Okay, so
I have a small publishing business, and I also work for someone else part-time.
I’ve been
on the Ontario Disability Support Program for over twenty years.
I called my
social worker and asked a few questions.
I asked
about the Work-Related Benefit, the Business Start-Up Benefit, and other
questions.
But
here's an interesting question that I didn't ask. If you can only get the
Work-Related Benefit after earning $100 in a month, and if you don't go over
the income limit, what effect does it have to have expense deductions...??? If
you're below the limit, you don't need the deduction. You need to get up the
max level, (which I take to be $200), and only then claim an expense, in order
to offset their fifty cents on the dollar claw-back for everything over the
limit. Right? And you are allowed deductions, after all.
But. It
seems to me, if you don't need the deduction, don't claim it—bearing in mind
you might make a lot of money just before the end of the year. This is more of a question than a statement.
I'm being
told they go through a year's worth of reports and then adjust the next year's
income. And you can only claim an expense during the month you made the
purchase. Yet at
some point in the process, they must average the total on a monthly basis. If
you made more than $2,400 in a year, with no deductions, they want fifty cents
on the dollar.
Is it
that simple?
If you're
on disability, the odds are you aren't sophisticated enough to pick off those
sorts of questions. Let alone figure out what's the best thing to do. And
sometimes your social worker doesn't know either.
One
wonders if they deduct a $100 expense against $50 income in a given month, and
then what? Use the negative integer in determining the monthly average of the
yearly income...??? In which case you’re a lot less likely to qualify for the
$100 Work-Related Benefit.
No one
tells you this, they let you flounder around on your own. And it's a lot to
remember anyways. We don't even know what questions to ask, sometimes.
Now, a
few people over the years have said the ODSP 'helped someone buy a house.'
According
to the social worker, they do not. It’s funny how people insist that they are
right, to the extent of getting angry if you contradict them—even in the light
of facts supplied by ODSP staff.
The only
circumstances that they could be talking about would be an inheritance, a big
gift, a lottery win, or a big windfall of some sort. Theoretically, you could
put a down payment on a house, and they won't hit you with an over-payment by
saying that it's income. Theoretically, someone could also give you a house, and
it’s not considered, ‘income.’ But that is my interpretation—I didn’t actually
ask that question.
As for
the Business Start-Up Benefit, that is only if I start up something new—as of
now that's not true. I started working for someone else, part-time, last June.
As for
the internet, we agree it is vital for the publishing side, and for my labour
side one must presume, as I blog and take photos for a customer and all of
that. I doubt if the phone will be apportioned, but you never know. Yet some
portion of that is definitely used for business. When you consider how few
personal calls I get, I would say the majority of it.
You're only going to get so much out of five or six
minutes on the phone.
I also think it would be pretty easy to get
discouraged, to lose part of your income or other benefits unnecessarily, and
ultimately to say, ‘to hell with it—it’s just not worth it.’ And yet the ODSP
and the government cheerfully admit that the disabled have the right to work.
In fact, they even encourage it to some extent,
judging by the slick radio ads.
***
The ODSP is unlikely to give much more than a one or two percent raise per year, (which is actually below the level of inflation and represents a yearly net loss of income), and nothing if the Conservatives win election, for the duration of their mandate.
In future, it would be beneficial to peg annual increases to the level of inflation, or two or three percent, whichever is more.
Bearing in mind not everyone would be able to benefit from these changes, the best thing the ODSP could do would be to raise the allowable earnings limit, and also raise the mileage rate from $0.18 to something more in line with industry standard. Some of the other guidelines are pretty murky, which must be a pain for staff as much as for the client.
Also, income support decisions can be appealed and must be provided in writing, along with instructions on how to ask for an internal review, and ultimately an appeal. Yet it is unclear whether decisions to withhold some other benefits can be appealed. I couldn't find anything on that on the website, nothing really clear anyways. The thing is, there's not much point in appealing if there's no way to win. Getting in the face of the staff isn't helpful as they're not the ones who wrote the guidelines. They're as hamstrung by guidelines as the client is.
#ODSP
Louis Shalako books and stories are available from Amazon.
Photo Credit.
Thank you for reading.
