stewardship demands a sound contract
If the labourer is worthy of just wages, as Scripture reminds us repeatedly, then a legally sound contract is worth investing in to ensure a healthy employer-employee relationship.
That’s the takeaway from a conversation with Faye Sonier, founder and president of The Acacia Group, and Jeremy Bieman, one of Acacia’s employment lawyers.
What’s true in general is particularly true for churches and charities where the dollar costs of breaching employment law can be crippling, and the human cost in wounded spirit can be antithetical to the organization’s mission, says Bieman, who was drawn to the field even before he was called to the Bar.
“If things go wrong with employment law or employment issues, it can be very detrimental to the whole organization, and in some cases can jeopardize its entire mission. You have to consider employment law. It’s integral to the success of these missions,” Bieman says.
Unfortunately, he notes, small churches or charities often overlook the necessity of fairly and clearly putting in writing the details of work requirements, remuneration, and performance expectations. They get by until growth or increasing complexity brings almost inevitable differences that expand until they risk imploding.
Part of the reason for such a blind spot is the general view of work disruption as something that happens only in large corporations or in labour conflicts between unions and management, he says. But labour law is distinct from employment law, which deals with private organizations and their private contractual obligations to their employees.
“Even if you’re a mom-and-pop shop or a small charity with one employee, you’re still bound (in Ontario) by the Employment Standards Act in the vast majority of circumstances. If you are not aware of the obligations you have as an employer, if you’re not aware of the minimum standards that you have to meet, then you’re putting yourself in jeopardy,” Bieman says.
He stresses such jeopardy hangs over directors or members of boards as well as managers, who must all be aware of, and adhere to those minimum standards.
“They have to be informed and ensure they’re compliant. Being ignorant of the law is no excuse for not following it. Even if it’s one employee, you’re the employer and you have to make sure you know and are meeting the employment standard minimums.”
Bieman says in his experience many employers don’t realize they are contractually bound to the employee and to employment standards even if there is no recorded contract. Just as bad are contracts that are poorly drawn up and ultimately unenforceable.
“Then when an issue comes up, let’s say between and employee and a supervisor, it becomes a lot more difficult and there’s a lot more risk on the part of the board, whether it’s progressive discipline or in some cases termination. We see a lot of liability on the termination side of things,” he says.
Faye Sonier offers a hypothetical hard-numbers example of a Christian ministry needing to terminate a senior staff member.
“A good contract might limit payment in lieu of notice to one week per year of service capped at eight weeks. Without one, the law could possibly require up to a month per year of service to a maximum of 24 months, or more. If the ministry has someone earning $80,000 a year, and they’ve served 12 years, that’s a $67,000 difference. It’s very expensive if it’s not done correctly,” Sonier says.
Faye Sonier (Founder and President)
She emphasizes that the substantial difference in payout dollars isn’t just a financial matter for the ministry.
“Since senior staff members or pastoral staff and ministry leaders are typically paid with sacrificial gifts and tithes from the faith community, that’s a stewardship issue that these religious ministries need to consider,” she notes.
Acacia’s antidote to such dilemmas is to draft legally sound contracts to ensure clear relationships, clear understanding, and clear expectations between employer and employee, Sonier and Bieman say. That keeps things transparent on the financial side, which in turn fosters healthy work environments for all involved in operating the church or charity.
“If everyone knows the expectations and obligations within the organization, they can better work with each other to fulfill the mission. When there’s no clarity, where there’s ambiguity about responsibilities, it can cause tension and raise issues that impact the health and effectiveness of the organization,” Bieman says.
Sonier casts that, too, in the light of stewardship, which involves accountability to congregants who fund the mission with their gifts. Even more, it’s protective of the mission to which the church or charity is committed.
While churches and charities facing human rights complaints are what make media headlines, she says, the biggest legal risk for most such institutions from a liability and financial perspective comes from weak employment practices that aren’t spelled out in enforceable contracts.
“Too many ministries rely on handshakes and good faith. In today’s legal climate, that’s not enough. One poorly drafted contract can expose a church to tens of thousands of dollars of liability,” Sonier stresses.
Stewardship, by contrast, demands taking all reasonable steps at the right time in the process to safeguard the good work being done.
“It’s not about being adversarial. It’s not about going to court or otherwise. It’s about taking small steps at the start of these relationships and at the inception of your nonprofit or church. That’s the underlying purpose, the underlying importance, of this service Acacia offers.”
A labour, in other words, to ensure that all the other labour is not just in vain.
Peter Stockland leads the Strategic Communications division at The Acacia Group and is the author of The Acacia Arc newsletter. He has decades of experience as a Canadian journalist, including as editor-in-chief of the Montreal Gazette, editorial page editor of the Calgary Herald, vice-president of English language magazines for Reader’s Digest Canada, and Publisher of the Catholic Register. Peter also enjoys writing short-stories and other fiction, which have been featured in numerous publications across Canada.