From the Presbytery’s Treasurer: 2020 benefits selection, new overtime rules, church insurance, and PC(USA) Special Offerings calendar

It’s time to select benefits for 2020

Now’s the time for churches to review, update, and submit their employer agreement with the Board of Pensions for 2020. Employers have until October 11 to log on to benefitsconnect.pensions.org, click the Employer Agreement tab at the top of the home page to select the benefits the church’s employees may select during the annual enrollment period this fall (October 28-November 15). Please go to the Board of Pensions website  for available resources to help employers make their decisions.

The Board of Pensions is now requiring all employee information (hiring, change of salary, termination, etc.) be submitted through their Benefits Connect website. If your church as not already done so, they should designate a benefits administrator and register the church for employer access to Benefits Connect.

I also highly recommend that churches sign up to receive the Board of Pensions “Employer News” newsletter. The newsletter is published monthly and provides information regarding recent Board news, important updates, and information specifically for employers. To receive the newsletter, please contact the Board of Pensions (1-800-773-7752, communications@pensions.org) or get in touch with me (304-744-7634, treasurer@wvpresbytery.org) and I can help you get a copy.

If you have questions for the Board of Pensions, about the Benefits Plan, or the benefits selection process, call the Board at 800-773-7752 (800-PRESPLAN) and select “Employer Services.”

New overtime rules

Back in March, the US Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a new rule regarding the salary threshold used to determine when certain salaried professionals still become eligible to receive overtime pay. The proposed new rule was made available for a public comment period, which ended in June.

While the DOL has not finalized the language of the new rule, here is what we know today: As currently drafted, the new rule will increase the threshold to $679 per week, or $35,308 per year (currently $455 and $23,660, respectively) for salaried employees, meaning those salaried employees below those limits are eligible for overtime. It is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2020.  The proposed rule still will not contain exemptions for churches, meaning certain office and administrative roles are likely affected by the increase and, therefore, church budgets and payrolls will need to adjust accordingly. 

Here is the link to the DOL website for detailed information. I will provide updates through our newsletter as more information is made available.

Church insurance

We are rapidly approaching (if not already at) the time of year when we begin working on our budgets for the next fiscal year. A part of this annual budgeting process should be a review of current property, liability, and workers compensation polices. It may not be necessary to do this every year, but it should be done on some regular basis, especially if there has been any change in the operations of the church, such as new employee(s), new ministry or outreach programs, or the purchase of new equipment.

The purpose of the review is to make sure the church is appropriately (at least adequately) covered and getting the lowest premiums required for that coverage. Also, this can be a time to re-bid for insurance coverage. If the church’s insurance company is not one that specializes is church insurance, I recommend contacting one of the church insurance specialty companies. Generally speaking, they can provide better coverage for lower premiums.  I have contact information for a few of these companies. 

2019 Special Offering Calendar