Prior to Item Correction (IC),Office of Earnings and International Operations (OEIO), Division of Earnings and Business Services (DEBS) is generally responsible for the development of preclaims earnings record (ER) inaccuracies and the correction of the Master Earnings File (MEF).

The field is responsible for:

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  Assisting OEIO, DEBS in contacting number holders (NHs), employers, etc., when OEIO, DEBS is unable to resolve the earnings issue by searching their available records (Suspense, ERQY, etc.), or

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  Developing and resolving earnings issues that are identified during the claims process or as a result of an individual contacting the field office (FO).

With the implementation of the Earnings Modernization Item Correction system, the Teleservice Centers (TSCs) under certain limited circumstances, FOs, Program Service Centers (PSCs), and OEIO, DEBS may initiate development and correct an individual's ER in preclaims, claims and postadjudicative cases.

The resident office is the office responsible for completion of the earnings issue. Prior to IC the resident office is the office which serves the NH's current address. A transfer of the case to another office can only be made if the NH initiates the investigation and then moves to another service area.

However, with IC, the office responsible for correcting the ER is no longer limited to the office servicing the NH's current address. Generally, in IC, the office of the initial contact (phone, written or walk-in) may initiate and develop the earnings issue. This may be the TSC, (in limited circumstances), OEIO, DEBS, FO or PSC.

If the case is being transferred from one office to another use the Earnings Control Transfer (ETRN) screen in IC (MSOM EM 031.001).

If the employer (or other individual) resides outside the service area of the resident office, then a request for assistance (SSA-562) may be made to the office servicing the area in which the employer or individual resides.

If the employer has moved obtain a current address and forward the request for assistance. If the employer has gone out of business, obtain a forwarding address for the employer using the last known address.

If the employer filed bankruptcy, request assistance from the FO servicing the court appointed Trustee.

The assisting office should obtain the requested information or provide a status to the requesting office within 21 days. (See GN 00904.220 for cases involving foreign contacts.)