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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 4

West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 111 Chapter 4 Income

Conversion of income to a monthly amount is accomplished by multiplying an actual or average amount as follows: • Weekly amount x 4.3 • Biweekly amount (every two weeks) x 2.15 • Semi-monthly (twice/month) x 2 Proration of income to determine a monthly amount is accomplished by dividing the amount received by the number of time periods it is intended to cover as follows: • Bimonthly amount (two months) ÷ 2 • Quarterly amount (three months) ÷ 3 • Semi-annual amount (twice/year) ÷ 6 • Annual amount ÷ 12 • Six-week amount ÷ 6 converted to monthly amount by using x 4.3 • Eight-week amount ÷ 8 converted to monthly amount by using x 4.3 Actual Income Example: Ms. Poppy begins working on the second Monday of a month. She earns $200 per week and is paid every Friday. Her average weekly pay is $200. For the first month Ms. Poppy has earnings, she expects to be paid three times. Her income for the month is $200 x 3 = $600. A change must be made for the anticipated income from the second month of her employment. Proration, Conversion, Fluctuation, and Multiple Sources of Income Example: The Calla family is a family of four consisting of Mr. Calla, his wife, Lily, his mother, and his son. Mr. Calla works and earns a monthly salary of $300. His wife Lily works part-time and is paid weekly. Lily earns $9 per hour, but *NOTE: The purpose of finding an average amount of fluctuating income is to even out the highs and lows in the amount of income. The client is not, then, required to report fluctuating income each pay period and the Worker is not required to change income monthly. Sometimes, the client receives higher benefits than he would if actual income were used and sometimes he receives lower benefits. Therefore, when the Worker has averaged fluctuating income based on the best information available and the client’s income does not match the monthly amount used by the Worker, there is no repayment when the client receives higher benefits and no supplemental issuance when the client receives lower benefits. Should the client report fluctuations in the amount of income, the Worker is only required to recalculate the countable income when, in his judgment, the fluctuation will significantly impact the benefit amount. All changes reported by the client must be considered, but not necessarily used. Reported changes must be recorded and the Worker must record why the reported income was, or was not, used.