A Guide to Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA)

1. A Guide to Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA)

2. Introduction: Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments are designed to assess and randomly refer selected claimants to services that will help them become reemployed. The program will also identify claimants who are not available or actively seeking full time work and prevent erroneous payments to them, as well as improve efforts to detect fraud. Claimants selected are required to report under section 288.040. The RESEA program involves: • The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) Division of Employment Security (DES), who administer the unemployment insurance system in Missouri. • The Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) Division of Workforce Development (DWD),and the Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) in selected regions, who operate One-Stop Job Centers throughout the state. • These departments and WDBs have emphasized the importance of reemploying Unemployment Insurance claimants and are working together to focus on improvements.

3. Selection: • The system will select and schedule individuals for RESEA once they have entered pay status. Individuals will report for RESEA services during the following week. Criteria for RESEA selection are as follows: • Individuals determined to be most likely to exhaust benefits under the methods established for the state’s Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) program; • Transitioning veterans receiving Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX) • Individuals must be in pay status during the 3rd week • Individuals do not have a Division Approved recall date • Individuals are not members of a union that has a hiring/referral hall • Individuals are not receiving reduced benefits due to his/her employer participating in a Shared Work plan • Individuals are not in Approved Training under WIOA Title I Dislocated Worker, TRA, or Training Approved by the Division Director.

4. RESEA Scheduling: • RESEAs are scheduled Monday through Thursday, with Friday left open for rescheduled RESEAs. An issue will be set once the claimant files a weekly request for payment for the report week if the claimant has not reported. A MODES-4632letter regarding the assessment is sent to the claimant informing them of the date, time, and office location where they should report. In addition to the MODES-4632, selected claimants will receive a computer generated Self-Evaluation Questionnaire(MODES-4633) and a work search log (MODES-4541). RESEA and RJS: RESEA and RJS are not scheduled during the same week; for this reason the RESEA may be rescheduled earlier in order to accommodate the claimant reporting for RJS. Conversely, if the claimant is reporting for RESEA and the RJS has not been done it can also be completed. If the RJS was originally scheduled in a prior week it should be rescheduled before completion. If it happens to be the same week but a different day, it can be completed without rescheduling.

8. RESEA Time Charging: • It has been determined that an RESEA will take an average of 1.50 hours/90 min. to complete. Rescheduling an RESEA can take an average of 12 minutes. Approximately 30% of all RESEAs are rescheduled. • Time codes: • RESEA Training: • If staff member is a Specialist, use 455-500 • If staff member is a Supervisor, use 455-700 • Completing an RESEA • If staff member is a Specialist, use 455-501 • If staff member is a Supervisor, use 455-600 RESEA-Referred Workshop Instructor Time Charging: • The formula for calculating time is: • The number of RESEA-referred individuals divided by the total number of people in the workshop, multiplied by 60. • Example: 5 RESEA-referred individuals, 10 people total in the workshop. 5 divided by 10 = 0.50; 0.50 X 60 = 30 minutes. • If the average is much lower, such as only 1 RESEA out of 10 total (6 minutes) round up to the nearest increment of 15 minutes. • Time Codes for workshop instructors: • If staff member is a Specialist, use 455-501 • If staff member is a Supervisor, use 455-600

9. Required Services: • Claimants must receive each of the following services: • A courtesy call reminding them of their RESEA appointment • Job Center Orientation • Labor Market Information • Review of continued eligibility and referral to adjudication, as appropriate • Development of an individual employment plan • Referral to reemployment services • Job Search assistance • Work Search Verification • Create a Resume in MoJobs

10. RESEA No Shows & Reschedules

11. Claimants who miss their originally scheduled RESEA appointment generally fall into one of these five basic categories: • Claimants Who Call to Reschedule in Advance of Their Scheduled RESEA Appointment • Claimants Who Call to Reschedule After Missing Their RESEA Appointment • Claimants Who Do Not Call • Claimants Who Report Late • Claimants Who Report But The Required Information is Missing or is Incomplete

