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Tips to Help Process Your Payroll Efficiently

• Please have time cards in by the due date and have them signed by supervisor, or indicate why the supervisor is not available and when we can expect the signed copy.

• Send in updated or new tax forms and address changes and banking (direct deposit) changes when changing states, getting married or moving, in a timely fashion. 
• When salary changes occur, please turn in support goal calculator on time.
• Review your earnings statements for changes and accuracy. Send an e-mail to payroll@reliant.org explaining the problem. The sooner we know there is a problem the sooner we can correct it.

Pay Day

Payment of wages is normally done via direct deposit on or around the 15th day of the month. For employees that have not opted to be paid via direct deposit, paychecks are mailed on or before the 15th day of the month. If the 15th day of the month falls on a weekend or bank holiday, paychecks are normally deposited or mailed on the workday closest to, and prior to the 15th day of the month. Paychecks are mailed to the last address on record with Reliant. Employees bear full responsibility to ensure that the address on file with Reliant is current and accurate.

Requesting a Salary Advance

Salary Advances are a way for missionaries to receive a portion of their future paycheck "early" and should not be considered "extra" or "additional" salary. All salary advance requests must be submitted to the Finance Department for review and approval. Hourly employees must submit a copy of the timecard  that corresponds to the paycheck they are requesting the advance from, to substantiate that they have worked sufficient hours to offset the amount of advance being requested.  Salary employees must also have worked sufficient time in the current month to substantiate the amount of salary advance that is being requested from their upcoming paycheck.  In some cases a person's eligible backpay may also be used to substantiate the available "earnings" that may be included within the total salary advance request amount.  A request for a salary advance must be made using the Salary Advance Form. The granting or denial of a salary advance request is within the sole discretion of Reliant.  The MTD account must have sufficient funds, or there must be sufficient recurring gifts or gifts that have been received and processed in the current month to cover the amount being advanced.  If there are other advances or charges to the MTD account that take precedence in the Order of Pay (before payroll items can be paid out), those factors will be assessed when determining how much money can be advanced to the employee.  Reliant will reserve an estimated tax amount from all salary advances.  Therefore, in most cases the maximum amount the employee is eligible to receive is an estimate of their upcoming paycheck's "net" (after tax) payroll amount.  Employees who are granted a salary advance will, in most cases, have the advance subtracted from their next paycheck. When the Salary Advance is deducted, the employee's pay stub on Staffnet will show the regular gross pay but will show the salary advance being subtracted in the After-tax Deduction portion of the paystub.

Designation of Parsonage Allowance

Parsonage allowance, also referred to as housing allowance, is one of several special tax benefits applied to qualified ministers. This benefit permits a qualified minister to exclude from taxable income the portion of compensation, designated by the employer, as a "parsonage allowance" and actually expended by the minister for qualified housing costs.

To be eligible for a parsonage allowance, a minister must satisfy four basic requirements established by the Internal Revenue Service regulations:

1. The individual must have "ministerial status," that is, the minister must be duly ordained, licensed, or commissioned as a minister, as defined by the IRS.
2. The individual with ministerial status must be performing primarily "ministerial services," as defined by the IRS.
3. The employing church or other qualifying organization must designate in advance of receipt a specific amount of the individual's compensation as a parsonage allowance.
4. The individual, if otherwise qualified, may exclude only that portion of the designated parsonage allowance actually expended for qualified housing costs as recognized by the IRS.

It is the individual taxpayer (i.e., the employee) who must determine whether to claim an exclusion from taxable income on his or her annual tax return for a parsonage allowance, and therefore bears ultimate legal responsibility for that decision. Reliant employees who believe that they may be eligible for the parsonage allowance and wish to request that Reliant designate a portion of their annual compensation as a parsonage allowance must submit a Parsonage Request Form  to the Missionary Resources Department. Reliant employees may request further information regarding the parsonage allowance from Missionary Resources. Any materials provided by Reliant are informational only, and should not be relied upon by the employee as the basis for claiming a parsonage allowance. Employees should consult with a tax advisor before claiming the parsonage allowance exclusion.

Parsonage Review Requests

Parsonage amounts are normally set by the Reliant Management, and shall continue at that amount for future years unless and until modified by subsequent Reliant Management action. Should the employee's actual housing expenses change during an interim period, the employee may request that Reliant review the parsonage amount and designate a new amount that more accurately reflects the employee's actual housing expenses. Requests for review and re-designation of parsonage allowance must be made using Parsonage Request Form to Missionary Resources. The decision to designate a new parsonage allowance is within the sole discretion of Reliant, and any re-designation will operate only prospectively from the date of the re-designation.

Back Pay and Back Parsonage

When an employee does not have sufficient funds in the account for which he or she is responsible to receive a full paycheck, the employee incurs a "shortcheck" for the earnings that were not able to be paid. Short checked earnings are accrued and tracked by Reliant as "backpay" that an employee is eligible to receive in the event that he or she has excess funds in the account for which he or she is responsible in a pay period, after Reliant fully pays the current month's wages and payroll expenses. Reliant will generally compensate employees for back pay which has been acquired within the current year and past two years, subject to an employee fulfilling his or her obligation to raise the required amount of support for Reliant.

