Employment & Retention Services - Incentives

Prior to issuing each employment retention incentive payment, the assigned EC reviews CalWIN BI window to determine if a prior issuance type has been issued. Each payment type is one time only.

Initial Incentive Payment

If client meets eligibility criteria and employment is verified, the assigned EC makes an initial $500 payment in CalSAWS using “Initial Emp Retent Paymt” Ancillary subcategory payment type. Refer to Employment Verification and Employment Retention Incentives & Eligibility Criteria.

Note: Although issued via Ancillary, Employment Retention Incentive payments are separate and in addition to supportive services.

Subsequent Payments

Subsequent Employment Retention Incentive payments are issued quarterly during PAS as long as client continues to meet eligibility criteria and employment is verified. Prior to transferring the case to PAS, the assigned EC needs to initiate a subsequent employment follow-up at 30 days. Refer to Employment & Retention Services - Post-Aid Services (PAS) for PAS incentive payments information.

Example: Client obtains employment November 1 and is discontinued from CalWORKs December 31.

Note: PAS is January 1 through December 31 and quarterly incentive payments are paid only during the PAS period. Any remaining quarterly incentive payments can be issued in a subsequent PAS period up to the $1,500 one-time only maximum, if participant meets eligibility criteria.

Exempt Income

The employment incentive payments are exempt from budgeting for all benefits programs, and the following applies as follows:

• It is treated as exempt income for CalWORKs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal.
• Clients do Not need to report the payment.
• Verification is Not required if a client does report the payment.

Refer to the following Handbook references for detailed policy information:

• Refer to CalWORKs Handbook, “County Supplementation and Voluntary Contribution,” page 27-4 for additional information.
• Refer to CalFresh Handbook, “Exemption [63-502.2(j)],” page 19-25 for additional information.
• Refer to Medi-Cal Handbook, “Public Assistance Grants [50525],” page 25-8 for additional information.