How to Capture 100% WOTC Screening | Workforce Wise Podcast

Announcer (00:00):
You're listening to the Workforce Wise podcast from Equifax where we help you better manage your workforce by saving time, reducing risks and focusing on increasing profits.

Jason Fry (00:13):
Hello and welcome to the Workforce Wise podcast. I'm your host Jason Fry. Our focus in this episode will be on the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and how to capture a 100% WOTC screening. To help us talk about WOTC and how to increase screening percentages. We're joined by one of our experts in the field, Kate Devine-Elkins. She has over 20 years experience with the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and brings a wealth of not just technical knowledge but also practical knowledge that she can share with us and talk about best practices to meet the hundred percent WOTC screening goal. Thanks for joining us today, Kate.

Kate Devine-Elkins (00:53):
Thanks for having me, Jason. I'm excited to be here.

Jason Fry (00:56):
Kate, before we get started, I know when we talk about tax, when we talk about tax credits, sometimes it's difficult for employers and folk in HR to wrap their head around how it can benefit them and how they can be a part of what happens inside the tax world. So I think it might be good for us just to take a few minutes to talk about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit internally and in the industry we call it WOTC. Can you kind of break it down for us? What is it, how does it work and what do employers get from the program?

Kate Devine-Elkins (01:29):
Sure. So to start off, WOTC is a federal program that was put into place to hire those individuals that may have some barriers to get into the workforce. So hiring those that may have been unemployed for some time or really those that just need a little extra boost to get that position within the field. And that then allows that employer to take a credit for those that are qualified on their tax returns and offset some of the dollars to hiring those types of individuals.

Jason Fry (02:06):
And I really liked the way you talked about that because even though it's finance and income tax and tax and tax and tax, the program is really about people. It's about helping people find jobs and encouraging employers to give them that chance to get that first job at that employer. In a world where that employee might not have been their first choice. So when we talk to employers about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, that's really the way we talk to them about it, that it is employee centric, it's applicant centric, it's about helping people find jobs in a world where they may not have been the first choice, but what this credit does and what the program does is help level set that field for the applicant or new employee to say to the employer, “federal government, I'm going to give you a little bit of money if you will, level set and maybe hire this person that wasn't your first choice.”

Jason Fry (03:07):
And really in order to meet that spirit of the program, it's important for employers to know a little bit about the applicants that they're looking at. And one of the ways that they do that is by the screening process. When we screened for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, it's on a federal form. It's the 88-50 it got a form number just like the I-9 did and it's a screening form that the federal government puts out to ask those questions to help identify eligible employees. Kate, when we talk about the 88-50 I know it's just another form number that we're putting in there. Another thing that we're asking HR to do, can you talk a little bit about things that we hear from HR that are either concerns or maybe drawbacks in their mind from working with the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and then maybe we can help bust some of those myths that are out there and level-set a little bit to talk to them about why the program is important and how we can make it easy to identify the eligible employees.

Kate Devine-Elkins (04:04):
Sure. Jason, so one of the big things we hear from HR is how daunting that 88-50 form can be for their either applicant or new hire to go ahead and complete. It really is a federal form that's put in front of them. It's not worded in the most friendly manner and for them they don't want their employee to have that experience as they're just starting with their company. They really are looking for a way to make sure that if they are going to screen that their new hire or their applicant really does have a good experience as they are going through that entire process. So as we're talking to clients, a lot of times we hear that they want that experience and in fact, I heard it earlier this week where we had to talk through what that experience looks like with a prospect and why they should screen for WOTC because they really had not in the past.

Jason Fry (05:08):
That's interesting. So you had a prospect who had not been screening for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit specifically because they were worried about the applicant or new employee experience. Can you talk a little bit about what you said to them and how you made it make sense to go ahead and ask those questions?

Kate Devine-Elkins (05:27):
So we started out by really talking around those questions and that they were something that they absolutely could present. And then we really went around what their process looks like as they are not only bringing in those applicants through the process, but also what their onboarding process looks like. And then by taking them through a more simplified way of asking those questions as we tend to do within our system, we were able to show them that it really does not have to be something that is daunting. Their other concern was that new hire having to bring a bunch of additional documentation with them as well. And as we talked around our process to get that documentation, it made them feel a lot more comfortable with screening for WOTC as we move forward.

