PD 23-28: Entering the Employment Record in CalSAWS

Date: 11/14/2023
To: All DEBS Staff
From: Romie Cuellar, SSA BPIS and Diane Tran, SSA BPIS
Reference: N/A

Background

The income received is used to determine eligibility and benefits. Employment information is used to provide state-wide metrics for hourly wages, including subsidized employment placement information, Federal Work Participation Rates (WPR) for CalWORKs and CalFresh Work Incentive Nutritional Supplement (WINS) Program and CalFresh Employment & Training (CFET) Services. Accurate reporting to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is pivotal to securing DEBS program funding.

Prior to the CalSAWS conversion, benefits staff had Add and Edit access, and Employment Services staff had Read Only access to the employment record in CalWIN. In CalSAWS, the employment record will not affect the determination of benefits since the record is maintained in the Non Financial task navigation bar.

Change

Employment Services staff have Add and Edit access to the employment record in CalSAWS.


The Eligibility Worker (EW) or the Employment Counselor (EC) must add or update the employment record in CalSAWS. The worker (EW or EC) who receives the employment verification first, i.e., SCD 549-A, Schedule A (SCD 2466), paystub, Transitional Subsidized Employment (TSE) Referral Form, etc., is responsible for adding and updating the Employment Detail page.

Employment Record 

The EW or EC shall add or update the Employment Detail page beyond the asterisk (*) indicated required fields (when the information is known) for reporting purposes. All fields should be completed except:

  • Employer Identification Number
  • Actual Hours
  • Countable
  • Responsible Worker.

For In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) employment records, the Address, Contact, and Phone Number fields must be blank.

Note: For EC only, refer to Chewable Byte 2023-77 Entering Work Study Activity for WTW 25 Report.

The Use of Add vs. Edit in the Employment List Page

The Employment List page displays a list of existing employment records for the case. The [View] button should be used to refresh the page to view the employment history.

To protect the employment detail history of a job, staff must end-date the existing employment record and add a new record when the details of a job change over time. Staff may consider editing an existing employment record when that record was originally entered incorrectly.

Button Functionality  When to Use Scenarios
 [Add]

Client provides verification about a new job.

 

Note: For a client working as an IHSS provider who is taking care of multiple IHSS recipients, staff must enter an employment record for each IHSS recipient.

Mary Taylor obtained a new job as an IHSS Provider and is caring for two IHSS recipients, Jane Doe and John Smith.  

Action to be taken by staff: Add two employment records, employer name: "IHSS Jane Doe" and "IHSS John Smith".
 [Edit] + [Add]

If the verification provided is about a change in the employment details of an existing job, then end-date the current employment detail record and add a new record. This maintains the employment history. For example:

• Promotion or demotion with a new job title with the same employer.

• Transitions from subsidized to unsubsidized employment.

Note: The employer does not have to be the same.

• Scenario 1: Bob Felix has been working as a busboy at Sizzler for six months. Bob provides verification that he has been promoted to a waiter. This is a new job title at the same employer.

Action to be taken by staff: Bob's busboy employment record should be end-dated, and a new employment record for Bob's waiter position should be added.

 

• Scenario 2: Jennifer Grey has been working for an EC Works subsidized employer, Legacy Transportation Services, Inc. After six months, Legacy Transportation Services Inc. continues to employ Jennifer without the subsidy from the county.  

Action to be taken by staff: End-date Jennifer's subsidized employment and add a new employment record for unsubsidized employment, employer name: "EC Works Legacy Transportation Services, Inc."
 [Edit] If an employment record was originally entered incorrectly and corrections need to be made, or Work hours were erroneously entered as 40 hours/week and verification shows 20 hours/week.
When changes occur in the following:
• Work hours
• Hourly wage
• Employer contact
• Temporary to permanent
• Health insurance coverage
• Benefits coverage
• Job terminated
• Employment added in error.
 

• Scenario 1: Mathew Brown’s work hours changed from 20 hours/week to 35 hours/week.

 

• Scenario 2: Sally Hanson received a pay increase from $18/hour to $20/hour.

 

EC Reminder: The current business process of creating a Task for the EW when adding and/or editing the employment record remains unchanged.

 

EW Reminder: The method for budgeting income remains unchanged. Income received shall be entered in the Customer Information>Financial>Income List page according to the established policy and process. Income/budget changes shall continue to be processed in accordance with the applicable policy for all programs.

Employment Detail Page

The Employment Detail page captures client employment details such as Employer Information, Job Information, and Status Information.

Utilize the chart below to make the appropriate selection in the Category (a.) and Type (b.) fields in the Change Reason section. In the Employer Information section, enter the Employer (c.) per the employer naming convention.

Note: Do NOT click the [Select] button because the Resource Data Bank (RDB) is not utilized. 

 

 

a. Category b. Type When to Use c. Employer Naming Convention Example
 OJT - On the Job Training Grant-based on-the-job training (OJT) N/A - Currently, there is no OJT program through Welfare-to-Work (WTW). There may be rare instances where other programs offer this to our clients and this type may be used. N/A - not in use.
OJT - On the Job Training
Supported work or transitional employment
 Subsidized - Private Paid Work Experience - Private N/A - not in use. N/A - not in use.
Subsidized Client starts a subsidized job - Tier I (EC Works including Safety Net) with a private employer who is partnering with CWES.

• EC Works Legacy Transportation Services, Inc.

• Safety Net Legacy Transportation Services, Inc.
Work Study Client starts a subsidized job - Tier III (Sub. College Work Study) or Federal Work Study and a participating community college identifies the employer as private because the worksite is at a private company.

• Tier III De Anza College

• Federal De Anza College.
 Subsidized - Public Subsidized

Client starts a subsidized job with a non-profit or public employer who is partnering with CWES including: 
• Tier I (EC Works including Safety Net)

• TSE

• Tier II (PWEX).
 

• EC Works ConXion to Community

• Safety Net ConXion to Community

• TSE Sacred Heart Community Services

•  PWEX Santa Clara County.
Work Study Client starts a subsidized job - Tier III (Sub. College Work Study) or Federal Work Study with a participating community college and worksite is at a Non-Profit or Public employer.

• Tier III De Anza College

• Federal De Anza College.
 Unsubsidized Self-employment Client starts a self-employed job.

• Uber

• John Smith's Handyman Services

• Makeup by Jane Doe.
Unsubsidized

Client starts:

• An unsubsidized job including:

  • IHSS
  • EC Works unsubsidized employment (subsidized to unsubsidized)
  • Safety Net EC Works unsubsidized employment (subsidized to unsubsidized).

 

• Michaels Stores, Inc.

• IHSS Jane Doe

• EC Works Legacy Transportation Services, Inc.

•  Safety Net Legacy Transportation Services, Inc.

 

Implementation

The information provided in this Program Directive is effective immediately.