Most churches don’t have a written personnel policy, and discover it during the first disagreement they can’t resolve from memory. This is a skeleton — a structure with the decisions left visibly unmade, marked [CHOOSE], because the answers are yours and your conference’s, not ours. It pairs with the job description templates : the policy says how employment works here, the job descriptions say what each person does.

What this deliberately does not do. It does not tell you whether a position is exempt or non-exempt, how to handle a specific leave request, or what your state requires. Those are legal questions with jurisdiction-specific answers, and a template that guessed at them would be worse than no template. Where one of those questions arises, the skeleton flags it and points at the official source. Take the finished document to your conference office or chancellor before adopting it.

The template

Personnel Policy

[Church Name] · Adopted by the Church Council on [date] · Reviewed [date]

1. Purpose and scope

This policy governs employment at [Church Name]. It applies to all paid staff, including part-time employees. It does not apply to appointed clergy, whose relationship to the church is governed by The Book of Discipline and the annual conference, nor to volunteers.

This policy is not a contract of employment and does not guarantee employment for any period. [CHOOSE: most churches include an at-will statement here. At-will rules vary by state, and the wording matters — get this sentence from your chancellor rather than from a template.]

Where this policy conflicts with The Book of Discipline, the Discipline governs. Where it conflicts with the law of [state], the law governs.

2. Who does what

• The staff-parish relations committee recommends staffing, sets job descriptions, conducts the annual evaluation, and recommends compensation (¶258.2). Personnel conversations happen in closed session and are confidential.
• The pastor supervises day-to-day work [CHOOSE: or name a different direct supervisor for each position — say which, in writing, for every role].
• The church council adopts this policy and the annual budget within which compensation sits.
• The charge conference sets clergy compensation.

Any employee may raise a concern directly with the SPRC chair without going through their supervisor.

3. Hiring

1. The position and its job description are approved before any candidate is contacted.
2. [CHOOSE: who interviews — SPRC, a search team, the supervisor?]
3. Screening. [CHOOSE: which positions require a background check and Safe Gatherings-type training. Recommended floor: everyone with unsupervised access to children, youth, or vulnerable adults, and everyone who handles money.] Screening is completed before the first day of work, not after.
4. Employment eligibility. Federal law requires Form I-9 verification for every employee within the first three days of work. Use the current form and instructions from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — do not rely on a copy in a church file, which may be out of date.
5. Tax forms. Form W-4 and your state’s equivalent, from the IRS and your state revenue department directly.
6. Employment begins with a written offer stating the position, compensation, the supervisor, and the start date.

Flag, not answered here: whether a given position is exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act determines whether you owe overtime, and churches get this wrong routinely — particularly with part-time program staff and anyone called a “director.” The Department of Labor is blunt about it: “job titles do not determine exempt status,” and both the duties test and a salary test must be met. Do not assume salaried means exempt.

Note also that the salary threshold has moved and been litigated in recent years, so confirm the figure currently in force rather than repeating a number from an older document — including an older version of the DOL fact sheet itself. Ask your conference office before the first paycheck.

4. Classification and hours

• Full-time is defined here as [CHOOSE: e.g. 30 or more hours per week]. This number has benefits consequences — check it against your health-plan and Wespath eligibility rules before choosing it.
• Part-time is anything below that threshold.
• Regular vs. temporary/seasonal: [CHOOSE].
• Non-exempt employees record actual hours worked. Overtime must be approved in advance [CHOOSE: by whom] and is paid whether or not it was approved — approval governs discipline, not pay.

5. Compensation

• Pay periods are [CHOOSE: monthly / semi-monthly / biweekly], paid on [CHOOSE].
• Compensation is reviewed annually as part of the budget process, on SPRC’s recommendation. Review does not imply increase.
• Clergy compensation is set by the charge conference in consultation with the district superintendent and is not governed by this section.

Flag: clergy tax treatment — housing allowance, SECA rather than FICA, and the rule that clergy are generally employees for income tax and self-employed for Social Security — is genuinely unlike other payroll and is easy to get wrong. Use GCFA’s or your conference’s guidance, and a payroll provider that knows churches.

6. Time away

• Holidays. [CHOOSE: list them. Note that Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Holy Week are working days for church staff in a way they aren't elsewhere — say plainly which staff work them and how that time is returned.]
• Vacation. [CHOOSE: how much, how it accrues, whether it carries over, and what happens to unused vacation at separation.] Carryover and payout rules are state-regulated in some states — check before writing this paragraph.
• Sick time. [CHOOSE] — several states and cities mandate paid sick leave; confirm what applies to you.
• Bereavement, jury duty, parental leave. [CHOOSE]
• Continuing education. [CHOOSE: SPRC is directed by ¶258.2 to arrange time and funding for continuing education and renewal — decide what that means for lay staff too.]
• Requests are submitted to [CHOOSE] at least [CHOOSE] in advance where foreseeable.