Jason Fry (06:24):
That's awesome. And okay, so you just talked about a whole lot, so let's unpack it a little bit and talk about screening for a minute and while we asked those questions, how we ask those questions, what the questions really are. I know when we first started we talked a little bit about the program and that is to encourage employers to hire folks that are in certain either categories or members of people, groups who may have had historic barriers to finding kind of that first job or that first job with the employer. So the questions are really designed to identify folks who are eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. And like you said, it's a government form. The government's not really great at asking questions in a consumer or people friendly way. So one of the things that we've done is institute smart screening technology. And when we talk about smart screening, we've done some very specific things to help employees and new applicants understand those questions, give simple answers to those questions.

Jason Fry (07:27):
The first thing we've done is worked with industrial psychologists to make sure that the intent of the question is there. Even if we change the wording and that we're asking the question in a way that makes sense for people who may not spend every day either reading government forums or be lawyers and attorneys and used to government speak when they're trying to answer a question. And then the other thing we've done is institute a 'yes, no or not sure' answer for those questions. Kate, can you talk to the listeners a little bit about not sure and why not sure as an important answer to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit questions?

Kate Devine-Elkins (08:04):
Yes. Jason not sure is really important when you're presenting this screening to a new hire and that is because they may not know if they had gotten any of those federal programs or they know they got some sort of assistance along the way, but they're not really sure what it was or when they got it or why even. And so by letting them answer, not sure, they don't really feel so overwhelmed about having to have the specifics behind what it was that they had received in the past. It allows us to really screen somebody into the program so that they get that ability to obtain that credit for their new employer without having to have them really dig into what they had received in the past or really get into their history in order to answer those questions.

Jason Fry (09:04):
And I love the way you talked about that. You said screen them in for the program instead of screening them out of the program. And I think that is vitally important for listeners to understand. The goal is to screen as many people into the program as possible so we can further evaluate their eligibility. And see if there's a certification sitting out there for that employee. Because one of the things that I hear when we're talking to our employer clients about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit is, “yeah, I understand that there's a benefit there. I understand that it's a dollar for dollar reduction in my income tax that I would owe at the end of the year. But when I look at my workforce, we really don't hire those people.” So they come to the program thinking that no one that they hire is going to be eligible for the program. And Kate, when we talk to clients, it's really not that way.

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Jason Fry (10:11):
So the next thing that I want to talk about a little bit is eligibility and that's really the second half of what we learned from the screening is who's eligible for the credit. Can you talk to us a little bit about what we see from an eligibility perspective for all clients?

Kate Devine-Elkins (10:28):
I sure can, Jason. So when we talk to clients, we really analyze that eligibility not only with what screening we have within our system, but what they are seeing within their own programs today. And as we talk about eligibility, we really have learned that you can't identify that eligibility just by looking at somebody. You may not know that somebody had collected food stamps in their past or that they served in the military. It might not be something that comes out during that interview. And so really that eligibility becomes crucial when you are screening for the program. So for those people that may not think that they are hiring those types of individuals, we truly see that you have a significant number of those individuals that are eligible for the program that you never would have known had you not screened them for that WOTC credit.

Jason Fry (11:28):
And that's really interesting and something that I think listeners would be interested in hearing. Everybody hires people who are eligible for the program, even if you may, in your workforce, not think that you're hiring folk who are eligible. In fact, our internal numbers show and also national averages when we're talking about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit show that every fourth or a third employee is eligible for the credit. So somewhere between 20% and 30% of your entire employee base is eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. And that's really important to understand because like I mentioned, every third or fourth employee could be that employee that qualifies for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. And if you miss the screening, you've missed the opportunity to reduce the income tax credit. That is the income tax that you owe at the end of the year. So it's really a hundred percent important to screen it a hundred percent so Kate, let's talk a little bit about how we work with clients and what we tell clients as best practices. When we're talking about getting to a hundred percent screening,

Kate Devine-Elkins (12:37):
When we talk to clients about screening at a hundred percent we really want to get a feel for what their hiring process looks like. We want that screening to be placed in the best possible location within that onboarding process. So for many of our clients who are screening online, they find that coupling that WOTC with their I-9 form really drives their applicants and new hires to answer those WOTC questions. They know that they need to complete an I-9 and so it really just becomes another step in that process.

