(a)

1. (1) Transitional employment assistance (TEA) cases that close due to employment, by agency determination or participant request, or have reached the time limit and the individual is employed will be eligible to receive an employment bonus payment, unless the family has already received an employment bonus within the preceding twelve (12) months.
2. (2) The purpose of the payment is to help the employed participant meet work-related expenses during the first full month of employment following the termination of regular cash assistance to better enable him or her to retain the job.

(c)

1. (1) When a case is closed for payment with one of the action reasons specific to the employment bonus, the system will automatically issue the bonus payment to the family in the month following the effective month of closure.

2. (2)

   1. (A) If a system-generated notice of closure is not sent, the local office should include the information regarding the employment bonus in their manual notice of closure so that the participant will know its purpose and be expecting it.
   2. (B) The system-generated closure notice for an employment bonus closure code will include that information.

(d)

1. (1) Only one (1) employment bonus may be authorized to a participant within a preceding twelve-calendar-month period.
2. (2) Therefore, if a participant who received an employment bonus returns to TEA cash assistance, such participant cannot receive another employment bonus for at least twelve (12) months even if the case closes due to employment before then. Example: Ms. Jones started to work in January 2008 and requested her case be closed due to her new employment effective February 2008. Her case was closed in ANSWER in January 2008 with an employment bonus action reason. The bonus payment was issued to Ms. Jones in February 2008. In November 2008 Ms. Jones loses her job, reapplies for TEA cash assistance, and is recertified in December 2008. She finds another job in January 2009 and again her case is closed due to employment effective for February 2009. However, she cannot receive an employment bonus for February 2009 because she received one (1) within the preceding twelve (12) months , i.e., the prior February of 2008.