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A person is also considered to have voluntarily quit if the person simply leaves the job unannounced or does not return to work. If the person says the absence was because of illness or similar good cause reasons, even if he does not report this to the employer and was fired, the person did not voluntarily quit, therefore, no work registration sanction may be applied. Prudent worker judgment is necessary to determine if a sanction for quit/reduction of hours should be imposed.

In addition, there are certain situations or changes in employment status that will not be considered a voluntary quit. A. If a change in employment status results from the employer reducing hours of employment through no fault of the employee, no penalty would be imposed; B. Terminating a self-employment enterprise; C. Resigning from a job at the demand of the employer if the employee did not cause the employer to request his/her resignation; or D. Quitting a job to take a new job with 30 or more hours a week of employment or employment paying at least the Federal minimum wage equivalent of 30 hours a week) and is then laid off or loses the new job through no fault of their own, the initial quit is not considered voluntary. E. If the individual is participating in certain types of WIOA, OJT, or Internships or other types of training, a quit or reduction in hours would not be a voluntary quit penalty.

20300 PENALTIES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE

Non-exempt individuals who do not comply with work registration regulations are not eligible to receive SNAP benefits. If the individual is sanctioned, he/she is considered an excluded household member. If an individual becomes exempt from work registration, his/her sanction will terminate, and eligibility may once again be established for that individual. Work registration sanctions must be imposed with 10 day adverse action notice if a household member fails work registration requirements during the household’s certification period.

The time frame for all work registration sanctions statewide are:  One month for the first occurrence:  Six months for the second occurrence; and  Twelve months for the third and subsequent occurrences.

The household is entitled to a notice of adverse action and may appeal through DSS' hearing system. The disqualification period will begin the first month following the expiration of the adverse action period unless the household complies or requests a fair hearing. A disqualification may be imposed after the end of a certification period thus a notice of adverse action (NCOM notice, for example) must be sent whenever the benefits specialist becomes aware of an individual’s non- compliance during a month they participated in SNAP. The disqualification period may begin after the certification period expires even if the household has not renewed their benefits. If the household reapplies during the disqualification period, the sanction continues until the end of the time period unless the individual is exempt from work registration requirements.

Example: An individual had been warned numerous times about smoking on the job, the employee continues smoking on the job and is fired when the employer catches him. This person had been warned by the employer, and continued the behavior after the warning, so the employee is considered to have voluntarily quit employment.