FNS-583 reg citation

273.7 Work provisions.

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(a) Work requirements. (1) As a condition of eligibility for food stamps, each
household member not exempt under paragraph (b)(1) of this section must comply
with the following Food Stamp Program work requirements:
(i) Register for work or be registered by the State agency at the time of application
and every 12 months after initial registration. The member required to register need
not complete the registration form.
(ii) Participate in a Food Stamp Employment and Training (E&T) program if assigned
by the State agency, to the extent required by the State agency;
(iii) Participate in a workfare program if assigned by the State agency;
(iv) Provide the State agency or its designee with sufficient information regarding
employment status or availability for work;
(v) Report to an employer to whom referred by the State agency or its designee if the
potential employment meets the suitability requirements described in paragraph (h) of
this section;
(vi) Accept a bona fide offer of suitable employment, as defined in paragraph (h) of
this section, at a site or plant not subject to a strike or lockout, at a wage equal to the
higher of the Federal or State minimum wage or 80 percent of the wage that would
have governed had the minimum hourly rate under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act been applicable to the offer of employment.
(vii) Do not voluntarily and without good cause quit a job of 30 or more hours a week
or reduce work effort to less than 30 hours a week, in accordance with paragraph (j) of
this section.
(2) The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has defined the meaning of “good cause,”
and “voluntary quit,” and “reduction of work effort” as used in paragraph (a)(1)(vii)
of this section. See paragraph (i) of this section for a discussion of good cause; see
paragraph (j) of this section for a discussion of voluntary quit and reduction of work
effort.
(3) Each State agency will determine the meaning of any other terms used in
paragraph (a)(1) of this section; the procedures for establishing compliance with Food
Stamp Program work requirements; and whether an individual is complying with

Food Stamp Program work requirements. A State agency must not use a meaning,
procedure, or determination that is less restrictive on food stamp recipients than is a
comparable meaning, procedure, or determination under the State agency's program
funded under title IV-A of the Social Security Act.
(4) Strikers whose households are eligible under the criteria in §273.1(e) are subject to
Food Stamp Program work requirements unless they are exempt under paragraph
(b)(1) of this section at the time of application.
(5) State agencies may request approval from FNS to substitute State or local
procedures for work registration for PA households not subject to the work
requirements under title IV of the Social Security Act or for GA households.
However, the failure of a household member to comply with State or local work
requirements that exceed the requirements listed in this section must not be considered
grounds for disqualification. Work requirements imposed on refugees participating in
refugee resettlement programs may also be substituted, with FNS approval.
(6) Household members who are applying for SSI and for food stamps under
§273.2(k)(1)(i) will have Food Stamp Program work requirements waived until they
are determined eligible for SSI and become exempt from Food Stamp Program work
requirements, or until they are determined ineligible for SSI, at which time their
exemptions from Food Stamp Program work requirements will be reevaluated.
(b) Exemptions from work requirements. (1) The following persons are exempt from
Food Stamp Program work requirements:
(i) A person younger than 16 years of age or a person 60 years of age or older. A
person age 16 or 17 who is not the head of a household or who is attending school, or
is enrolled in an employment training program, on at least a half-time basis, is also
exempt. If the person turns 16 (or 18 under the preceding sentence) during a
certification period, the State agency must register the person as part of the next
scheduled recertification process, unless the person qualifies for another exemption.
(ii) A person physically or mentally unfit for employment. For the purposes of this
paragraph (b), a State agency will define physical and mental fitness; establish
procedures for verifying; and will verify claimed physical or mental unfitness when
necessary. However, the State agency must not use a definition, procedure for
verification, or verification that is less restrictive on food stamp recipients than a
comparable meaning, procedure, or determination under the State agency's program
funded under title IV-A of the Social Security Act.

(iii) A person subject to and complying with any work requirement under title IV of
the Social Security Act. If the exemption claimed is questionable, the State agency is
responsible for verifying the exemption.
(iv) A parent or other household member responsible for the care of a dependent child
under 6 or an incapacitated person. If the child has his or her 6th birthday during a
certification period, the State agency must work register the individual responsible for
the care of the child as part of the next scheduled recertification process, unless the
individual qualifies for another exemption.
(v) A person receiving unemployment compensation. A person who has applied for,
but is not yet receiving, unemployment compensation is also exempt if that person is
complying with work requirements that are part of the Federal-State unemployment
compensation application process. If the exemption claimed is questionable, the State
agency is responsible for verifying the exemption with the appropriate office of the
State employment services agency.
(vi) A regular participant in a drug addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation
program.
(vii) An employed or self-employed person working a minimum of 30 hours weekly
or earning weekly wages at least equal to the Federal minimum wage multiplied by 30
hours. This includes migrant and seasonal farm workers under contract or similar
agreement with an employer or crew chief to begin employment within 30 days
(although this will not prevent individuals from seeking additional services from the
State employment services agency). For work registration purposes, a person residing
in areas of Alaska designated in §274.10(a)(4)(iv) of this chapter, who subsistence
hunts and/or fishes a minimum of 30 hours weekly (averaged over the certification
period) is considered exempt as self-employed. An employed or self-employed person
who voluntarily and without good cause reduces his or her work effort and, after the
reduction, is working less than 30 hours per week, is ineligible to participate in the
Food Stamp Program under paragraph (j) of this section.
(viii) A student enrolled at least half-time in any recognized school, training program,
or institution of higher education. Students enrolled at least half-time in an institution
of higher education must meet the student eligibility requirements listed in §273.5. A
student will remain exempt during normal periods of class attendance, vacation, and
recess. If the student graduates, enrolls less than half-time, is suspended or expelled,
drops out, or does not intend to register for the next normal school term (excluding
summer), the State agency must work register the individual, unless the individual
qualifies for another exemption.

