Effective Dates: 04/25/2023 - Present Previous | Next

TN 4 (04-23)

DI 55030.015 Field Office (FO) Responsibilities for Handling the TPM's Reports of Earnings

A. STEP 1 – Determine which cases have pending ticket issues

Access management information (MI) central to obtain either a pending tickle list or a pending tickle summary to determine what cases have pending ticket worksheet issues.

Two types of ticket worksheet issues may be posted as a result of earnings posted to the disability control file (DCF) by the TPM:

NOTE: VY issues are systems-generated issues that apply when the alleged gross earnings or net earnings from self-employment (NESE) that the TPM posted exceeds the earnings tolerance levels in DI 55030.010D.2. ERNGS issues are earnings-related issues the TPM posted manually.

B. STEP 2 – Review the pending ticket worksheet issues.

Review the VY and ERNGS issues for each Ticketholder. To do this, access the CDR development worksheet (CDRW) screen. (See DI 55030.030.)

C. STEP 3 – Review the alleged and gross earnings posted to the DCF

Review the alleged and secondary evidence of gross earnings posted to the DCF for the months relating to a pending ticket worksheet issue(s) for a particular Ticketholder. To do this, access the query earning (QERN) screen. (See DI 55030.035.)

D. STEP 4 – Undertake needed development and make necessary systems inputs

1. FO responsibilities for title II only cases: use eWork to process work

  • •

    Make timely TWP service month determinations and record the determination on the DCF via eWork. For concurrent cases, wages must be posted to the DCF via MSSICS.

  • •

    Make timely SGA determinations after a title II Ticketholder has entered the extended period of eligibility (EPE) and record the determination on the DCF via eWork. For concurrent cases, wages must be posted to the DCF via MSSICS.

NOTE: During the 8th and 9th TWP months, eWork cannot “push” earnings determinations to the DCF. Post earnings manually for the 8th and 9th TWP months. See DI 55030.015G for instructions on updating the DCF.

2. Input earnings to the supplemental security record (SSR)

For cases with title XVI involvement, wages inputted via MSSICS are automatically posted to the DCF. Post the verified earnings with any applicable SSI work incentives to the SSR via SSIMWV or SSITWR into MISSICS. (See SI 00820.143.)

  • •

    Ticketholders can directly update their wages in MSSICS via SSI telephone wage reporting (SSITWR).

  • •

    FOs record wages into MSSICS via SSI monthly wage verification (SSIMWV) system.

NOTE: Wages for an SSI recipient cannot be manually updated on the DCF. If new verified earnings and work incentives cannot be posted to the SSR via MISSICS, annotate the DCF with the verified earnings in the remarks screen of the DCF and explain the systems limitation

E. STEP 5 – When to manually update the earnings information on the DCF

For title II cases, if eWork did not update the earnings determination to the DCF, the FO must update the earnings information on the DCF manually by accessing the verify/update earnings (VERN) screen. (See DI 55030.045.)

 

A manual update is required in rare cases where eWork cannot push to the DCF (Push failures), or the Ticketholder is in TWP month 8 or month 9. If a title II only beneficiary has not completed the TWP, record the TWP determination on the DCF. Please use the charts below to update the VERN screen:

WORK DET X

This is the type of earnings represented for the month.

You must enter 1 - 9, E, I, N, O, S, U, W or X.

CODE

MEANING

1 – 9

Trial Work Period Months

Y= Verified Earnings

N=Earnings not Verified

E

Expired Trial Work Period Months - prior to the rolling 60-month period

I

NON-SGA during the Initial Reinstatement Period (IRP) for Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Cases

N

NON-SGA Months (During EPE) or Earnings not verified

O

Other - earnings below TWP Amount (non-service level) during TWP- OR posted earnings in months not connected to a period of disability

S

SGA Months

U

Unsuccessful Work Attempt months (UWA)

W

SGA during the Initial Reinstatement Period (IRP) for Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Cases

X

Non-payment months during the Initial Reinstatement Period (IRP)
  • •

    Make an entry in the WORK DET field of the VERN screen in all cases (i.e., enter a month “1” through “9” if earnings are at TWP level or enter an “ O,” for other, if earnings are below TWP. You cannot enter an “N” until the TWP is over. If you enter an “N” before the TWP is over, you will get a surface edit that says “TWP N/E.” You must enter “O” if the amount is below the TWP minimum. “E” is used in rolling TWP cases where the TWP month has expired. If the case is a DCF “push fail,” then the FO may need to manually update the VERN. (See DI 55030.045.)

  • •

    Then, complete the other fields on the VERN screen, as appropriate, based on the evidence.

The following chart contains the VERN screen entries after a title II Ticketholder completes the TWP

Vern Screen Field:

Entries:

GROSS field

The verified gross earnings amount for the month

VRFD field

“Y” = verified

SE field

The verified self-employment (SE) income for the month

AMOUNT NOT COUNTED field

The amount of each type of excludable earnings, if appropriate

TYPE field

Type of excludable earnings, if appropriate:

 

WE = Impairment Related Work Expense (IRWEs)

 

SB = Subsidy Exclusion (T2 only)

SC  = Special Conditions amount not included (T2 only)

BE = Un-incurred Business Expense (Self-Employed only)

PA = Program for Achieving Self-Support – PASS (T16 only)

SI = Student Earned Income Exclusion (T16 only)

NOTE: Record any difference due to work incentives in the title II countable earnings on the CDR remarks input screen (IRMK). (See MSOM CDR 001.009.)

F. STEP 6 – Clear any pending CDRW issues

1. When the system will automatically clear a T2VY or 16VY CDRW issue

The system will automatically clear a T2VY or 16VY DWS [see comment above] issue based on entries made to the VERN screen (title II cases) or to the SSR (title XVI cases).

2. When the system will not automatically clear a T2VY or 16VY CDRW issue

In concurrent cases, the system will clear the VY issue for the first action processed (i.e., it will clear either the T2VY or the 16VY issue), but not for the second action processed. Thus, the 16VY issue should be cleared first via MSSICS, and the T2 VY should be cleared second, preferably through eWork, or manually if eWork is unsuccessful.

3. How to manually clear VY and other CDRW issues

Access the CDRW to manually clear a VY, ERNGS, or other tickle issues. (See DI 13010.605.)

4. How to monitor unverified earnings issues

FOs can access and identify CDRW issues pending in location by going to management information (MI) central. (See DI 13010.605E.)

 

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0455030015
DI 55030.015 - Field Office (FO) Responsibilities for Handling the TPM's Reports of Earnings - 04/25/2023
Batch run: 04/25/2023
Rev:04/25/2023