12. 1.Claimants Who Reschedule in Advance • REASON - Obtain and case note the reason they were not able to attend the original RESEA appointment • If their reason raises an able/availability issue (no transportation, lack of child care, upcoming vacations) make sure this is documented in a case note under the original event. • The case note body should include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in all caps. • This will get the information to UI so that it can be reviewed and an issue set if needed. • Reschedule RESEA for Friday of the same week or earlier if your schedule allows. If this is not possible because of workload make sure to document this on notes and reschedule into the next week. • B. If the reason does not raise an availability issue (job interview): • The assessment will be rescheduled for another day during the original scheduled week. If the workload does not allow, reschedule into the next week. • Document the reason for missing in a case note under the original event. The subject of the case note will be “RESEA Reschedule.”

13. 1. Claimants who Reschedule in Advance (continued) • C. If claimant calls in advance and states that they are working, the Specialist will need to ask the following questions: • What date did they start working? • 2. How many hours per week are they working? • What is their hourly rate of pay? USDOL has determined that claimants who are employed part time and drawing partial unemployment insurance are still required to participate in RESEA. • If they state they have started back to work during the report week and the week will have excessive earnings so they would not be eligible for any benefits, then there will be no need to reschedule. Make a case note under the event with a subject of “RESEA – Claimant Employed” and include the words “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the body of the case note. • 5. If this is a part-time job and they would be eligible for partial unemployment, then rescheduling is in order. • Example: WBA (weekly benefit amount) = $200. Claimant is allowed to make 20% of this (200 x .20 = $40 earnings allowance) without deduction. To compute you add $40 to the WBA of $200 then subtract the earnings. If the claimant is working 10 hours per week at $10/hr = earnings of $100. The computation is $240 - $100 = $140. The claimant would be eligible for partial unemployment in the amount of $140. • This information should be recorded in a case note under the original event.

14. 2. Claimants Who Call to Reschedule After the Report Week • Reason – The claimant states that they did not receive a letter or were confused about their report date. • Make sure a case note is made under the original RESEA event as to why the claimant did not report.Since this would occur after the report week, there will be a hold on the claimant’s UI benefits until the RESEA is completed. • Once the claimant reports, the claimant’s benefits can be released (assuming that there were no issues that have been detected through the RESEA). • Please send a P0-84 to alert UI Claims of the need to address the claimant’s reporting issue. • B. Reason - Claimant calls and states that they have moved out of state • If a claimant moves on or before their report date and a failure to report issue has been written, advise the claimant to call UI Claims and select “Address Change” from the menu choices. The address can also be changed while filing their weekly claim (online). • This reason will need to be documented in a case note under the event. Once their address has been updated in UInteract, the event status should be changed from “Registered” to “Cancelled.” Note: changing the address in MoJobs DOES NOT change the address with UI.

15. 2. Claimants Who Call to Reschedule After the Report Week (continued): • C.Claimant calls and states the reason that they did not attend the original RESEA appointment. • Examples of reasons that would raise a potential able/availability issue are: illness, no transportation, child care, other appointment, on vacation, and funeral. • Any reason other than a job interview, working, or not receiving the letter to report is going to raise a potential issue. • The reporting issue will hold up UI benefits until the claimant reports. • The RESEA Specialist will document information in a case note under the original RESEA event, with a subject of “RESEA reschedule” and include the words “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note body. RESEA staff at Central Office will then set the Able or Available issue.

16. Reporting Issue - Ineligible Determination

17. 3. Claimants Who Do Not Call • Once the claimant files a Weekly Request For Payment there will be an ineligible determination. • Exception: if the claimant reports earnings that exceed their weekly benefit amount + earnings allowance during the week in which RESEA is scheduled, the claimant would not be eligible for unemployment benefits (because of the earnings) and will be considered back to work. This claimant would not have an ineligible determination for not reporting to RESEA, and would not be required to reschedule and complete it at a later date. 4.Claimants Who Report Late Question: Do we do the assessment if they are over 15 minutes late? Answer:  It will depend on your office schedule.  If you or another RESEA staff has an opening and you feel that you can get them in without causing any problems with your other appointments, then go ahead and do this.  Ask them why they were over the 15 minutes and document in your case note; indicate a potential issue if appropriate.  If your office schedule does not allow you to complete the RESEA, then reschedule.

