Dear HR Friends,

As leaders in human resources, you know how important Catholic identity is to protecting your organization’s ministries. I’m guessing that you also know that it’s not an easy road, even inside your organization. Your CBA membership provides your Catholic organization with protection from government mandates to provide coverage for contraceptives. This is huge. And it is one of the main reasons your organization became CBA member. It is, however, a challenge to convey this message to employees who aren’t living a Catholic lifestyle.

When you conduct benefits orientation or are faced with an angry employee who just learned that her birth control pills aren’t covered on her employer’s health plan, what do you do? Many HR leaders in Catholic organizations are struggling with this. It can be easy to apologize for the Catholic Church, sympathize, or get into unnecessary personal details with the employee. Can we do better? Absolutely!

Skip the theology…for now.
Are you a theologian? Most of us aren’t and our jobs as HR leaders don’t necessarily require it. In fact, I’m almost certain that your job description says something like “uphold the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church” and “benefits administration experience required.” You don’t have to be a theologian to do either of those (or be Catholic, for that matter), but it helps to know how to be firm in why your organization does what it does.
What to do:
– Learn who on your staff is able and willing to talk about the rich Church teachings that are based in core Catholic principles.
– Get to know them and ask questions. Ask if you can send people to them if they want to know more about unity and procreativity.

Be ready to explain the importance of your organization fulfilling their Mission and Values in all that it does, including employee benefits.

Mission Possible
Are you familiar with your organization’s Mission and Values? I bet you are. It’s clearly highlighted on your website, in your Employee Handbook and even built into employee goals and objectives. Mission and Values are very important – and non-negotiable. This is the key to your organization’s Catholic identity and what provides access to the religious liberty to legally operate as a faith-based organization. These Catholic values make the good work that we do possible, and they inform our business decisions, like having a Catholic-centered health plan. They don’t require a deep dive into an employee’s personal situation, nor do you need to make excuses for them.

The Bottom Line
You are an HR leader for a Catholic organization and, simply put, you support the organization and its employees in a way that furthers the goals of your organization. You don’t have to be a Church scholar to share this message with employees and you don’t need to demand they agree. It is helpful, however, stay out of the blame game and to remind your employee of how the work she does makes an impact – and ties into the Catholic organizational mission and values.

We know it might be a challenge, but you can prepare yourself for these conversations in a meaningful way that contributes to your culture and mission. To learn more about the Church’s view on contraception, visit the USCCB’s website.

For more ideas about conversations like this with employees, contact CBA at (303) 688-3822.

To discover what a Catholic-centered health plan might do for your organization, contact Jason Coon at EMAIL.