Voluntary Quit and Reduction of Work Effort

Voluntary Quit and Reduction of Work Effort. A. An individual is ineligible to participate in SNAP if the individual within 60 days prior to the date of application either: 1. Voluntarily and without good cause quits a job of 30 hours a week or more; or 2. Reduces his or her work effort voluntarily and without good cause and, after the reduction, is working less than 30 hours per week. B. MDHS must determine whether a voluntary quit or reduction in hours occurred without good cause when a household files an application or when a household reports a loss of a source of income or a reduction in household earnings. C. Changes in employment status that result from involuntarily reducing hours of employment while working for the same employer, terminating a self-employment enterprise, or resigning from a job at the demand of an employer will not be considered a voluntary quit. D. An employee of the Federal, State or local government who is dismissed from that job because of engaging in a strike against the government will be considered to have voluntarily quit his or her job without good cause. E. If an individual quits a job, secures new employment at comparable wages or hours and then is laid off or, through no fault of his or her own, loses the new job, the earlier quit will not be considered as a basis for disqualification. F. If the individual reduces his or her work hours to less than 30 a week but continues to earn weekly wages that exceed the Federal minimum wage multiplied by 30 hours, then that individual will remain exempt from SNAP work requirements. G. If the voluntarily quit or reduction in work effort is without good cause, the individual will be disqualified. H. MDHS must provide the disqualified individual with a notice of adverse action within 10 days of the voluntary quit or reduction in work effort determination. See Rule 12.6 Ineligibility for Failure to Comply and Rule 11.2 MDHS Responsibilities. I. The notice of adverse action must contain the particular act of noncompliance committed, the proposed period of ineligibility, and the actions that must be taken to avoid the disqualification. It must also specify that the disqualified individual, if otherwise eligible, may resume participation at the end of the disqualification period if MDHS determines the individual to be in compliance with SNAP work requirements. J. If the disqualified individual is the head of household, MDHS will also disqualify the entire household and provide the household with a notice of denial. K. Each individual has a right to a fair hearing to appeal a denial or termination of benefits due to a determination that the individual voluntarily quit his or her job or reduced his or her work effort without good cause. MDHS provides SNAP applicants and/or recipients an opportunity to appeal adverse administrative decisions and provide supporting documentation challenging the adverse or noncompliant action. Please refer to Title 18 of the Administrative Code, Part 23, Programmatic Administrative Agency Appeal Hearing Policy, Chapter 3.