Q. "Can we have two versions of our Staff Handbook: one for pastoral and another for non-pastoral staff?"
Answer:
There’s no rule against multiple Staff Handbooks, but we really don't recommend it. Before you pull the trigger, stop and consider:
The need to update multiple books any time policies or practices change
An increase in administrative work to ensure all are up-to-date and consistent
An increase in potential omissions or errors
Potential confusion as to what book applies to who
One alternative to having two separate handbooks would be to add a pastoral addendum that contains relevant information specific to pastors or ministerial staff.
Another alternative, and the approach we often recommend, is to ensure you are clear within each policy about who it applies to. For instance, you might want all staff to track their time, but only nonexempt or non-pastoral staff track their breaks—you can simply point this out in your singular timekeeping policy. Or you might have two different vacation accrual systems: If they are vastly different, you could have two different policies side by side, whereas if they are mostly the same, you can just call out the differences that apply to certain employee types.
By doing it this way, the core of the handbook is the same for everyone, and there’s no need to update multiple handbooks when something that affects everyone changes.