7. Conduct

• Staff are expected to treat members, volunteers, colleagues, and visitors with respect, and to keep confidences — including pastoral, financial, and personnel information — both during and after employment.
• Conflicts of interest are disclosed in writing to the SPRC chair. A staff member does not participate in a decision affecting their own compensation or that of an immediate family member.
• Church property, accounts, and information are used for church purposes. Passwords are not shared; access is recorded in the church’s account register and key log.
• Social media. [CHOOSE: a short statement. Keep it about representing the church and protecting confidences; policing personal accounts creates more problems than it solves.]

8. Safeguarding

The church maintains a separate safe gatherings / child and vulnerable-adult protection policy, and it governs where it applies. Every employee reads and signs it at hire, and it is re-signed [CHOOSE: annually?].

Mandatory reporting. Every employee reports suspected abuse or neglect immediately, as required by the law of [state]. Reporting is not routed through church leadership first, and no employee is disciplined for making a report in good faith. [CHOOSE: insert your state's reporting number and any conference-required notification.]

9. Grievances

An employee with a concern raises it with their supervisor, or — if the concern involves the supervisor — directly with the SPRC chair. The SPRC responds in writing within [CHOOSE] days. Nothing in this section prevents an employee from contacting the district superintendent or a government agency.

10. Evaluation

Every employee receives a written annual evaluation, conducted by [CHOOSE] and reviewed by SPRC. Evaluation is for growth and for identifying training needs; it is not the mechanism for addressing a serious problem, which is addressed when it happens. A copy is signed by the employee — signature meaning “I have read this,” not “I agree” — and filed in the personnel file.

11. Discipline and separation

• Concerns are normally addressed in escalating steps: conversation, written expectations with a date to review, then further action.
• Some conduct warrants immediate action without prior steps [CHOOSE: describe categories generally — theft, violence, abuse, falsifying records — without writing an exhaustive list, which invites the argument that anything unlisted is permitted].
• Termination requires [CHOOSE: SPRC consultation? SPRC approval?]. Consult your conference office or chancellor before terminating anyone.
• On separation: final pay per [state] law, return of keys and property, removal from all accounts in the church’s register, and an exit conversation where possible.

12. Personnel records

The church keeps a personnel file for each employee containing the job description, offer letter, signed policy acknowledgments, evaluations, and employment dates.

• Files are kept [CHOOSE: where — a locked cabinet or an access-restricted drive], accessible to [CHOOSE: the pastor and the SPRC chair].
• Medical and disability-related information is filed separately from the general personnel file.
• I-9 forms are filed separately from personnel files.
• Retention: [CHOOSE — retention periods are set by federal and state law and vary by document type; get the schedule from your conference or chancellor rather than inventing one.]

13. Acknowledgment

I have received and read the personnel policy of [Church Name]. I understand it is not a contract of employment and that it may be revised.

Employee: ______________________ Date: __________

Supervisor: ____________________ Date: __________

Adaptation notes

Fill in every [CHOOSE] before adopting. A policy with brackets left in it is worse than none — it reads as though the church didn’t finish thinking, which is exactly what someone will argue later.

Get it reviewed. Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12 all touch law that varies by state and changes. Your conference office may have a reviewed template that beats this one; ask first.

Keep it shorter than you want to. Every sentence is a commitment you can be held to. If a paragraph describes something you don’t actually do, delete it — policies that describe an imaginary church are how churches lose disputes.

Adopt it properly. Church council adopts; SPRC recommends. Record the adoption in the minutes with the date, and put the date in the document header. An undated policy is unenforceable in practice because nobody can say which version applied.

Review it on a schedule — annually is realistic if it rides along with the budget cycle. Note the review date even when nothing changes.

Give it to people. A policy nobody has read protects nobody. New staff sign it during onboarding — see the staff onboarding workflow.

Elsewhere

• Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification — USCIS — the current form and handbook. Required for every employee; use the live version, never a photocopy from the file.
• Form W-4 — IRS — the current withholding certificate.
• Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer & Outside Sales Employees — DOL — the exempt/non-exempt question this template refuses to answer for you. Start here, then call your conference office; the duties tests are less obvious than the salary threshold.
• GCFA — Legal Services — the denomination’s legal and HR resources for local churches, including clergy tax and compensation guidance.
• Safe Gatherings — one widely used background-check and training provider; your conference may require a specific one, so check before buying.
• Your annual conference’s personnel handbook or chancellor. Several conferences publish a reviewed template; it will beat this one because it is written for your state.