18. 5. Claimant Reports But The Required Information is Missing or is Incomplete • If the claimant arrives without a completed work search record: the RESEA Staff will give the claimant up to 15 minutes to complete it. The claimant will need to have, at a minimum, the work search activities for the last completed week claimed. • If the claimant indicates that they have not been keeping a written record but they have been entering their work search activities in UInteract, you should log into UInteract to view them. • Make sure to review the work search activities with the claimant and obtain any additional information you need in order to attempt verification once the claimant is gone. • If the claimant states that they did not perform any work search activities, complete the RESEA but include this information in your case note and include the words “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note body. • If the claimant has not completed their self-evaluation questionnaire but did complete the work search: the RESEA staff can assist the claimant in completing the questionnaire since they will review it with the claimant while developing the work search plan.

19. RESEA-Referred Workshops & Failure to Attend: • If you schedule an RESEA claimant for a workshop, their attendance at that workshop is required. Failure to attend can cause them to be denied for benefits for the week in which the workshop was scheduled. • In your RESEA case note you should include information regarding the workshop scheduling, and also state that the claimant has been told that their UI benefits will be affected if they do not attend. • The claimant should be held ineligible for UI Benefits for the week in which the workshop was scheduled. This is accomplished by a reporting issue. • Currently UInteract is not automatically setting issues when a claimant misses an RESEA-referred workshop. • If a claimant does not attend the scheduled workshop, you will need to send an email to Jenn Adams and Bill Dillon to notify them that the claimant did not attend, so a reporting issue will be manually set. • These workshops are not rescheduled; either the claimant attends, or they don’t. If the claimant provides good cause for missing the workshop, the issue may be reconsidered.

20. WORK SEARCH ACTIVITIES Availability for Work Suitable Work Refusing Work

21. AVAILABILITY FOR WORK • Claimants are eligible for benefits for any week only if they are able and available for work each day. • Must be actively and earnestly seeking work. • Must be available to work, at minimum, the same amount of hours per week as they were working at their last job. • Must be physically able to perform the type of work they are seeking. CONSIDERATIONS:EXCEPTIONS: • Claimants’ intent (or desire) to work, activity in seeking work, and freedom from personal/domestic circumstances which may interfere with acceptance of a job. • Claimant is in approved training (WIOA Title I – Dislocated Worker Training, Trade Act, Mass Layoff) • Claimant has an approved return to work date from their employer • **these claimants should not be selected for participation in RESEA**

22. Availability Restrictions • Claimants who have controllable restrictions (such as wanting more money than the labor market will bear), should be informed of the problem and provided an opportunity to change their requirement. The claimant’s willingness to adjust shows an interest in returning to work. If the claimant is not willing to change, case note the potential issue. • This may include altering demands or job search methods and arranging for personal circumstances such as transportation or child care problems. Claimant’s willingness to work is further measured by their documented efforts to seek work on the work search log. • Examination of specific work search activities, the claimant’s registration with the Missouri Job Center, and actions the claimant has taken on referrals are all pertinent to willingness to work.

23. SUITABLE WORK • Claimants may be disqualified for benefits if they fail without “good cause” to either: • Search for suitable work • Accept suitable work when directed to do so by a deputy of the Division or designated staff of an employment office. CONSIDERATIONS: • Risk to claimants’ health or safety. • Claimants’ prior training or experience. • Claimants’ prior earnings and length of unemployment. • Claimants’ prospects for securing work in customary occupation. • Distance of available work from claimants’ residence and claimants’ prospects of obtaining local work. • Claimants’ domestic responsibilities. • Claimants’ religious beliefs.

