SF Works - Working Resources Portal

Hiring tax credits – some worth tens of thousands of dollars per employee, per year – are going unclaimed by countless Bay Area businesses.

Based on where your business is located or characteristics of your employees, you may be eligible for one or more of these hiring tax credits and may not even know it.

Even businesses that are aware of some of the credits they could claim, often do not apply for the credits because the process can be time-consuming or confusing. And some businesses that are accessing claims are being charged an exorbitant amount by third parties who help them process the claims.

SF Works' service and technology identifies and applies for potentially tens of thousand of dollars of tax savings for you, while allowing you to concentrate on growing your business.

San Francisco businesses are leaving millions of dollars on the table each year – money available from Federal, State and local governments to help businesses that hire hard-to-employ individuals or that locate in areas in need of revitalization.

Why? Understanding and applying for hiring tax credits can be complex, time-consuming, and a process-intensive headache for businesses of all sizes.

As a business owner or manager, you struggle to be successful in an expensive environment with some of the highest operating costs in the country.

SF Works' service and technology identifies and applies for potentially tens of thousand of dollars of tax savings for you, while allowing you to concentrate on growing your business.

Even businesses that do access some of the hiring credits often leave other potential credits on the table because of concerns about employee privacy. By combining SF Works' Working Resources Portal screening for your employees with the hiring tax credit screening, SF Works will confidentially collect the employee data needed to yield the most robust tax credit savings for your business. SF Works' business services team will then help you screen for, apply, back-apply and file for hiring tax credits.

Employer Hiring Tax Credits available to San Francisco businesses – worth upwards of $47,940 per qualifying employee:

Qualifications are based on the location of your business or specific characteristics of your employees.

For-profit employers who reside in Federal Renewal, State and local Enterprise zones (a substantial portion of San Francisco businesses) may be eligible for these tax savings. Nonprofit organizations are not eligible.

The characteristics of your employees also affect whether you qualify for tax credits, including factors such as hire date, residence, income, veteran status, and many more.

Make sure you don't leave any money on the table: By conducting Working Resources screenings to your employees, SF Works can collect the data necessary to determine your business's eligibility for hiring tax credits – a win-win solution for your employees and your business.

There are no up-front costs charged to employers for the hiring tax credit screening. SF Works will offer three levels of service, with the costs to be charged as a percentage of the tax savings your business realizes.

No! Many of the credits allow employers to realize tax credit savings for a retained employee for 2-5 years. Moreover, some of these credits are retroactive for three years.

With the Working Resources Portal and our consulting services, SF Works can help employers retroactively claim these credits.

The Employer Hiring Tax Credits Screening Tool will be available in Q2 of 2008. Beginning then, we can schedule tax credit screenings at your convenience.

Prior to roll out of this full service technology offering, SF Works' team members can meet with you to review opportunities and your assess eligibility.

If you would like to receive priority for our service, please contact us using the "request information" link at the bottom of this page.

Request information from us now. An SF Works employee will be in touch with you promptly.

Request information from us now. An SF Works employee will be in touch with you promptly.

View Federal Renewal Zone map

View California Enterprise Zone map

View San Francisco Enterprise Zone map

Remember, other factors, such as employee characteristics, also affect qualification for certain tax credits.

Employees receive a financial boost that puts more money in their pockets – through tax credits, community and public resources and benefits.

See how much money an employee could save.

Employees also save numerous hours of time and lost pay when they can connect to the tax credits and community resources for which they may be eligible all in one place. The benefits available through the Working Resources Portal can be time-consuming and difficult to apply for. SF Works makes it fast and easy.

You stand to save tens of thousands of dollars from hiring tax credits. The Working Resources Portal collects detailed employee data that may qualify you for numerous Federal, State and local tax credits. Beginning in the second quarter of 2008, the Working Resources Portal, together with SF Works' Employer Hiring Tax Credits Screening Tool, can deliver substantial savings to your business's coffers.

In addition, when you offer the Working Resources Portal at your workplace you:

• build trust and good will with employees, which in turn can boost morale and retention and increase productivity
• give your employees the ability to keep and save more of what they earn
• boost the local economy when employees have more money to spend in local businesses like yours

Why should I be interested in the Employer Hiring Tax Credit Screening Tool?

Employees who have an annual household income of $40,000 (or $19.48/hour if full-time) or less may qualify for some or all of the benefits screened and applied for through the Working Resources Portal.

In addition to screening your employees for possible free tax preparation assistance (available at multiple locations throughout the Bay Area), the portal helps workers access the following tax credits and resources:

No. Most of the credits and resources are available to qualifying employees regardless of where they live in the Bay Area. At this time, only the Working Families Credit, Muni passes and the Free & Reduced Price School Meals program are limited to San Francisco residents.

Yes. SF Works' staff will be available to screen employees whose primary language is English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin or Tagalog.

Working Resources screenings are currently offered free of charge to employers. SF Works provides the technology, staff, printing and other associated costs. To provide Working Resources to your employees, SF Works requests assistance with:

• Identification of eligible employees. You will be asked to complete a short survey indicating the number of employees in the salary/wage range, which types of positions they occupy, and if possible, their primary and secondary language(s). For employers with multiple sites, further breakdown of where employees are located will inform both employers and SF Works' staff in developing an effective implementation plan and in determining collateral needs.
• Room/space identification and screening schedule. SF Works' staff will need a semi-private space – with Internet access or a strong cellular signal - for 1-4 staff to screen the equivalent number of employees on specified dates.
• Outreach to eligible employees. We ask for your help in getting the word out to your employees about screening sessions. SF Works provides flyers, posters and FAQs for you to post and disseminate, once you have approved content. We can also provide newsletter copy, talking points for supervisors, and assistance with direct mailings. We ask employers to work with us to develop a simple outreach plan appropriate for your employees that includes some combination of the above.
• Assistance with scheduling employees' appointments and appointment reminders (optional). Employees may be more likely to schedule a screening session if they are able to do so with a member of your staff. If this is not possible, SF Works can contract the United Way of the Bay Area's 2-1-1 call center to perform this function.
• Release time for employees to participate in sessions(where possible). Research from screening projects throughout the country demonstrates a far greater take-up rate for employees who receive paid release time from shifts to attend sessions, rather than requiring them to do so before or after shifts, or on days off. Release time benefits you, the employer, as well: 30 minutes of paid time off to participate in a screening session will cost you less than potential lost time when an employee misses a day of work to sign their family up for some of these benefits offsite. If you cannot provide paid release time, SF Works will work with you to develop a screening schedule that aligns with shift changes and pre/post-operation hours.

We recommend that large employers designate the above tasks to a small project team, including members of Human Resources, Communications, Information Technology, etc. This helps ensure that the benefits screening process runs smoothly for you and your employees.

As many of the resources are tax credits, the ideal time to screen employees is during the month of February, after W-2's have been mailed and while free tax preparation assistance is available. There are numerous other resources, however, that are not dependent on tax filing, so SF Works staff can arrange to screen employees at various times during the year. Some employers prefer to make the screening sessions part of new-hire orientations throughout the year. SF Work's staff will work with you to design a schedule that makes sense for your workplace.

Yes. Take a short tour of the benefits screening tool now.

Complete our request information form and a member of our staff will contact you promptly.