When do I report employment income to CalWORKs in LA County - after being hired or after first paycheck?

Congratulations on the job! In LA County, you need to report within 10 days of RECEIVING your first paycheck, not when you get hired. This is because CalWORKs needs to know your actual income, not just that you're employed. When you do report, make sure to provide your pay stub as verification. They'll recalculate your grant amount based on your income, but won't immediately cut you off (unless your income is really high, but that's unlikely with a new part-time job). Hope that helps!

acording to CalWorks rules your supposed to report 'income changes' within 10 days but my worker told me thats when you get ur 1st check. They cant do nothing with just knowing u got a job cause they dont know how much ur making yet. Just make sure u dont go over the IRT limit they gave u on ur last paperwork or u gotta report that right away

Technically, you're supposed to report ANY change that affects your eligibility within 10 days. Getting a job IS a change, even if you haven't been paid yet. But practically speaking, most workers want to see actual pay stubs before making any calculations. HOWEVER - I've had a worker get upset with me because I didn't report a job until after my first check. She said I should have reported the hire date immediately. It really depends on who your worker is!!! The safest approach is to call and tell them you got hired, then follow up with pay stubs when you get them.

You should definitely report that you got hired right away, but you won't see any changes to your benefits until after you submit actual pay stubs. When I started working, I called my worker and left a voicemail with my hire date, estimated hours, and hourly wage. Then I submitted copies of my first two pay stubs once I received them. This way everything was properly documented. If you're having trouble getting through to your worker on the phone, you might want to try Claimyr (claimyr.com). It's a service that helps you get through to CalWORKs workers without waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE. It saved me so much time when I needed to report my new job!

I went thru this EXACT thing last month!!!!! Just got a job at Walmart and was sooooo confused. My worker said to report when hired AND bring in my first check stub. But then when I finally got through on the phone they said they can't do anything until I get paid anyway! So I just uploaded my first paystub to the BenefitsCal app and called it a day. They adjusted my cash aid the next month. As long as you report within 10 days of your FIRST CHECK you're good. Don't stress too much.

To answer your question about the IRT (Income Reporting Threshold) - it's the income limit that requires immediate reporting. Look at your last Notice of Action or Semi-Annual Report form - there should be a dollar amount listed as your IRT. If your monthly income ever goes above that amount, you must report it within 10 days, even if it's not time for your regular report. For your other question about how they calculate your grant reduction: CalWORKs has a earned income disregard - they don't count the first $450 of your earnings, and then they reduce your grant by 50 cents for every dollar earned above that. So your benefits won't decrease dollar-for-dollar with your earnings.

My sister got her benefits totally cut off because she didn't report her job right away. They said she committed "fraud" even though she reported as soon as she got her first check. The worker said she was supposed to report at the TIME OF HIRE. This was also in LA County. She had to appeal and it was a huge mess. Maybe the rules changed but I would report ASAP just to be safe??????

The confusion here is because there are technically two different reporting requirements at play: 1. The 10-day reporting requirement for changes affecting eligibility 2. The Semi-Annual Reporting (SAR) system Under SAR, you're only required to report income changes during your reporting month UNLESS your income goes over your IRT (Income Reporting Threshold). But the 10-day rule still applies to certain changes like someone moving in/out of your home, getting a job, etc. The safest approach is to report the job when you get hired (job start date, expected hours, wage rate) AND then provide actual paystubs once you receive them. This covers you both ways.

just make sure ur keeping all ur paystubs!! even if u report late they usually just adjust ur grant and make u pay back any overpayment. they dont kick u off unless ur over income or they think u were hiding it on purpose

Update: I called BenefitsCal today and after being on hold for almost 2 hours, I finally got through. The worker said I should report now that I got hired (even without a paystub), and then bring in my first paystub when I get it. They made a note in my file that I reported my job. She also checked my IRT and said as long as I don't earn more than $2,735 a month (which I definitely won't at Target part-time), I'm good until my next SAR7. Thanks everyone for your help! This stuff is so confusing sometimes.

Great job getting everything sorted out with CalWORKs! Your experience is really helpful for others who might be in the same situation. It sounds like you handled it perfectly by calling and getting that documentation in your file. For anyone else reading this thread - Mateo's approach is exactly what I'd recommend. Report when hired (even without pay info) to create that paper trail, then follow up with actual pay stubs. The key is showing you're being proactive and transparent about changes. And congrats on landing the Target job! Having that IRT number ($2,735/month in your case) is super helpful to know. Most part-time retail jobs won't get anywhere close to that, so you should be good to go. Best of luck with the new position! 🎉

This whole thread is such a great resource! As someone who's been on CalWORKs for about 8 months now, I can totally relate to how confusing the reporting requirements can be. Every worker seems to tell you something slightly different! @014cf2a0535d - you handled this perfectly by calling and getting that documentation. That 2-hour hold time is absolutely brutal but so worth it for the peace of mind. And congrats on the Target job! 🎉 For anyone else reading this, the key takeaways I'm seeing are: 1. Report when you get hired (even without pay info) to create a paper trail 2. Follow up with actual pay stubs once you receive them 3. Know your IRT number - it should be on your Notice of Action 4. Keep ALL your documentation! The income disregard explanation from @fa735b3835d3 was super helpful too - I had no idea about the $450 exemption and 50% reduction formula. This is exactly the kind of real-world info they don't explain clearly in the paperwork. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! 💪