Page 261

Page | 260 13400 GOOD CAUSE FOR VOLUNTARILY QUITTING OR REDUCING HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT Refer to Appendix 7 – Procedures for SNAP E&T Good Cause Process

If the individual has good cause for reduction of employment hours or voluntarily quitting employment, no penalty will be imposed. DSS staff are responsible for determining good cause for individuals who have voluntarily quit a job or reduced their employment hours. This decision is not made by DLR staff.

A decision that good cause exists must involve all the facts and circumstances of the situation including those given by the household member and the employer. Good cause includes circumstances beyond the registrant's control. Examples are illness, illness of another household member serious enough to require the member's presence, no transportation available, or a household emergency. Good cause may also be granted if the individual left employment because they lacked adequate childcare for children under age twelve. Problems caused by the customer's inability to speak or write English could also constitute good cause. Good cause also includes leaving a job for the following reasons:

A. Discrimination by the employer based on age, race, sex, color, handicap, religious belief, national origin, or political beliefs. B. Work conditions or demands that make continued employment unreasonable such as working without being paid on time. C. Acceptance of employment (at least 30 hours a week or 30 hours multiplied by federal minimum wage) equal to the salary, or hours of the job terminated that was the reason for the quit. D. Acceptance by any other household member of employment of at least 30 hours a week, or the equivalent of 30 hours a week multiplied by the federal minimum wage that requires the individual to leave employment because the employment was located in another county or similar political subdivision which required the household to move. E. Enrollment by the individual of at least half-time in any recognized school, training program, or institution of higher education that requires the individual to leave employment. F. Enrollment by any other household member at least half-time in any recognized school, training program, institution of higher education in another county or similar political subdivision which requires the household to move and, thus, requires termination of employment. G. Resignation by persons under age 60 recognized by the employer as retirement. H. Leaving one job to take another job involving at least 30 hours a week or weekly earnings equivalent to 30 hours a week at federal minimum wage. Good cause is still granted if the job later does not materialize or results in employment of less than 30 hours a week or weekly earnings of less than the federal minimum wage multiplied by 30 hours as long as the change in job circumstances was beyond the control of the individual. I. Leaving a job in connection with patterns of employment in which Specialists frequently move from one employer to another. For example, to find work, migrant farm workers or construction workers frequently move from one employer to another. J. Employment which becomes unsuitable after the acceptance of employment such as: 1. The wages offered are less than the highest of: a) The applicable federal minimum wage; b) The applicable state minimum wage; c) Eighty percent of the federal minimum wage if neither the federal nor the state minimum wage are applicable.