Documentation of Need: Employment

18086

(a) If the basis of need as stated on the application for services is employment of the parent, the documentation of the parent's employment shall include the days and hours of employment. If the total number of hours worked each week is consistent, but the days and hours of employment vary, the documentation shall support the total number of hours worked each week.

(b) If the parent has an employer, the parent shall obtain and provide documentation of need based on employment that consists of one of the following:

(1) Pay stubs that indicate the days and hours of employment; or

(2) Pay stubs that indicate the total hours of employment per pay period, as long as the hours generally correlate with the parent's requested number of hours needed each week.

(3) When the pay stubs do not meet the criteria of either subsections (1) or (2) above, the contractor shall verify the days and hours, or the total number of hours, of employment each week by doing one of the following:

(A) Secure an independent written statement from the employer indicating the days and hours of employment using the release authorization pursuant to section 18084; or

(B) Telephone the employer to verify the days and hours of employment and maintain a record of the verified information.

(4) If the parent's employment is a variable schedule as defined in section 18078 and precludes the contractor from verifying a specific number of hours per week, the contractor shall use the provided documentation from either month of the two-month window immediately preceding the initial certification or recertification and identify the highest number of actual hours worked within any given week and use that as the basis for approving the certified schedule on the application for services.

(5) If at the time of initial certification or recertification the parent does not have a work history, the contractor shall establish the certified schedule based on the verified days and hours or, if a variable schedule, the highest number of total hours per week the employer expects the parent to work.

(6) If the employer refuses or is non-responsive in providing the requested information, the contractor shall record the attempts to contact the employer, and specify in the family data file the reasonableness of the days and hours of employment based on the description of the employment and community practice;

(7) If the parent asserts in a declaration signed under penalty of perjury that a request for employer documentation would adversely affect the parent's employment, the contractor shall review the declaration and determine whether the days and hours of employment based on the parent's description of the employment and community practice are reasonable and include the declaration and determination of reasonableness in the family data file; or

(8) When the employed parent does not have pay stubs or other record of wages from the employer and has provided a self-certification of income, as defined in section 18078, the contractor shall assess the reasonableness of the days and hours of employment, based on the description of the employment and the documentation provided pursuant to section 18084, and authorize only the time determined to be reasonable.

(c) If the parent is self-employed, the parent shall obtain and provide documentation of employment consisting of the following:

(1) A declaration of need under penalty of perjury that includes a description of the employment and an estimate of the days and hours worked per week; and

(2) As many of the following documents needed to support the days and hours of employment:

(A) Appointment logs, client receipts, job logs, mileage logs, a list of clients with contact information, or similar records; or

(B) As applicable, a copy of a business license, a workspace lease, or a workspace rental agreement.

(d) If additional services are requested for travel time and/or sleep time to support employment, the time authorized shall be calculated as follows:

(1) Travel time to and from the location at which services are provided and the place of employment, not to exceed half of the daily hours authorized for employment, to a maximum of four hours per day;

(2) Sleep time, if the parent is employed anytime between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., not to exceed the number of hours authorized for employment and travel between those hours.

(3) Sleep time shall not be provided when:

(A) There is a parent in the family available and capable of providing care for the family's child(ren) during the time care is requested; or

(B) Supervision of the family's child(ren) is(are) otherwise being provided by:

(i) Scheduled time in a public educational program available to school-age child(ren);

(ii) A private school in which the child(ren) is(are) enrolled and attending; or

(iii) A time when a child(ren) is(are) receiving any other early learning and care services.

NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 8261 and 8263, Education Code. Reference: Sections 8206, 8261 and 8263, Education Code.