6.8. Income Reporting Statement

POLICY 

Continued eligibility is determined in part by the participant’s self-declaration which is recorded on the Statement of Income.

Exception Based Income (EBI) Reporting - Clients who have fluctuating income, pending income or earnings are required to declare all income received by means of the Income Reporting Statement (IRS) on the 16th of every month for income received from the 16th of the previous month up to and including the 15th of the current month. Verification of income received must be submitted with the IRS.  OW Case Managers will be given the option to implement EBI reporting process and override the monthly income reporting requirements for clients with no income or fixed/static income.
 

PROCEDURE

1. At the time of the initial application the Case Manager must take the time to explain the importance of this document. The explanation should include:

a. When to be mailed in, i.e. the 16th of each month but no later than the 22nd of the month.  Explain to client where to look on the cheque stub for due date.
b. Participant to include changes in address, rent, phone number, etc.
c. Participant to declare all income and earnings on the back of the statement and attach pay stubs.
d. Participant to make sure document complete with earnings or “nil” in each box on the back of the card and to sign and      date the front.
e. If document lost, to contact office for a replacement.
f. Income to be declared is to be within the time period of the statement.
g. Any new co-resident information must be recorded.
h. Monthly Activity Report to be submitted with income reporting statement.

2. If the Statement of Income is not handed in, the participant’s Direct Bank Deposit/cheque may be held. Once this document is received, the cheque may be released.

3. Case Managers are expected to check and process Statements of Income as they are received. Case Managers are to contact participants for missing information (by telephone or memo).

4. Income Statements should be signed and dated and the reverse side should be filled out. If either side is blank, the Income Statement should be returned to the participant to be completed.  The IRS note should be appended indicating that the Income Statement has been returned to the client and for what reason.

5. The “Case Managers’ notes” and the “tasks” should be checked to see if there is any missing information or other information to take into consideration in the processing of the Income Statement. Append current IRS note to reflect current information.

6. Income Statements are to be processed in the Social Assistance computer system then filed into the electronic filing system.

7. If pertinent information is missing, such as pay stubs, etc., Direct Bank Deposit/cheque should be held via computer suspend. The suspend and the reason for the suspend must be entered in the Social Assistance computer system notes by appending the previous IRS note.

Note: If a manual suspend is put on after the run, the computer will not put a suspend on the current direct deposit/cheque, but will place a suspend for the following month. 

8.If the income statement is received and complete ensure that it is processed.   If there is an issue for suspend then input manually so that the correct reason is indicated on the suspend letter.  For example:  IRS submitted and complete however the Monthly Activity Report missing.

Exception Based Income (EBI) Reporting 

Case Managers are given the option to implement EBI reporting process and override the monthly income reporting requirements for clients with no income or fixed/static income. 

The Case manager will review the criteria for EBI, the client's circumstances and may use their discretion to determine which clients are suitable.

Clients will be expected to sign a new Rights and Responsibilities Form indicating their agreement to participate in EBI reporting which will confirm their understanding that they need to report all changes to their Case Manager and meet with their Case Manager at minimum every six months to review their participation in EBI reporting.  

EBI reporting will be not available to clients who have fluctuating income, pending income, pending earnings or in the first three months of eligibility for Ontario Works. They will be required to declare all income received by means of the IRS on the 16th of every month for income received from the 16th of the previous month up to and including the 15th of the current month. Verification of income received must be submitted with the IRS.  

Income from earnings will be calculated using the actual net earnings in the month received. 
 

Cross Reference: Section 1.8 - Caseload Management
Cross Reference: Section 9.7 - Suspending Assistance