Online COVID-19 employment law seminar for church leaders / Employment Law

An employment law specialist from Thursfields Solicitors is leading a special online seminar on COVID-19 issues for church leaders this week.

Jade Linton, a senior associate solicitor in the Employment & HR Law department at Thursfields, is speaking at a Keyboard Trust meeting via Zoom technology between 7 and 7.45pm this Thursday 7 May.

Jade’s 25-minute presentation to church leaders, pastors and bishops will be followed by a Q&A session and will cover:

• Coronavirus – communicating with your staff
• what is Furlough?
• sick pay, and
• the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Jade, who has more than ten years’ experience in advising and representing clients on employment matters, said: “COVID-19 is a challenging period for all employers, and that includes the church sector.

“People’s religion often provides crucial links in times of crisis, and so in many ways there’s never been a more important time for organisations like churches to be active and delivering what’s needed.

“But like any organisation, churches are affected by the restrictions resulting from the pandemic, with no actual services, the need for social distancing and in some cases isolation.

“This means churches will need to tackle issues such as how to communicate with their staff and congregations, and how to deal with issues like sick pay for church workers who are either ill or who for other reasons are in isolation.

“Where certain church workers are unable to be at work because of the lockdown, their leaders need to fully understand the government’s new system of furlough – otherwise known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, or CJRS.

“This will enable churches to keep staff who are unable to work in employment, while reclaiming 80% of this cost from the HMRC, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month until the end of June.

Jade, who regularly provides training to HR managers, business owners and line managers, added: “My presentation will outline the way the furlough system works and will underline the importance of communicating it properly to workers so that everyone understands the detail.”

The Keyboard Trust works across churches, prayer groups and Christian networks in the Bristol region.

For more information about this and other Keyboard Trust events, contact Carmen Carroll on 07904 583865 or via keyboardnetworker@gmail.com.

Any organisation needing advice on employment law can contact Jade Linton on 0121 796 4024 or via jlinton@thursfields.co.uk.