Employers are responsible for following a number of federal, state, and local requirements whenever a new employee is hired. These include:
- Authorization to work — an I-9 form must be kept on file for each employee.
- IRS withholding — taxes must be withheld according to the employee’s W-4 form. Note that clergy may indicate that they are exempt from withholding.
- Federal law requires each new hire (employee or independent contractor) to be reported to ensure compliance with child support laws. Some states have their own reporting system; others use the federal system.
- State withholding — taxes must be withheld according to the employee’s state form — in Massachusetts, M-4.
- Some states require a teen work permit.
Massachusetts requires:
- New Hire Reporting via MassTaxConnect for all employees and independent contractors. You’ll find this page under “I want to” “Show more options” “Submit reports.”
- Teen work permit if employee is under age 18
- Compliance with state Sick Leave law: all employers must comply, even if there is only one employee.
In addition, employers may offer benefits, either paid by the employer, or withheld from employee pay on a pre-tax or after-tax basis. A few possible benefits are:
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Plan
- Medical 125 Plan for pre-tax medical flex spending
- Retirement — Annuity Plan
- Pre-tax employer contribution
- Tax Sheltered Annuity
- Employee after-tax contribution
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
For links to United Church of Christ benefit information and enrollment forms, click here.
Background checks are an important part of safeguarding a congregation’s people and assets.
It is helpful to keep track of this paperwork with an Sample Personnel Checklist. (You may adapt the Sample Personnel Checklist for your own congregation as long as you include a notation “adapted from a Congregational Finance LLC template”