24. Work Search Activities • Missouri statute (288.040, RSMo) requires a person to be actively and earnestly seeking work. A work search activity is an attempt made to obtain employment. • At the time they file a claim for Unemployment benefits, each claimant is provided the minimum number of work search activities that must be completed each week to be eligible for benefits, and is advised to keep a record of those work search activities. • The claimant is also informed that his or her work search activities are subject to verification.

25. Work Search Activities (continued) • Work search activities can be completed in various ways. Some examples of valid work search activities include, but are not limited to: • Part-time employment performed during the week credited on a per day basis, (Ex. – Claimant works on Tuesday and Thursday of the week will have completed two work search activities). • Searching for or performing part-time employment is an acceptable work search activity; however, it does create a need for UI Claims to investigate the claimant’s availability for work, so you should indicate a “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note. • Missouri Job Center Assisted: • MoJobs.gov, • Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) appointment, • Required Job Services (RJS) appointment, • Job Center work referral, • Job Center workshop. • In-person: • Submitting paper application, • Visiting employer(s), • Attending job interview(s), • Attending Job Fair(s), • Following up with employer(s). • Online: • Employer Website, (Completing web-application) • Web-based Job Posting Sites, (Ex. - Monster, Craig’s List, LinkedIn, Indeed).

26. Work Search Activities (continued) • Claimant is required to provide information on the work search activities performed during the last completed week (at minimum) at the time of the RESEA. • If they do not bring a record or it is incomplete, the claimant will be given up to 15 minutes to fill it out in the waiting area. • If they indicate that they have entered their work search activities in UInteract, you should log into UInteract and view them. Please review prior to the claimant leaving the office and obtain any additional information necessary to complete verification. • If the claimant states that they did not search for work, document in the case note with “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the note body. The service is still considered completed since you discovered no contacts in your attempt to verify. • The claimant can contact the same employer twice in the same week in some cases • Examples: • The claimant completes an application on Monday and has an interview on Thursday of the same week. • The claimant contacted the same employer for two different positions. • The employer indicated potential future opportunities.

27. Work Search Activity Verification • 15 Minutes is allotted for the verification • Begin with the activities from the most recently completed week. You may go back another week if you are unable to verify any of the activities from the most recent week. • Document the work search activity verification in a case note. If unable to verify, document the attempt. • When fact finding suggests that the claimant did not perform the work search activities they provided, it will be necessary to document these facts in the case note under the RESEA event and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the note body. • DES staff will review the documentation and determine the appropriate course of action.

28. Work Search Verification by Telephone • This is to be completed after the claimant completes the other required services and is no longer in your presence. This will be done within the 90 minute time frame of the assessment. Do make sure before the claimant leaves that you have the information you need for verification. • When calling an employer, if you get a busy signal or voicemail, document the attempt and proceed. Do not leave a message. • Inform the employer of who you are (name, title and Agency) and that you are conducting an assessment of the claimant’s eligibility for unemployment insurance. • Tell the employer the name of the claimant and the date of the contact. • Give the occupation the claimant was seeking, who he or she spoke with (name and title) and the method of the contact (in person, telephone etc.). • Document in the RESEA case note the name of the employer and the name of the person you contacted along with the outcome of the verification.

29. Work Search Verification by Telephone (continued) • If the employer says, “No contact made.” • Ask whether the claimant could have contacted their company with no record/log being made of this contact. • If the employer states that there would definitely be a record if in fact the claimant had contacted them regarding employment, indicate this in your case note and make sure the body of the case note includes “POTENTIAL ISSUE.”

