Employment Connection Transitional Subsidized Employment (TSE)

Definition

TSE is subsidized employment sponsored by County of Santa Clara Social Services Agency (SSA) where the wages are subsidized to the employer. TSE is a short-term activity for up to two (2) months that is primarily used for participants who are selected for the federal WPR review sample.

Overview

SSA provides worksite development at private/non-profit employers throughout Santa Clara County. The employer of record is the worksite.

Wages, Hours and Participation

The hourly wage paid to TSE participants must be equivalent to or higher than the minimum wage of the worksite city. Participants work from 20 to 40 hours per week in short-term, temporary employment. Since the employment is short-term, the earnings cannot be reasonably anticipated to be received in the future. For the purpose of determining eligibility for public assistance programs, the income is not counted.

Note: TSE is not subject to FLSA calculations since participants are paid wages subject to payroll deductions.

TSE Services

The RRT EC screens clients to ensure they meet program requirements. The RRT EC meets with clients to provide job placements matching the participant’s interests and experience with the requirements of the worksite. The participant is informed of the requirements for the position and provided assistance for a successful completion of the work assignment. The RRT EC issues a copy of the worksite referral and SCD 549B with the start and end date to the client.

Minimum Client Requirements

At the point of referral, TSE participant must be part of an AU that is receiving CalWORKs and meet the following minimum requirements:

Have a valid California Driver’s License, ID, or original birth certificate, and Social Security card
In between activities/waiting for next activity to become available.

Referrals

Clients who benefit from TSE are referred to the program by any EC. Referrals are made by contacting RRT. RRT staff meet with the client to provide program information and direct referrals to worksites.

A. The Referring EC:

Reviews temporary TSE program and criteria with the client.

If client is...

Then...

Interested and meets minimum requirements,

Contacts RRT EC to schedule a same day appointment for the client.

Escorts client to a RRT EC or informs client of appointment date and time, if client cannot be seen the same day.

Not interested,

Refers client to the next activity per established procedures.

B. The RRT EC:

Meets with client and screens for job placement.

If client...

Then...

agrees to the job,

Places the client with the employer.

Completes internal WPR RRT TSE referral and “Request for Employment Information/Termination of Employment” (SCD 549B), with start date and last day of employment.

Issues copy of SCD 549B to client along with information on reporting discontinued income.

Issues TSE Referral form to the referring EC.

Refers client back to the referring EC to complete the “Welfare to Work Plan Activity Assignment” (WTW 2).

Submits SCD 549B to IDM.

Notifies referring EC of client FSTD, “No Show” or if there is a change of the employment end date, or any other changes.

Does not agree to the job or no match found,

Refers client back to referring EC.

Adds an entry to the CalSAWS Journal, as appropriate.

C. The Referring EC:

Meets with client to complete and sign WTW 2 to include TSE activity for placement period, along with next activity and/or sequential activity(ies), as appropriate.
Adds the employment record in the Employment Detail page:
- Use "Subsidized-Public" in the Category field and "Subsidized" in the Type field.
- Enters and confirms "TSE" has been entered in front of the employer's name in the Employer field. Example: TSE Sacred Heart Community Services.
- Clicks the [Save and Add Activity] button to add the Employment activity in CalSAWS.
Assigns and authorizes supportive services, as appropriate.
Updates the CalSAWS TSE Employment Activity Status with "Active" and Status Reason: "Attending" when client shows up to their first day of work.
Updates CalSAWS TSE Activity Status with “Completed” when job ends, or with an appropriate activity status and ends the emplyment record in the Employment Detail page.
Processes SCD 1755A and SCD 1755B (if needed) and enters actual hours in Activity Progress Summary page in CalSAWS.
If notified by RRT EC of any changes to placement end date, updates activity status to reflect the change.
Adds an entry to the CalSAWS Journal.

D. The Worksite:

After completion of assignment, updates 549B with:
Final check information
Total earnings
Signature and date

Note: When referrals to TSE are initiated though the ECC or Assessment, the referring EC notifies the assigned Case Management EC of the placement and requests the setup of supportive services for the duration of the TSE activity.

Supportive Services

TSE participants receiving CalWORKs cash assistance are eligible for all supportive services.

Monitoring Progress and Attendance

Active CalWORKs WTW participants are required to submit their “Attendance Verification” (SCD 1755A) indicating participation in all activities, including TSE. When child care is authorized, pay check stubs are required to pay child care, as well as form “Child Care Billing” (SCD 1755B).

When client participates in a job search activity, the “Job Search Activity Log” (SCD 2534) is completed weekly.

RRT staff will notify the assigned EC when there are any issues with participation.

Participation Problems

If a client stops attending or begins to have other participation problems, worksite staff will report the participation problem to RRT staff for immediate assistance to re-engage client in TSE.

RRT staff notifies assigned EC to begin the noncompliance process when client fails to comply with TSE, or becomes non-compliant.

Employment Verification

Since employment is short-term with an anticipated job placement end date, the “Request for Information on Termination of Employment” (SCD 549B) is completed to verify employment information, including start and end dates.