 In the case of a Reliant commissioned/ordained minister or pastor who does not have sufficient funds in the account for which he or she is responsible to receive his or her approved parsonage, "back parsonage" is not available. Instead of issuing a shortcheck for the parsonage and creating "back parsonage," Reliant will reduce the parsonage amount to the maximum amount that is available to be paid.  The difference in the reduced parsonage amount that was paid out and the approved parsonage amount will be converted to a pro-rated salary amount, which is then shortchecked (along with any other taxable earnings on the paystub, for which sufficient funds were not available to pay out).  The shortchecked pro-rated amount becomes "backpay" just like any other backpay the employee may incur. This backpay will be eligible for payment based on the standard backpay payment procedure detailed above.  If the commissioned minister/pastor is also a 401K participant (not including Roth participants) or has pre-tax benefits or deductions (for example Cafeteria Plan items - vision insurance, childcare deductions, HSA contributions) Reliant will also reclassify a portion of the employee's parsonage as "taxable" earnings which would then be converted to "nontaxable" earnings by the 401K contributions or other pre-tax benefits and deductions.

Payroll Related Requests and/or Changes

Federal W-4's

If an employee wants to change the number of Federal allowances elected, the amount of Federal Tax withheld, or has a change in marital status, the employee must complete and send a new Federal W-4 Form to Missionary Resources. These requests must be received by the 20th of the month in order to affect the following paycheck.

In the case that an employee wants to make a one-time Federal tax change to a certain paycheck (without making a permanent change to their federal withholdings), the employee may send an email to payroll@reliant.org before the last business day of the month, to effect the paydate the following month.  The email should be from the employee's Reliant.org email account and must clearly state how much money the employee would like withheld for the specific pay date.  For example, an employee could send an email stating "From my XX/XX/XXXX (Month/Day/Year) paycheck, please withhold $X (specify the dollar amount) in Federal taxes. 

State Withholding Allowance Certificate

If an employee moves to a new state, or plans to work in another state more than three consecutive months, the employee must complete a State Withholding Allowance Certificate if the new state requires such a certificate. These certificates may be obtained from Missionary Resources. Employees bear full responsibility to complete the certificate and send it to Missionary Resources by the 20th of the first month in which the employee is working in the new state.

Local Taxes

Reliant only withholds local taxes when the Local Jurisdiction or State requires employers to withhold. Local taxes that are optional for the employer to withhold will not be withheld by Reliant and are the responsibility of the employee to report and file on their own behalf.  If an employee lives in a locality with a required tax, the employee must notify Reliant of the local tax and submit the appropriate withholding form (if applicable) for Reliant to withhold taxes.  Employees bear full responsibility to complete the certificate and send it to Missionary Resources by the 20th of the first month in which the employee is working in the new locality.

Garnishments

Reliant will withhold court-ordered Garnishments from employee paychecks when the appropriate paperwork has been received by Reliant related to an Order and Notice of Garnishment. Any processing charges or special mailing charges for the Garnishment will be charged directly to the MTD account for which the employee is responsible for with Reliant. The Employee will be notified by email from Reliant each pay period with any court required notifications/paperwork and the garnishment amount that has been withheld from their paycheck. 

Address Changes

Employees must notify Reliant of address changes no later than fourteen (14) days before the change of address becomes effective. Address changes must be made utilizing the Address and Information Change Form.

Direct Deposit Election and Changes

To elect the direct deposit service or to make changes to your current service, complete the Direct Deposit Agreement Form and submit it to the Finance Department. This form must be received no later than the last business day of the month in order to go into effect for the next month's payday. Employees may choose to have their paycheck automatically deposited into United States checking account(s) and/or savings account(s). Reliant is not able to Direct Deposit funds into international bank accounts.  International missionaries may elect to have a portion of their paychecks wired into an International bank account (see International section for further details).  Pay Stubs showing the employee's payroll amount(s) deposited into the bank account(s) on file with Reliant are available on Staffnet . It is the responsibility of the employee to notify Reliant when changing bank accounts or financial institutions or when any changes are made to his or her direct deposit account. Reliant is not responsible for any deposit errors that result from delay or failure to notify Reliant of changes in direct deposit information.

Changing Amount Withheld for the 401(k) Plan

Employees enrolled in the Reliant 401(k) plan may reduce or increase their monthly contributions monthly. Information on how to make modifications to the employee contribution amount or how to discontinue their contribution can be found under 401(k) Website Contribution Changes.

Last Pay Check

Employees exiting employment with Reliant will generally receive their last paycheck on or around the 15th day of the month following the month of their exit. In most cases, employees also have the benefit of being eligible for one additional paycheck in which they may receive backpay.  This backpay-only paycheck typically occurs one month after the month in which the employee is paid out the wages they earned in their last month of work. Per Reliant's backpay policy, backpay paid out in the final paycheck is subject to available funds being available in the account for which the exiting employee was responsible for with Reliant. Following an employee's exit, any unpaid backpay is permanently expired and ineligible for payment should the employee be re-hired by Reliant at a future date.

Severance Pay

Severance pay is an extension of salary beyond the last day of employment in order to cushion the impact of job loss or layoff. In most cases, when an employee voluntarily exits employment, Reliant will not pay severance. However, Reliant reserves the right to grant severance pay on a case-by-case basis. Questions about severance pay may be directed to Missionary Resources.

Pay for Unused PTO

See Benefits Section Pay for Unused PTO for details.