When computing earned income, determine the amount of income the claimant earns and will continue to earn. Discuss with the claimant his employment situation to obtain an accurate picture revealing information such as: how long with present employer; hours worked (whether regular or irregular hours, overtime, etc.); wages received (whether a steady rate, piece work, commission, etc.); recent raises or promotions; anticipated raises or promotions; recent layoffs or anticipated layoffs; and so on.
Once the claimant's employment situation has been determined, budget the monthly income. Following are guidelines to determine the monthly income.
When it can be predicted with certainty the employment situation will not vary (e.g., the employee is guaranteed a wage and number of working hours), budget the monthly amount. Infrequent and unpredictable overtime or infrequent and unpredictable work days missed do not alter the certainty of the employment situation. If the claimant receives income on other than a monthly basis, convert the income to a monthly amount. If paid weekly, compute the monthly amount by multiplying the weekly amount by 4 1/3 or 4.333 weeks; if paid every two weeks, multiply the two week amount by 2 1/5 or 2.166; if paid semimonthly e.g., the 1st and the 15th), multiply the semimonthly amount by 2.
EXAMPLE: Ms. Nelson works at the local telephone office. She is paid every two weeks at the rate of $260 per pay period. She rarely misses a day of work and works no overtime. She does not expect to receive a pay raise or promotion in the near future. The caseworker verifies this information with the employer and shows the monthly income of $563.33 ($260 x 2.166) on the budget.
When an employee's income varies from pay period to pay period, determine the likely pattern of future income to obtain a monthly average. If there are indications past patterns of income will continue, use the claimant's previous six months of employment to determine the average monthly amount. Use a longer or shorter period of employment to determine monthly income if necessary to represent an adequate basis for determining monthly income.
In some situations recent past earnings may serve only as a partial guide for determining monthly income. For example, the employee or employer indicates a change in wage rates, hours of work, job responsibilities, etc. has recently occurred or is imminent. In other situations, there may be no recent past earnings to use as a guide (for example, the claimant has just started to work). In these situations, carefully compare the information available from the employee and employer with known past earnings records and work patterns, if any, to determine a monthly income amount. It may be necessary to set a priority to discover whether the monthly income arrived at is accurate.
EXAMPLE: Ms. Johnson works in an insurance firm. She normally works 40 hours a week at $4.50 per hour. However, during the past 3 months she worked a lot of overtime at time-and-a-half. Both Ms. Johnson and the employer believe the overtime will continue for some time into the future. Verify Ms. Johnson earned $2,544 in the past three months. This amount, divided by three, equals $848 per month and is the countable monthly amount.
Ms. Johnson, in this example, calls in to report she is no longer working overtime. The employer verifies this. Complete the budget based on Ms. Johnson's normal wages of $4.50 per hour for 40 hours per week. $4.50 x 40 hours = $180 x 4.333 = $780, the monthly countable amount.
EXAMPLE: Ms. Smith has worked at the local factory for the past 3 years. She is paid $4.60 per hour but her income varies from pay period to pay period, depending on the number of hours worked. The rate Ms. Smith is paid and the number of working hours are not expected to change. determine the earnings of the previous 6 months, accurately reflect the claimant's income pattern and verify al of the weekly check stubs for the past 6 months, which total $4585.36. This amount, divided by 6, equals $764.06 per month, the monthly countable amount.
EXAMPLE: Mr. Jones has been employed ten weeks. His income varies from pay period to pay period due to hours worked. A discussion with Mr. Jones revealed he is receiving a 25¢ per hour raise because he passed his probationary period. This was verified by a letter from the employer. The check stubs for this 10-week period verify a total income $2060 and an average of 38 hours worked per week. The average hourly wage for the past ten weeks is $5.42 per hour ($2060 = 10 weeks at $206 per week ÷ 38 hours). The 25¢ raise is added to determine the future hourly wage ($5.42 + .25 = $5.67 per hour). The future average monthly income is determined ($5.67 x 38 hours per week = $215.46 per week x 4.333 weeks = $933.59 per month). $933.59 is the countable monthly amount.
EXAMPLE: Ms. Brown works at the local school. she works 10 months each year and is unemployed for 2 months in the summer. Ms. Brown's salary is $6000 for the 10 months she works. when Ms. Brown works, she has an additional expense of producing income of $67.15 per month. Ms. Brown receives unemployment compensation of $30 per week for 8 weeks while she is unemployed in the summer
To determine the monthly income and monthly expense of producing income:
If the claimant will not be re-employed at the same or similar work following the period of inactivity, the monthly budgetable income is based on the actual months employed and adjusted on a priority basis when the period of inactivity begins.
If the planned period of inactivity is more than 4 months, the claimant must choose whether to allow income on the basis of 12 months or the actual number of months employed. If the claimant chooses to allow income on the basis of 12 months, the previous example serves as a guide for determining monthly income. If the claimant chooses the actual number of months employed, the monthly income must be adjusted on a priority basis for the period(s) of inactivity and again when the claimant is re-employed. If U.C. is received during this period, it is shown as unearned income.