Sample Sick Leave Policy for Congregations

Many churches are looking to implement a more formal church sick leave policy. This model sick leave policy is geared towards a larger congregation with multiple staff. However, the general principles of moving from sick leave credits to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits to Long Term Disability (LTD) benefits are the same. If you decide to write a sick leave policy for your church, we hope that this model will help you to think about each of the steps necessary to design an adequate policy. Each congregation should decide how to adapt the materials to suit their congregation's needs. If your church is not part of the Mennonite Church Canada National Benefits Plan, but is a part of another plan, this model may be adapted to fit your plan's structures.

Please note:

• The Memo of Understanding (MOU) between a pastor and the congregation (in the Pastor's Salary Scale Guidelines) allows for an accumulation of sick leave credits at 1.5 days per month. The attached materials are adapted for a two-week period, so that accumulation occurs at a rate of .75 days for every two weeks, which is slightly more generous than that in the memo.


• SUB (Supplementary Unemployment Benefit) plans must be registered with the government on a regular basis in order to allow the congregation to supplement a person's EI income without the monies being disallowed or deducted. See the Service Canada guidelines and forms to register a SUB plan.