820-5        IRREGULAR INCOME

The income is considered irregular when the payments are not made on a regular schedule. An individual may receive income on an irregular or sporadic basis. Examples of irregular income include day labor, on-call work (such as substitute teaching), craft sales, and receipt of spousal support. It may also include payments such as winnings from bingo. Irregular income is counted if the household has already received it in the month or can anticipate receiving it in the month based on the known timing of a payment, or the past history of payments such as craft sales.

The ETEligibility Technician should thoroughly explore irregular income situations. When the ETEligibility Technician and the individual can arrive at a reasonable estimate of how much income can be anticipated for the month, that amount of income is included in the estimate. Irregular income that cannot be reasonably anticipated is not included in the estimate of income.

Example: Countable Irregular Alimony Support Income

Terry received multiple alimony support payments during four of the last six months; two $50 payments in February, two $100 payments in April, one $50 payment in May, and two $100 payments and one $50 payment in July. The ETEligibility Technician must average the income by totaling all the payments and dividing them over the six-month period the payments were received ($600/6 months). The household received an average payment of $100 a month. The ETEligibility Technician discusses this with Terry and both agree it would be reasonable to anticipate an average $100 per month.

Example: Irregular Alimony Support Income That Cannot Be Anticipated

JoLynn applies for assistance in December. She received an alimony support check in November. Prior to that, the last check she received was in May. She tells the ETEligibility Technician that she can never predict when the checks will arrive. In this case, payments cannot be reasonably anticipated so no alimony income is counted.

Example: Irregular Earned Income That Cannot Be Anticipated

Dave applies for assistance on November 5th. He works on-call for the city shoveling snow during the winter, but has not worked nor received any income in November. Since it cannot be reasonably anticipated when snow will fall, when he will be called into work, or when income from this source will be received, income from this source cannot be included in his estimate of income.