30. Work Search Activity Verification: Internet • This includes online applications submitted directly to an employer via the employers website, as well as a variety of activities completed using Web-based Job Posting Sites. The claimant must be able to show that the activity occurred and the date on which it took place. • If the claimant can show you (either on their smart phone or by logging in on a computer) that a work search activity was performed and the date it took place, no further verification is required. • Verification of online applications can be made by telephone or by email. • If the claimant contacted the employer by internet and has a confirmation email or text message, it is considered acceptable. Document who the employer is and position applied for on notes. No further verification is necessary. • If claimant gives only a web address, enter in web address and contact employer using the contact phone number on the website. • If there is a blocker (caused by I.T. security) preventing you from going to that website, the verification attempt is considered to have been made. Document that the attempt had been blocked in the case note.

31. UInteract Screens That Are Used During RESEA:

32. Claim Summary – contains the claimant’s basic UI Claim information, such as their name, address, and phone number of record, their Benefit Year Beginning and Ending dates, and their Weekly Benefit Amount.

33. Claim Summary(continued) • From the bottom of the Claim Summary page you can navigate to: • Processed Weekly Request for Payments • Work Search Contacts

34. Processed Weekly Request for Payments - Shows what weeks have been claimed, and whether any earnings were reported during those weeks. By clicking on an individual CWE (certified week ending) date, you can see the certification details.

35. Processed Weekly Request for Payment Certification Details - This is where you would check the claimant’s answers regarding their ability and availability for work, as well as view their work search details: (continued on next slide)

36. UInteract Screens – Processed Weekly Request for Payment Certification Details – Work Search Details Work Search Details for each Weekly Request for Payment can be found at the bottom of theProcessed Weekly Request for Payment Certification Details screen. This information can be used in place of a written log for completing the work search verification if the claimant does not bring a written log; however, you should view the contacts prior to the claimant leaving the Job Center and ensure you have the information you need in order to complete the verification (i.e. address/phone/website, contact names, email verification):

37. UInteract Screens – Work Search Contacts • Shows the number of contacts the claimant is required to make each week in order to qualify for UI Benefits. • If the claimant states they have an approved recall date and are not required to make contacts, you can look here to verify whether or not that is true.

38. Self Evaluation Questionnaire

39. Question 1: Have you worked since you filed for unemployment insurance benefits? (This includes full-time work, part-time work, or temporary work.) • If yes, when? Where? • If this is with an employer (as in, not self-employment): • How many hours did they work and at what rate of pay? • Check Processed Weekly Request for Payments to see if earnings are reported; if not, ask the claimant why not. Wages are reported in the week that they are earned, not when they get paid. If wages were not properly reported document the claimant’s answers in the event case note, and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the note body. Wages from exempt employer such as churches are reportable. Students who are in work study programs also have to report their wages. • EXCEPTION: • Commission income from real estate is reported during the week the commission is paid. • Other commissions (time shares, car sales etc.) are reported during the week that the sale is made.

40. Question 2: Please provide your rate of pay on your last job.Question 3: How much experience did you have on that job? • This would be the employer that the claimant was separated from that caused them to be unemployed. • (check one) • 6months to one year • 1 year to 3 years • 3 years to 5 years • 5 + years

41. Question 4: Are you looking for full-time work, part-time work, or both? • Missouri Statutes do not define full-time employment. • In general, anyone working 40 hours or more may be considered employed full-time. • If claimants indicate that they are seeking part-time work, ask them whether they were working part-time at their last job, and whether they are currently seeking the same or similar type of work and hours. Document their answer in the case note. If they were previously working more hours than they are available to work now, include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note body. Question 5: What type of work are you seeking? • The claimant may be seeking different work than what he/she did on their last job. • The work they are now seeking may be from training or experience prior to their last job. • Claimants are allowed to use to an advantage the skills which they have acquired through previous experience or training. • Seeking work that requires a skill that the claimant does not possess would need to be discussed with the claimant to determine whether the claimant is willing to change this demand. If not willing, document in the case note and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note body.

42. Question 6: What days are you available for work?Question 7: What hours are you available for work? • This question should be examined with question 7. You will need to look at the days and hours to determine the shift that claimants are wanting for the type of work they are seeking. • If they are seeking second shift work only and the main occupation that they are seeking is not available for the shift then this would need to be discussed with the claimant. If the claimant is not willing to change to meet the demand for the job market, document in the case note and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note body.

