Why Staff Leave

Among the many reasons that a staff member may leave a position are:

• Retirement
• Getting fired

• Family reasons
• Illness
• Death
• Need better compensation
• Move away from conflict
• Accepted another job offer (initiated by them or by the new employer)
• Lured by another congregation
• Choose to do something else
• New congregational needs arise – and are noticed

On top of managing the “logistics” of a staff member’s departure, you will need to manage the emotional component. Congregants may have a whole range of feelings and reactions. It’s important to acknowledge all feelings.

Voluntary Resignations

3 “C’s” for a Good Parting

Closure

Providing a sense of finality to the relationship for staff member and congregation

• Ritual during worship – sometimes done in “passing the torch” style if successor is available
• Newsletter article written by the staff member (highlights of their time on staff)

Celebration

• Honoring the departing staff member through a special event
• Appropriately scaled
• Meaningful to the individual and the congregation

Covenant

• Agreeing on the nature and limits of any ongoing relationship with the congregation
• With successor and/or with congregational leadership
• Protects congregational health by confirming understandings and setting boundaries
• The LREDA Code of Professional Practices and AUUMM Code of Professional Practices (PDF) (and sample Letters of Understanding) set expectations for a departing professional. These expectations may be a starting point for a covenant. At this time, neither LREDA nor AUUMM requires staff to completely remove themselves from congregational life and relationships upon resigning from their staff positions. However, it is often advisable for the staff member to disengage from the congregation for some period of time. (Of course, this is a choice that some staff members make upon departure without any prompting.)

Another C: “Complications” – A Few Common Complications

• Even if a resignation is voluntary, the departing staff member might be leaving under a cloud or with a grudge. Congregants are aware. Things are awkward.
• Professionals have been seeking wisdom from colleagues that address what to do about their Facebook “friends” in the congregation. There is no single answer. Again, a covenant can be helpful in outlining limitations on engagement.
• A staff member hired from within the congregation may plan to remain involved the congregation in some fashion or may have children or a partner who continues participating. How will this be managed?

Hard and fast rules are hard to come by in such situations. Thinking through the 3 C’s of closure, celebration, and covenant, should prove helpful. In the case of a strained departure, for instance, there are still congregants who loved and appreciated the staff member and want the chance to honor the relationship. What is the best way to make that happen? Just as when you are hiring or managing performance concerns, how you handle departures is a time to put your values into practice.

Involuntary Staff Departures

• Involuntary departures may occur due to:
• Budget constraints that necessitate eliminating or reducing a position
• Unsatisfactory performance
• Misconduct

Handling such departures fairly, compassionately, and elegantly will minimize congregational anxiety and can allow you to demonstrate the best of your values. Rev. Richard Nugent, Director of the UUA Office of Church Staff Finances, and Jan Gartner, Compensation and Staffing Practices Manager, provide suggestions for these difficult situations:

What practices do the UUA Office of Church Staff Finances suggest to congregational leadership when handling involuntary staff departures?

Having to end the employment relationship of a staff member is never easy. It often is emotionally charged for everyone involved – certainly the employee who is leaving, but also those involved in the decision as well those in the congregation who work with the departing staff member – particularly if the individual is a member of the congregation or has been on staff for many years. While every situation has its unique characteristics, the Office of Church Staff Finances offers the following suggestions:

