7.1 Employment

7.1.3.2 Employment through a Temporary Agency

A primary goal of FSET is to help participants gain and retain employment. The FSET worker should enter information about past, current, and new employment on the employment page in the CARES Worker Web (CWW) FSET Tool. This page provides a place to detail information about the employment, including whether the employment is considered to be an Entered Employment. Entered Employment is a term used by work programs to identify those employment entries for which the agency may receive credit for placing the individual in unsubsidized employment.

7.1.1 Suitable Employment

FSET participants should accept an offer of suitable employment if the position is within the scope of their employment goal as defined by a mutually agreed upon employment plan. An offer is considered suitable employment if all of the following apply:

The wages offered aligns with the goals identified in the employment plan.
The participant is not required to join, resign, or refrain from joining any legitimate labor organization as a condition of employment.
The employment offered is not at a site subject to a strike or lockout at the time of the offer.

Note: Do not consider a site subject to a strike if the labor action is prohibited under the Taft-Hartley Act or the Railroad Labor Act.

The employer meets all reasonable health and safety standards.
The participant is physically and mentally able to perform the job.
The employment will not interfere with the participant’s religious observances, convictions, or beliefs.
Public or private transportation is available or the employer is within walking distance.
Commute time is no longer than what was agreed upon as part of the employment plan.
Child care is available if needed to accept the job.

7.1.2 Entered Employment

An Entered Employment should be assigned when a job is obtained while participating in FSET and the job meets all of the below criteria:

Meets the definition of part-time or full-time employment (see Appendix A),
Has a start date on or after the FSET referral start date,
Is gained prior to disenrollment from FSET,
Is not a job change while employed by a temporary agency, and
Fits one of the following:

Initial Condition	New Condition
From no job	To an unsubsidized job
From an unsubsidized job	To an additional unsubsidized job with a different employer
From an unsubsidized job	To a different unsubsidized position with the same employer due to promotion
From a subsidized job	To an unsubsidized job
From a full-time unsubsidized job	To a full-time unsubsidized job with a different employer
From a part-time unsubsidized job	To a full-time unsubsidized job with a different employer
From a part-time unsubsidized job	To a part-time unsubsidized job with a different employer
Meets the special condition described	Temporary to Permanent Hires (Appendix A)

Do not assign an Entered Employment to a job that fits any one of the following criteria:

Any position in which the income cannot be budgeted for the FoodShare benefits (example: work-study),
An entry into a work experience position or volunteer job, or
Any ONE of the following:

Initial Condition	New Condition
From no job	To a subsidized job (update -- OJ or WX (Appendix C)
From a job	To a subsidized job (update -- OJ or WX (Appendix C)
From a job	To the same job with an increase in gross pay due to regular pay increases and not a job promotion.
From on strike	To return to same employer
From layoff status or medical leave	To return to same employer regardless of change in job title (even if held another job in-between) if the employee/employer relationship had not been severed and the employee did not have to reapply to return to work.

Before the FSET worker records an Entered Employment, the FSET worker must confirm that the employment began, and that Entered Employment conditions have been met in accordance with procedures established by the FSET agency.

Note: If the position is subsidized or voluntary, do not record as an Entered Employment. Instead, record this position as unpaid work experience or voluntary employment.

7.1.3 Special Types of Employment

The following types of employment have special considerations for identifying an employment as an Entered Employment for FSET participants.

7.1.3.1 Self-Employment

Self-employment is considered an Entered Employment if it meets the criteria as described above. Divide the monthly income reported by the minimum wage, and then divide that number by 4.3 to determine part-time or full-time employment. If the result is 30 or greater, then the employment is considered full-time. If the result is less than 30, then the employment is considered part-time employment.

7.1.3.2 Employment through a Temporary Agency

When an individual is assigned to a work site by a temporary agency (also known as staffing agency or employment agency) acting as the employer, the temporary agency is considered the employer for reporting purposes, not the organization in which the individual is placed. The temporary agency name should be recorded as the employer in the FSET Tool.

If the individual is newly hired by the temporary agency, the job may meet the criteria for an Entered Employment. However, if the participant simply changes sites or jobs, but is still employed by the temporary agency, the job or site change does not count as another Entered Employment. Each time a change occurs, the FSET worker should update the employment page by end-dating the old employment sequence, using SE in the ‘Reason for Leaving’ field. A new employment should be entered with the employment begin date of the new job/site change. The ‘Entered Employment’ field is No. The temporary agency should be re-entered as the employer.

7.1.3.3 Work Study

Work study jobs do not meet the definition of Entered Employment, whether working part-time or full-time. Work-study positions are subsidized employment designated to assist students in meeting their educational financial needs.

7.1.3.4 Internship

Internship is considered to be part of the post-secondary education activity, whether it is paid or unpaid, because the participant earns academic credit. If the internship meets the definition of an Entered Employment, then it may be entered as such.

This page last updated in Release Number: 15-04

Release Date: 11/06/2015

Effective Date: 11/06/2015