Income Conversion 510-03-85-20

(Revised 5/1/2017 ML #3498)

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For purposes of this section:

‘Biweekly’ is defined as receiving earnings every two weeks.

Example: Individual receives a paycheck every other Monday.

In cases where income, (both earned and unearned) is received either weekly or biweekly, income must be converted when determining the household's countable income.

To convert earnings received weekly, total the weekly checks and divide by the number of checks (4 or 5) to arrive at the weekly average. The weekly average is then multiplied by 4.3.

To convert biweekly earnings, total the biweekly checks and divide by the number of checks (2 or 3) to arrive at the biweekly average. The biweekly average is then multiplied by 2.15.

If tips, commissions, bonuses or incentives are paid or reported weekly or biweekly and are included in the gross income on the weekly or biweekly paycheck or pay stub, they are converted.

If tips, commissions, bonuses or incentives are paid or reported weekly or biweekly and are included on the paycheck or pay stub, but not in the gross income and the paychecks are received weekly or biweekly, they must be added to the gross income and converted.

If tips, commissions, bonuses or incentives are not paid weekly or biweekly, they are not converted. The tips, commissions, bonuses or incentives must be counted separately as earned income.

Cash tips received daily and reported monthly are not converted.

Tips paid in a separate check that is not paid weekly or biweekly are not converted.

Example #1 : A household reports June 20 that a member started a new job and received the first paycheck on June 25th and is paid every Wednesday. Income for the month of application is not converted (June) because the individual did not receive income each Wednesday in June. Actual anticipated income is used for June. Income is converted for July.

Example #2 : A household reports on May 10 that a household member lost their job on May 9 and will receive a final paycheck on May 16. When calculating eligibility for May, the income for this household member is not converted, as the individual will not receive income each week in May. No income can be anticipated from this job for June.

Effective with application received on or after February 1, 2016, when determining eligibility for Three Prior (THMP) months, income must be verified for each of the three prior months and actual, verified income must be used. Income is not converted in THMP months.