1. Supervision and Policies: In the best of cases, the employee has been meeting regularly with their supervisor and there are personnel policies in place.
2. Prior to deciding to end an employment relationship: Job expectations, including a detailed position description, should be clearly communicated to the employee. A process of formal and informal feedback and evaluation is essential, including an annual performance review. If additional skills are needed, training should be offered. Deficient performance should be conveyed, in writing, to the employee. In considering whether to terminate employment, congregational leaders should weigh the pros and cons of various options. Should the current employee be given the opportunity to improve? What are the potential downsides of letting them go?
3. When deciding to end an employment relationship: Good process is essential. Those responsible for the decision need to be clear about the reasons for separation, decide about severance, and develop a plan on how to communicate the departure to others. Does the individual have an employment agreement? If so, what does this document say about termination of employment? Is the congregation in an “at-will” state? Are there any state or federal laws that need to be considered? It is wise to consult with an attorney specializing in employment law. The attorney can help the leadership prepare an agreement specifying the terms of separation. It should address severance, restrictions on discussing the matter with others, and a provision waiving all legal remedies against the congregation. The employee might have access to Good Offices through their professional organization. If so, the Good Officer should be welcomed into the process. Please reach out to your regional staff for support and guidance.
4. Severance: Congregations are exempt from paying into state unemployment insurance funds in most states. This means that their staff are at a particular disadvantage when they are involuntarily separated from employment – there are no weekly unemployment benefits. In deciding whether and how much severance to offer, our UU values call upon us to ask how we would like to be treated in similar circumstances. Congregational leaders should consider the severance policies that exist in their own workplaces. There are tax implications regarding severance agreements. These issues, including COBRA coverage of health insurance, need to be fully researched in shaping a severance agreement. Most important, congregational leaders should take into account the length of time the individual has served the congregation and the length of time that the individual may need to find another position. This is particularly true for religious professionals who are committed to serving UU congregations. Religious professional positions tend to have start dates during the summer.
5. UUA Recommendations: It may be helpful for you to know how the UUA National Office handles severance. Severance decisions depend upon the reason for an employee’s involuntary separation: There are numerous reasons for involuntary separation including: reorganization or reduction in force, the inability to satisfactorily perform one’s job, or misconduct.
   • Separation unrelated to performance: The UUA provides one month of severance for each year of service, prorated, up to a maximum of six months’ pay, with a minimum payment of two months. Accrued vacation time is paid as well as one additional month of employer-paid health insurance, if eligible. Retirement plan and life insurance benefits do not continue.
   • Separation related to performance: When an employee is dismissed for unsatisfactory performance, the UUA pays one-half month severance for each year of service, prorated, up to a maximum of six months pay, plus any accrued vacation time. Retirement plan and life insurance benefits do not continue.
   • Separation due to misconduct: No severance is paid when an employee is dismissed for serious misconduct. In addition, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA) and the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) offer recommendations regarding severance.
6. Communications Strategy: The congregation, as employer, is at a disadvantage when dismissing an employee since it must respect confidentiality. Yet the departing employee may disseminate their version of events within the congregation. In the best of situations, the leadership and the departing professional can come to an agreement about how the news will be shared and an authentic narrative can be developed for the good of all parties. Regardless, it is important for the leadership to develop a communications strategy. Who should hear the news of the departure directly from the leadership ahead of any all-congregation communication? How shall the news be sent to the congregation? Does the congregation have an open forum email list? Are the ground rules sufficient to prevent defamatory/destructive email threads? And don’t forget to think of the remaining members of the staff who are likely to have more nuanced views.
7. Organizational Safeguarding: Whether employment should be terminated immediately, or after a few weeks or a month depends upon the circumstances. Computer files and records that are critical to the congregation need to be safeguarded. Computer files should either be copied or passwords changed to ensure safekeeping. Building keys need to be returned and/or numeric keypads recoded. Of course, it is reasonable to expect that the departing employee will have some personal documents on their workplace computer. Arrangements should be made to copy those documents on behalf of the employee.
8. Final Thoughts: The dismissal of an employee is difficult for all concerned, but most so for the employee. While the employing congregation may be disappointed with the employee’s job performance or financial pressures may necessitate layoffs, the employee faces economic uncertainty without the federal safety net of unemployment benefits. Our Unitarian Universalist values, grounded in the inherent worth of the individual and compassionate in human relations, challenges employing congregations to treat the departing employee as we would like to be treated – which is consistent with our understanding of interdependence.