March 15, 2021

Announcing ECAP: New Child Safety Accreditation Program

How does a nonprofit best protect children from harm? A new organization called the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP) is answering this question through newly minted accreditation standards, now in the public comment phase and soon to be tested among ministries nationwide. ECAP has also scheduled its first national conference for June 17, 2021, to provide hands-on guidance for organizations particularly as they reopen in-person programs this summer and fall.

Religious Organizations
February 26, 2021

Employee or Independent Contractor? New DOL Guidance Now on Hold

When are workers “employees” and not “independent contractors”? Three key points apply here. First, no bright-line rule necessarily exists; rather, facts and circumstances are always important. Second, the answer may depend on context – payroll tax, overtime and minimum wage laws, workers’ compensation coverage, etc. Third, careful evaluation may be warranted, depending on specific worker situations per these variables. This legal area just got a little more complicated, with the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) January 2021 final rule now placed on hold by the new Biden Presidential Administration.

Employment
February 25, 2021

Religious Enough? Illinois Court Affirms Deference to Employer's Bona Fide Characterization

Imagine an organization that welcomes children in the name of Jesus, seeks above all to bring them to faith, and bathes every aspect of its activities with religious dimensions. Yet it is characterized by the government as not “religious” enough to qualify for religious exemption from state unemployment coverage. That’s what happened to By The Hand Club For Kids, a ministry controlled by The Moody Church in Chicago, when it objected to the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s (IDES) characterization of its religiously-infused afterschool program as merely “secular.”

Religious Organizations

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