Not-for-profit organizations tend to pay a little less than commercial organizations. Nevertheless, the church must always act equitably and justly. Therefore, do a market survey and ensure the parish is paying its staff adequately. The internet can be a very useful tool for doing a market survey. You could do this through any number of salary comparison sites, or by browsing through similar job postings. Charity Village is an good resources for not-for-profit job postings.
As just and fair employers, the churchwardens should apply the annual CPI adjustment to lay staff compensation levels, otherwise they do not keep pace with inflation. The Diocese uses the August over August CPI as published by Statistics Canada as the basis for the clergy and diocesan centre staff adjustments.
Lay staff should be compensated either on a salary or hourly basis depending on the work situation. As a general rule, full time staff should receive a salary, and you should only compensate on an hourly basis for casual employment.
Parishes may choose to offer the pension and benefit plans to their employees who work more then 20 hours per week. If this is offered to one employee, it must be offered to all. To enrol parish staff in either the national pension fund or benefit plan, churchwardens must contact the Pension Office of the Anglican Church of Canada. The pension plan is a money-purchased plan requiring a deduction of 5% of gross salary from both the employee and employer. The cost of the benefits plan is shared equally between employee and employer. For more information about the pension and benefits plan of the National Church please contact the General Synod Pension Office, 625 Church St., Suite 401, Toronto, ON, M4Y 2G1, Tel. 416-960-2484.