Manager's Toolkit - Compensation

Minimum Wage for Washington State

The Washington State minimum wage is recalculated annually based on a cost-of-living adjustment for workers age 16 and older. All workers over the age of 16 in Washington are entitled to the new rate. Workers under the age of 16 may be paid no less than 85% of the minimum wage. Also, please remember that all workers under age 18 need to have the Parent/School Authorization form from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries completed prior to beginning work. Please review your employees’ compensation to assure that they are receiving at least the new minimum wage beginning January 1 each year. A Minimum Wage poster is available on the Labor Law Posters page of the Manager's Toolkit.

Musician Compensation

The Office of Human Resources does not have a recommended schedule for musician compensation. A musician stipend survey was completed in 2007 in our Archdiocese. For the results of the survey, please contact Denise Aubuchon (206-382-4522 or denisea@seattlearch.org) The American Guild of Organists does publish a salary guide which parishes may find helpful.

As a general rule, individuals should be classified as employees if they are performing regular, ongoing work at a parish, do not have a business license, and are not working for a business with which the parish has a contract. The most common area where there is confusion with assigning employment status to individuals is in parish music ministry. Cantors and musicians who are regularly scheduled at liturgies should be regarded as parish employees and paid through ADP. This also means that these individuals must have an I-9 on file, sign the Human Resources and Safe Environment Church Personnel Agreements, and attend Safe Environment training.

Overtime Compensation

All non-exempt employees MUST be paid at 1.5 times their regular rate for ANY time worked over 40 hours in one week. The work week begins at 12:01am Sunday and ends at midnight Saturday. Forty (40) hours relates to actual work hours. If an employee takes paid leave during the week, that paid leave time does not count as hours worked for the purposes of calculating overtime pay. Definition of terms exempt and non-exempt

Part-Time Employees

The Office of Human Resources does not recommend having part-time employees regularly work more than 15 and less than 20 hours per week. However, if the parish does have a part-time employee working between 15 and 19 hours per week on a regular basis, that employee should be paid from a timesheet that is submitted each pay period and signed by the supervisor. Part-time employees regularly working more than 15 to 19 hours each week should not be paid on a salaried basis. Their hours must be closely tracked in the ADP payroll system.