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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 7000 7500 Step 2 - Gross Income Eligibility 7523 Budgeting Earned Income

will not be counted in the household’s budget unless the member has received an award letter or other correspondence which states the initial month of benefit payment. In this case, the SSA may be added to the household’s budget effective with the first month of receipt.

7523 Budgeting Earned Income SNAP Manual 07/01/98 Normally, earned income will be anticipated by obtaining verification of earnings for the last 30 days, converting the income as instructed in SNAP 7513-7513.2 and including it in the household’s budget. However, if the earnings are from a new source or the income is ending or if the income varies widely from month to month, the worker must proceed as instructed in SNAP 7523.1.  NOTE: Complete instructions for verifying and documenting earned incomemay be found in SNAP 5725 - SNAP 5727) When earnings are from a new source, the household will be asked to provide any check stubs available. (The worker should be alert to check stubs which reflect less than a full week’s pay. These checks should not be used to anticipate normal monthly earnings unless the employee typically works less than a full week.) If the worker cannot determine the employee’s normal pay from examining the available check stubs, it will be necessary to contact the employer to verify the household’s normal working hours, rate of pay, and expected changes. If the employer cannot or will not provide this information, it may be necessary to anticipate income based on the household’s statements about expected earnings. Earnings from a terminated source will not be counted in the household’s budget in any month in which these earnings are not received. See SNAP 7512 for additional information. 7523.1 Fluctuating Earned Income SNAP Manual 11/01/02 To anticipate earned income which varies widely from week to week, the worker must first determine why the earned income fluctuates. When the fluctuation is caused by some unanticipated event such as, but not limited to, the illness of the employee, a household emergency or unexpected overtime, anticipated earnings should be based on the employee’s normal rate of pay. It may be possible to determine the