerous HR Regulations and employment law issues. For any size company or organization, the administration of your people is not only your greatest privilege, but also your greatest headache at times. If you are interested in learning more about potentially outsourcing the HR function in your company to allow you to focus more on growing your company or ministry, please contact us at SourcePointe. We will be happy to provide a consultation and proposal for you. Now is the time of year to begin considering not only what will make business easier in 2009, but what is more cost effective as well. We can help you. Call SourcePointe today!
Ok, as promised, here are some friendly websites for you to consider and cross-reference. They are some of my favorites for HR related questions:
HR Outsourcing: http://www.SourcePointe.net
Payroll Outsourcing: http://www.SourcePointe.net
General HR Questions: http://www.shrm.org
About the Writer:
Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.
Christian Church Development 