Jason Fry (13:14):
So what I hear you saying is it's really a consultative approach. It's not necessarily one size fits all for all employers. And here's the way that you do it. It's really we need to understand how the company works, how the company screens, how the company filters in applicants, what onboarding looks like. And from those pieces of information we can find the best place to put the screening questions for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to ensure a hundred percent success at screening a hundred percent so Kate what are the options look like? So when I'm thinking about screening, what different options might an employer have even if they're a client, not a client, just somebody wanting to take advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or maybe just look at the program and see if it's a fit for them. What kind of screening options are available for employers today

Kate Devine-Elkins (14:08):
We have three options that are available. They are a paper screening or an IVR or a voice recorded phone system, or we have our online screening method. And then to take that a step further, we do have the ability to place our screening methods within any portion of that hiring process. So anytime from time of application, through their onboarding documents, we can place that WOTC screening really what meets that particular client's needs as they're looking to roll that WOTC program out.

Jason Fry (14:46):
And honestly, I like that you talked a little bit about paper because even though we in a world where everything seems to be electronic, we might have employers where they want part of their screening to be electronic, but they may have locations that are more comfortable on paper or that don't have internet connections or that may for some reason be easier to screen through a paper process. And I think that it's important to be flexible and say, "Hey look, the easiest way for us to help you guarantee a hundred percent is really to meet that applicant where they are." Because as comfortable of a process we can make it to make that screening accessible will help us guarantee the highest screening percentages that we possibly can for our employer clients. And what we've seen internally is even just a 5% increase in the total screening percentage can yield up to 20% increase in the total amount of credit received.

Jason Fry (15:47):
So when you think about it, there's no reason why an employer wouldn't want to manage that program and do as best as they could to screen a hundred percent just because those dollars are out there. They're waiting for employers to claim and they're waiting in their existing workforce. The people that are currently hiring. Those dollars are sitting there and just waiting for employers to pick up. Kate, we talked a little bit about documentation and that makes me nervous when we say documentation out loud because you know, I know I think about documentation when I talk about the I-9 process and you know, we have to get and we need to show and we have to have employees need to bring in and it's not always easy to have an employee bring in documents. Is that the same kind of documentation that we're talking about when we talk about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit?

Kate Devine-Elkins (16:36):
So while in some cases it is what we're talking about, we actually go about it in a very different way than most other WOTC vendors and that we really do go after that documentation on behalf of that employee. So we don't send them back to go look for documentation to back up the fact that they are eligible for the credit. We have the ability to go back and look for that ourselves. And so we do that all on their behalf. So really once that employee screens, they're done with the process, there's no more they need to do.

Jason Fry (17:13):
So even if they needed a piece of documentation, they don't have to find that employee, make sure they bring it in and get a copy of it and send it to the vendor track. Again, the employee, if they didn't bring it in that day, make sure that they follow back up. Because I mean HR clients will tell us and not necessarily just HR clients because it sounds like some of that would fall to maybe even location managers who have a thousand times more important things to do than chase down documentation. So we can find that for them.

Kate Devine-Elkins (17:42):
We sure can. And we go after it 97% of the time we have the ability to find that documentation for them. So we're not going back to those hiring managers, to the location managers, really to anybody internally within that client to get that documentation.

Jason Fry (17:59):
And that must be huge for employer clients because again, there are things that are a thousand times more important than trying to find, let's say a driver's license or a copy of some type of benefit or food stamps that someone received from the federal or state government. I mean, and it seems like if we can do it for them, it's a lot more comfortable for the employee too because I can only imagine my employer showing up at my cube and saying, “Hey, I need you to bring in your food stamp records so I can show eligibility for this program”. So I think that that helps also reinforce that we try to make it as comfortable for that new employee as possible. The process is easy as possible and really meet them where they are and ask the questions in a way that makes sense. And I think that helps follow through with spending as much time as we possibly can to make the program consumer friendly. And if we can make it consumer friendly, then employers are more likely to get a hundred percent of screening.

Kate Devine-Elkins (19:07):
That was a very good description of that.

Jason Fry (19:11):
I know we've talked a lot too about percentages and screening percentages and eligibility percentages and numbers, so the Work Opportunity Tax Credit really does seem to be driven off of numbers and around managing the program instead of maybe just participating in the program. I know you mentioned screening people into the program instead of screening people out of the program, so I think that that topic may deserve its own episode of the podcast, so why don't we pin that for a minute and talk a little bit more about KPIs, key performance indicators, what they are, why they're important, the tools and technology that we have in the marketplace and I think that we can do an entire podcast just on those topics. Does that sound reasonable?

Kate Devine-Elkins (19:59):
That sounds very reasonable. I think that would be a great idea.

Jason Fry (20:03):
Perfect. Well, we're out of time today, so I'd like to thank Kate for joining me as co-hosts on the Workforce Wise Podcast. We hope you guys enjoyed the discussion and we hope that you're walking away with some best practices that you can adopt inside your organization.

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