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

the case record reflects that the pay received in the last 30 days accurately represents normal variations in the hours worked by the employee, the worker may use this income to anticipate monthly earnings. (If the normal pattern of pay includes weeks when little or no pay is received, these weeks must be included when anticipating monthly income.) If an employee’s income fluctuates to the extent the pay received in the last 30 days does not accurately portray the employee’s normal monthly earnings, additional verification of earnings for earlier weeks may be requested. For example, the worker may request the household provide verification of earnings for the past six or eight weeks. The earnings for all six or eight pay periods would be averaged together and the weekly average would be converted as instructed in SNAP 7513.1. (The household will not be penalized if it is difficult or impossible to obtain this additional verification. See SNAP 5514.) When the receipt of earned income is fairly certain but the amount fluctuates, the household also has the option of averaging several months’ earnings. See SNAP 7520 for additional information. When working with income such as farm labor or construction work that fluctuates seasonally, it may be appropriate to base anticipated earnings on earnings from the most recent season. Caution should be exercised when using income from a past season to anticipate current earnings since income may vary considerably from year to year as well as from season to season. For example, a farm worker may have high wages in a prior season that are not reflected in the current season due to heavy rains. Hourly wages may have changed. Changes in hourly wages may be anticipated by determining the number of hours worked at the old hourly rate and anticipating the same number of hours at the new rate. All decisions regarding the methods used to anticipate fluctuating earned income must be fully documented. See SNAP 7512.1. 7523.2 Wages Held by the Employer SNAP Manual 07/01/98 When an employee requests that the employer hold his wages for any reason, the wages will be considered income to the household in the month the employer would have otherwise paid these wages. With the following exceptions, when an employer holds wages as a general practice (even if in violation of the law) such wages will not be counted as income.