340:50-5-85 Work registration

(a) Per Section 273.7(a)(1) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations (7 C.F.R. § 273.7(a)(1)), to be eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits, each household member not exempt per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:50-5-86 must comply with applicable work registration requirements included in (1) through (5) of this subsection. It is the worker's responsibility to explain to the applicant the work registration statement and each household member's work registration status and responsibility as stated in (1) through (5) of this subsection. Form 08MP003E, Responsibilities and Signature for Benefits, includes a work registration statement that upon signature, registers all household members 16 through 59 years of age required to comply with work registration. (1) A required work registrant must register for work or be registered at the time of application and every 12 months after initial registration. (2) A required work registrant must provide the Oklahoma Department of Human Services with sufficient information regarding his or her employment status or availability for work. (3) A required work registrant must accept a bona fide offer of suitable employment. (4) A required work registrant must agree to not voluntarily and, without good cause, quit a job of 30 hours or more per week or reduce his or her work effort to less than 30 hours per week. (5) When a household member is exempt from work registration because he or she is subject to and complying with unemployment compensation or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families work requirements per OAC 340:50-5-86(3) or (7), he or she must continue to comply or be subject to failure to comply requirements per OAC 340:50-5-87. (b) Good cause for failure or refusal to comply with work registration requirements. Per 7 C.F.R. § 273.7(i), a required work registrant has good cause for failing or refusing to comply with work registration requirements when there are circumstances beyond his or her control, such as, but not limited to: (1) illness; (2) illness of another household member requiring the presence of the registrant; (3) a household emergency; (4) unavailability of transportation; or (5) lack of adequate child care for children 6 through 11 years of age. (c) Suitable work. Any employment offered is considered suitable: (1) when the wage offered is at least the highest of the applicable federal minimum wage, the applicable state minimum wage, or 80 percent of the federal minimum wage, when neither the federal nor state minimum wage applies; (2) when the employment offered is on a piece-rate basis and the average hourly wage the employee can reasonably expect is at least equal to the applicable hourly wages specified; (3) when the registrant, in order to be hired or to continue working, is not required to join, resign from, or refrain from joining any legitimate labor organization; (4) when the work offered is not at a site subject to a strike or lockout at the time of the offer unless the strike has been enjoined under the Labor Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley) or an injunction has been issued under Section 10 of the Railway Labor Act; or (5) unless the registrant demonstrates or the worker determines the: (A) risk to health and safety is unreasonable; (B) registrant is physically or mentally unfit to perform the employment, as documented by medical evidence or other reliable information; (C) employment offered within the first 30-calendar days of registration is not in the registrant's major field of experience; (D) distance from the registrant's home to the place of employment is unreasonable based on the expected wage and the time and cost of daily commuting. Commuting time cannot exceed two hours daily; or (E) working hours or nature of the employment interferes with the registrant's religious observations, convictions, or beliefs.