(2)(i) Persons losing exemption status due to any changes in circumstances that are
subject to the reporting requirements of §273.12 must register for employment when
the change is reported. If the State agency does not use a work registration form, it
must annotate the change to the member's exemption status. If a work registration
form is used, the State agency is responsible for providing the participant with a work
registration form when the change is reported. Participants are responsible for
returning the completed form to the State agency within 10 calendar days from the
date the form was handed to the household member reporting the change in person, or
the date the State agency mailed the form. If the participant fails to return the
completed form, the State agency must issue a notice of adverse action stating that the
participant is being terminated and why, but that the termination can be avoided by
returning the form.
(ii) Those persons who lose their exemption due to a change in circumstances that is
not subject to the reporting requirements of §273.12 must register for employment at
their household's next recertification.
(c) State agency responsibilities. (1) The State agency must register for work each
household member not exempted by the provisions of paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
As part of the work registration process, the State agency must explain to the
individual the pertinent work requirements, the rights and responsibilities of workregistered household members, and the consequences of failure to comply. The State
agency must provide a written statement of the above to each individual in the
household who is registered for work. A notice must also be provided when a
previously exempt individual or new household member becomes subject to a work
requirement, and at recertification. The State agency must permit the applicant to
complete a record or form for each household member required to register for
employment in accordance with paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section. Household
members are considered to have registered when an identifiable work registration
form is submitted to the State agency or when the registration is otherwise annotated
or recorded by the State agency.
(2) The State agency is responsible for screening each work registrant to determine
whether or not it is appropriate, based on the State agency's criteria, to refer the
individual to an E&T program, and if appropriate, referring the individual to an E&T
program component. Upon entry into each component, the State agency must inform
the participant, either orally or in writing, of the requirements of the component, what
will constitute noncompliance and the sanctions for noncompliance. The State agency
may, with FNS approval, use intake and sanction systems that are compatible with its
title IV-A work program. Such systems must be proposed and explained in the State
agency's E&T State Plan.

(3) The State agency must issue a notice of adverse action to an individual, or to a
household if appropriate, within 10 days after learning of the individual's
noncompliance with Food Stamp Program work requirements. The notice of adverse
action must meet the timeliness and adequacy requirements of §273.13. If the
individual complies before the end of the advance notice period, the State agency will
cancel the adverse action. If the State agency offers a conciliation process as part of its
E&T program, it must issue the notice of adverse action no later than the end of the
conciliation period.
(4) The State agency must design and operate an E&T program that may consist of
one or more or a combination of employment and/or training components as described
in paragraph (e)(1) of this section. The State agency must ensure that it is notified by
the agency or agencies operating its E&T components within 10 days if an E&T
mandatory participant fails to comply with E&T requirements.
(5) Each component of the State agency's E&T program must be delivered through its
statewide workforce development system, unless the component is not available
locally through such a system.
(6) In accordance with §272.2(d) and §272.2(e) of this chapter, the State agency must
prepare and submit an E&T Plan to its appropriate FNS Regional Office. The E&T
Plan must be available for public inspection at the State agency headquarters. In its
E&T Plan, the State agency will detail the following:
(i) The nature of the E&T components the State agency plans to offer and the reasons
for such components, including cost information. The methodology for State agency
reimbursement for education components must be specifically addressed;
(ii) An operating budget for the Federal fiscal year with an estimate of the cost of
operation for one full year. Any State agency that requests 50 percent Federal
reimbursement for State agency E&T administrative costs, other than for participant
reimbursements, must include in its plan, or amendments to its plan, an itemized list
of all activities and costs for which those Federal funds will be claimed, including the
costs for case management and casework to facilitate the transition from economic
dependency to self-sufficiency through work. Costs in excess of the Federal grant will
be allowed only with the prior approval of FNS and must be adequately documented
to assure that they are necessary, reasonable and properly allocated;
(iii) The categories and types of individuals the State agency intends to exempt from
E&T participation, the estimated percentage of work registrants the State agency plans
to exempt, and the frequency with which the State agency plans to reevaluate the
validity of its exemptions;

(iv) The characteristics of the population the State agency intends to place in E&T;
(v) The estimated number of volunteers the State agency expects to place in E&T;
(vi) The geographic areas covered and not covered by the E&T Plan and why, and the
type and location of services to be offered;
(vii) The method the State agency uses to count all work registrants as of the first day
of the new fiscal year;
(viii) The method the State agency uses to report work registrant information on the
quarterly Form FNS–583;