43. Question 8: What is the lowest pay acceptable? • If claimants want more money than what the market can bear, inform them of the problem and provide an opportunity for them to change the requirement. • If the change is agreed to, document in the case note that the claimant agreed to lower the pay. You will not need indicate a potential issue. • Compare the answer here with the answer given in item 2. If it is higher than item 2 but you determined that this is the prevailing pay for similar work in the locality then there would be no issue. • Some claimants move in from other job markets. If claimants are asking more than the prevailing market, it would need to be discussed with the claimant. They may need to expand on their job market area or lower the rate that is acceptable. • If they are unwilling to do either, document this in the case note and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the case note body.

44. Question 9: What type of transportation do you have to get to a job? • Privately owned vehicle, public transportation. • If some other type of transportation is used, obtain this from the claimant. • If the claimant shares a car (with a spouse for example) see what shift the spouse has use of the car and whether the claimant is able to ride share during those same hours or work full-time around the spouses shift on another shift. • If they do not have transportation there may be an issue (depending upon where they live and whether there are sufficient jobs within the locality). This would need to be documented in the case note and the words “POTENTIAL ISSUE” included.

45. Question 10: How many miles are you willing to travel to a job, one way? • Claimants may state that they would travel 20 miles one way daily to a job and the job may not exist in the market. • Example: auto production line work. • If the claimant is seeking work in any area and willing to relocate if offered a job then there may be no issue. • The work search record will indicate whether or not this is true. • If the claimant states that they are only looking for production work or work that would pay the $30/hour that they had been making but list the local fast food restaurant as one of their job contacts then this will need to be discussed. If the claimant is willing to lower their wage there would not be an issue; if they are not willing, document this in the case note and include the words “POTENTIAL ISSUE.”

46. Question 11: Do you attend or plan to attend school or training? __If currently attending school or training provide name of educational or training institution__________ • If they are attending, they should have indicated this when claiming weeks; therefore a school issue should alreadyhave been adjudicated. • If you see on the Processed Weekly Request for Payment – Certification Details that they have never indicated their school/training attendance, include the school information in the case note and indicate a potential issue. • If the claimant answers yes but does not list the name of a specific school, this will be considered as being in a planning phase and not actually attending; no issue should be indicated. • Job Orientation does not count as training. If this is orientation for a new job ask if the employer is paying them to attend. If yes, check to see if earnings were reported; indicate a potential issue if they were not.

47. Question 12: Are you self-employed? If yes, please provide the number of hours worked per week. • If yes, the claimant should indicate the number of hours per week they are working in self employment. • If the claimant is working in self employment 24 hours or more (and this has not been reported in the Weekly Request For Payment), include this information in the case note and include the words “POTENTIAL ISSUE.’ • If the claimant is self employed under 24 hours ask the claimant when they make their work search for employment. If it is apparent that the claimant has an availability issue include in the case note and indicate a potential issue.

48. Question 13: Do you have limitations that may keep you from performing the type of work that you are seeking? If yes, please explain. • Answers that may indicate a potential issue: • If the claimant is looking for a position that would require essential functions that claimants may not be able to perform because of health restrictions. • If the claimant states that they were ill during the week. • You would document this in the case note and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the note. Question 14: Do you have dependent(s) that require supervision during work hours? If yes, will you be able to make arrangements for the dependent(s) if you are offered work? • If the claimant answers “yes” and is able to make arrangements, there is no issue. • If there are no arrangements that can be made, document this in the case note and include “POTENTIAL ISSUE” in the note.

49. All self-evaluation questionnaires should be faxed to (573)751-9730 by the end of the business day, regardless of whether or not an issue was indicated. Please clearly print the claimant’s last nameand last four digits of SSN when faxing non-barcoded questionnaires. It is best to print this information in the area indicated by the red box below; this will prevent it from being cut off by the fax machine.