Alberta.ca » Income and Employment Supports Policy Manual


Learner Policy & Procedures

Published Date: January 12, 2016
Bookmark this page

Financial Benefits Decision

Cheques

INTENT
To ensure the cheque payment method is used appropriately.

POLICY

There are a number of general policies that govern how income support benefits are provided to a learner. 

Financial payments to Learners are issued through IMAGIS. The Worksite Cash Handling Procedures document outlines procedures for an IMAGIS produced cheque.

Guidelines in Emergency Situations
In emergency situation where a learner household requires immediate financial assistance, the procedures outlined in the Emergency Benefits policy should be used.

Stop Payments on Cheques
When a vendor (individual client or training provider) has identified they did not receive payment, and Learner Income Support Office (LISO) confirms that the cheque has not been cashed, a stop is placed on the cheque and a new cheque is issued.
Note
A Stop Payment cannot be done on a Direct Deposit.

When a vendor requests a stop payment, the LISO Payment Coordinator (PC):

  1. Confirms if the cheque has been cashed in IMAGIS.
    • If the cheque has not been cashed, the LISO PC prepares an IMAGIS Stop/Void/ Replacement Request form and checks off “replacement cheque required” and “replacement mailed” under action required and submits the form to IBM. The LISO PC obtains the new cheque number from IBM and enters notes into the learner’s Production Delivery Case (PDC).   
    • If the cheque has been cashed, the LISO PC refers to the procedures outlined below for stopped/cashed cheques (Signature does not Match or Signatures Match).   


Indemnity Claim From The Bank or Cheque Cashing Agency

  1. If a stopped cheque is cashed at a financial institution or cheque cashing agency Financial Client Payments & Revenue will receive a letter from the organization. 
  2. Financial Client Payments & Revenue when receiving the documents such as the letter, the cheque and any corresponding document will then forward it to the LISO PC for review and action. The cashing agencies must send original cheque.  In some instances, some cashing agencies cannot send original cheque, but will attach bank account information to the copy of the cheque.
  3. The LISO PC will then determine whether or not a referral to the Investigations Unit will occur or to reimburse the cheque cashing agency and enter notes into Mobius. 
  4. The LISO PC will reimburse the Financial Institution as outlined in the Indemnity Agreement.  
  5. If an overpayment is calculated, the LISO PC will reimburse the cheque cashing agency through IMAGIS.
Note
Bank claims are paid immediately as required under the Indemnity Agreement. To process the payment to the Cashing Agency, please see the instructions in the IMAGIS AP Manual.

Procedures

Forgeries (Stopped and Cashed) (Signature Does Not Appear to Match)

When a client contacts LISO to identify they did not receive payment. LISO verifies if the cheque has been cashed. If the payment is cashed and the client denies cashing the payment, the LISO PC:

  1. Prints off a copy of the cashed IMAGIS cheque which is obtained from the CIBC Banking website at www.cibc.com.
  2. Fills out the cheque number on the EMP0151A Statutory Declaration and forwards a copy of the cashed cheque and the EMP0151A Statutory Declaration for the client to complete.
  3. Enters notes on learner’s Integrated Case.
  4. Once the client returns the EMP0151A Statutory Declaration, the information is forwarded to the LISO Program Compliance Officer (PCO) for review.
  5. The LISO PC reissues funds through Mobius using the cancel and regenerate function.
  6. LISO PC completes the IMAGIS Stop/Void/ Replacement Request form and sends IBM the following documents so they can request funds from the bank:
    • The IMAGIS Stop/Void/Replacement Request form;
    • The original EMP 0151A Statutory Declaration;
    • Copy of the cashed cheque;

      Note
      The “Stop Payment” request should indicate the cashed cheque was “Forged”. 

  7. The LISO PCO completes and forwards the EMP0037 Request for Investigation form to the Investigation Unit.
  8. The LISO PC produces a report called Manual/Replaced/Cancel Cheques report (PACG3011) in IMAGIS that identifies the stops.
  9. The LISO PC Supervisor:
    • Reviews/reconciles the report with the stop request forms and approves report.
    • Files the report for post audit review.


Forgeries (Stopped and Cashed) (Signature Appears to Match)

  1. LISO PC follows the first four steps outlined above.
  2. The LISO PC completes and forwards the EMP0037 Request for Investigation form to the Investigations Unit. No further action is taken until the Investigation is completed.
  3. The Investigations Unit will investigate and inform the LISO PC of the outcome of the investigation and will make recommendations to the LISO PC.


Recovery of Funds
 

  1. If CIBC recovers funds from the remitting bank, CIBC will issue a credit which IBM will then forward on to the LISO PC.
  2. Upon receipt of this credit advice, the LISO PC will create a cash blotter and
    forward it to the Cash Office.
  3. The LISO PC enters notes on the original payment in Mobius that credit
    advice was received and closes the forgery file by entering notes into learner Integrated Case.


Uncashed Cheque Review

The LISO PC runs a query in IMAGIS on a monthly basis to capture cheques that have not been cashed for more than six months.

The LISO PC:

  1. Reviews results of the query and identifies actions for uncashed cheques on the IMAGIS spreadsheet. Examples of action/ reason could be:
    • Duplicate payments were generated in Mobius – the duplicate payment was deleted in Mobius but was not cancelled in IMAGIS;
    • Learner withdrew/canceled payment;
    • If learner withdrew the PC confirms if there is a corresponding overpayment for the same period that needs to be reversed due to the uncashed cheque.
  2. Reviews vendor payments to determine if the vendor is eligible for payment.  If the vendor is not eligible for payment, a stop payment is requested in IMAGIS.  
  3. Creates a spreadsheet (sample located in My Agent, Purchasing site, Vendor Management, Forms, Mass Vendor Request Template (25-250) and faxes a copy, along with an IMAGIS Stop/Void/ Replacement Request form signed by a designated official to IBM if there are multiple stops.
  4. Emails Financial Client Payments & Revenue with all debt information for any debt adjustments needed in the Recoveries System.
  5. Sends the spreadsheet of stopped cheques to LISO for amendment.