Voluntary Quit Provisions

(A) If a household member is unemployed and has voluntarily quit a job without good cause, the individual or household will be disqualified in accordance with 106 CMR 367.800: Disqualification Penalties. Good cause criteria are found in 106 CMR 362.340(C). (1) Applicant Households. For applicant households, when a client subject to the SNAP work requirements at 106 CMR 362.310 is unemployed and has voluntarily quit a job without good cause within the 60 days before application, the entire household shall be ineligible in accordance with 106 CMR 367.800: Disqualification Penalties. (2) Ongoing Households. For ongoing households, when a client subject to SNAP work requirements is unemployed and has voluntarily quit a job without good cause while participating in the program, the individual shall be disqualified in accordance with 106 CMR 367.800: Disqualification Penalties. The entire household will be disqualified in accordance with 106 CMR 367.800 if the head of household voluntarily quits a job while participating in the program. Persons who have been disqualified for quitting a job without good cause will carry their sanction with them if they join a new household. (B) Definition of Unemployed. Employment of less than 20 hours per week or receiving weekly earnings that are less than the federal minimum wage multiplied by 20 hours. This 20-hour requirement is different from the 30-hour requirement used to determine full time employment for exemption from SNAP work requirements as provided in 106 CMR 362.310(C)(8). (C) Voluntary Quit Good Cause Criteria. Good cause for leaving employment includes the good cause reasons found at 106 CMR 362.330 as well as the following reasons: (1) Work demands or conditions that render continued employment unreasonable, such as working without being paid on schedule; (2) Acceptance of employment by the household member or enrollment at least half-time in any recognized school, training program or institution of higher education that requires the household member to leave employment; (3) Acceptance of employment by the household member or enrollment at least half-time in any recognized school, including high school, training program or institution of higher education that requires the household to move and the household member to leave employment; (4) Resignations by persons younger than 60 years old when the resignation is recognized by the employer as retirement; (5) Employment becomes unsuitable after acceptance of such employment in accordance with 106 CMR 362.330(A)(3) through (8); (6) Acceptance by the household member of a bona fide offer of employment of more than 20 hours per week or in which the weekly earnings are at least equivalent to the federal minimum wage multiplied by 20 hours when, because of circumstances beyond the household member's control, the employment subsequently either does not happen or results in employment of less than 20 hours per week or weekly earnings of less than the federal minimum wage multiplied by 20 hours; and (7) The leaving of employment by the household member in connection with patterns of employment in which workers frequently move from one employer to another, such as migrant farm labor or construction work. There may be some circumstances when households will apply for SNAP benefits between jobs particularly in cases where work may not yet be available at the new job site. Even though employment at the new site has not actually begun, the quitting of the previous employment shall be considered considered as with good cause if it is part of the pattern of that type of employment. (D) Changes in Employment That Are Not Considered a Voluntary Quit. Changes in employment that are not considered a voluntary quit include the following: (1) Reducing hours of employment while working for the same employer; (2) Termination of a self-employment enterprise; (3) Resigning from a job at the demand of the employer; and Exception: Federal, state, or local government employees who participate in a strike against such employers and who are dismissed from their jobs because of participation in the strike shall be considered to have voluntarily quit their job without good cause. (4) If an individual quits a job, secures new employment at comparable wages or hours and is then laid off through no fault of his or her own, the earlier quit will not form the basis of a disqualification. (E) Exemption from the Voluntary Quit Provision. Persons exempt from SNAP work requirements at 106 CMR 362.310(C), with the exception of 106 CMR 362.310(C)(8), are exempt from voluntary quit provisions. (F) Verification of Voluntary Quit. The Department shall request verification of the client's statements only when information given by the client is questionable, inconsistent with information on the application or previous applications or inconsistent with information known to the Department. The primary responsibility for providing verification rests with the client. However, if it is difficult or impossible for the client to obtain documentary evidence in a timely manner, the Department shall offer assistance to the client to obtain the needed verification. (1) Sources of Verification. Acceptable sources of verification include, but are not limited to, the previous employer, employee associations, union representatives and grievance committees or organizations. Whenever documentary evidence cannot be obtained, a Department shall substitute a collateral contact. If the collateral contact designated by the household cannot be expected to provide accurate third-party verification, the Department shall ask the household to designate another collateral contact and document in the case record why the original collateral contact was unacceptable. (2) Inability to Obtain Verification. No household shall be denied participation in SNAP when the household and the Department are unable to obtain verification from the sources in 106 CMR 362.340(1), or from other sources because the reason for the quit cannot be verified. Such reasons include, but are not limited to, resignation due to discriminatory practices or unreasonable demands by an employer or because the employer cannot be located. (G) Voluntary Quit at Application. When the Department makes a determination of voluntary quit without good cause, the household's application shall be denied and the entire household shall remain ineligible to participate in SNAP in accordance with 106 CMR 367.800: Disqualification Penalties. If a household reapplies with less than 30 days remaining in the disqualification period, the Department shall use the same application to deny benefits for the remainder of the disqualification period and to certify the household for subsequent month(s) if all other eligibility criteria are met by the household in accordance with 106 CMR 364.110(A). (H) Voluntary Quit for Participating Household. When the Department makes a determination of voluntary quit during a household's participation in the program, a Notice of Adverse Action shall be sent within ten days after the determination of a voluntary quit is made. The disqualification period shall comply with 106 CMR 367.800: Disqualification Penalties. (I) Ending a Voluntary Quit Disqualification. Following the end of the disqualification period, a household may begin participation in the program if it applies again and is determined eligible. Eligibility may be reestablished during a disqualification period and the household shall be permitted to resume participation in the program, if the household is otherwise eligible and the member who caused the disqualification: (1) gets a new job that is comparable in salary or hours to the job that was quit (comparable employment may involve fewer hours or a lower net salary than the job that was quit); (2) leaves the household; or (3) becomes exempt from SNAP work requirements pursuant to 106 CMR 362.310(C) with the exception of 106 CMR 362.310(C)(8).