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Volume IIA

OMTL-683 SNAP Work Requirements

R. 10/25/25

MS 2100 ABAWD WORK REQUIREMENTS (1)

A. [Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) must comply with specific eligibility criteria and provide verification if required to maintain eligibility for SNAP benefits. To be eligible, the ABAWD must:]

1. Be exempt from ABAWD work requirements due to residing in an ABAWD waiver county;

2. [Participate in the Employment and Training (E&T) program. The E&T program provides participants the opportunity to find employment, training, or education in order to increase participants’ chances of finding employment. Required verification of participation is tracked and verified by an E&T Provider. For E&T information, refer to MS 3100;]

3. Be working 80 hours per month. The employment can be working for money (this includes self-employment), in-kind work, or unpaid (volunteer) work, or any combination of these. This would also include when someone works for rent instead of paying. The hours of in-kind/unpaid income must be verified at each recertification for the prior months in between cert periods.

Example: An individual comes in on May 1, 2023, for recertification. The worker must verify the hours of in-kind work for every month since the individual was last certified.

Individuals on strike or on temporary layoff are not considered employed. ABAWDs who are on sick leave from a job, whether paid or unpaid, are in compliance as long as they continue to be considered an employee of the business; or

4. [Participate at least 20 hours per week in a work program funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) or a Transitional Assistance Agreement (TAA). Households are required to report within 10 days, any change in work hours that brings them below the required 20 hours per week. Verification of participation is required.]

B. Non-exempt ABAWDs who fail to comply with the above requirements accumulate non-compliant months. An ABAWD can accumulate only 3 non- compliant months in a 36-month period before becoming ineligible for benefits.

C. ABAWDs are assigned compliant months if exempt from ABAWD provisions or in compliance with ABAWD requirements.

D. The following procedures apply to system questions related to determining ABAWD eligibility.

1. Verification of ABAWD eligibility questions is optional. If not verified, the case does not deny or discontinue solely for lack of this verification. At the end of the timely processing timeframe, the case will process without this verification, and any month for which ABAWD eligibility is not established is considered a noncompliant month.