Monitoring Wages and Benefits

Monitoring your benefits can be very complex, especially if you receive multiple benefits. There are a few easy steps that you can take for effective benefits monitoring:

• Verify with your various benefits providers which benefits you receive and the benefit amounts.
• Keep a calendar that shows your work schedule and the pay received for each day of work.
• Keep track of when you use holiday, sick and vacation pay.
• Keep all paystubs, and make copies before you send them to your benefits providers.
• Report to all of your benefit providers whenever you change jobs or have a change in work hours, pay rates, other benefits or your living situation. The most common benefits providers to report to would be your local Social Security Administration office, your County Financial Worker and your Housing Provider.
• Document--Keep good notes about your conversations with benefits providers (date and time, whom you spoke with, what was said in any conversations. Also, keep all letters received about your benefits, even if they are hard to understand.

What each benefits provider needs from you varies according to your personal circumstances. If you follow the simple steps listed above, you will have all or most of the information they might request.
Most importantly, be sure to report to your benefits providers whenever you start and stop work, and when you have changes in your wages! This will help avoid overpayments.