Ohio Administrative Code|Rule 5101:4-3-11.1 | Food assistance: work registration requirements.

                                                
(A) What are the work registration
		  requirements for work registered individuals?
Each individual required to register for work
		  shall:
(1) Respond to a request for supplemental
			 information regarding employment status or availability for work;
(2) Report to an employer when referred
			 by the county agency unless the potential employment meets the unsuitability
			 criteria described in paragraph (E) of this rule;
(3) Accept a bona fide offer of suitable
			 employment when referred by the county agency; 
(4) Continue suitable employment until it
			 is no longer considered suitable; the individual is terminated for reasons
			 beyond the individual's control; or the individual becomes exempt from
			 work registration; and
(5) Participate in the appraisal process
			 and the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) employment and
			 training program (SNAP E&T) in accordance with rule 5101: 4-3-29 of the
			 Administrative Code, unless the individual is:
(a) Pregnant;
(b) Under eighteen or fifty years of age or older;
(c) A parent (natural, adoptive or step) of an assistance group
				member under age eighteen, even when the assistance group member who is under
				eighteen is not eligible for SNAP benefits; or 
(d) Residing in an assistance group where an assistance group
				member is under age eighteen, even when the assistance group member who is
				under eighteen is not eligible for SNAP benefits.
(B) What happens when an individual fails
		  or refuses to meet the work registration requirements?
(1) Failure or refusal to
			 complete the appraisal process as defined in rule 5101:4-3-29 of the
			 Administrative Code by a required individual will result in a sanction. A
			 sanction shall be applied in accordance with rule 5101:4-3-11.2 of the
			 Administrative Code. County agencies shall follow rule 5101:4-6-13 of the
			 Administrative Code for the treatment of income and resources of the
			 individual.
(2) Failure or refusal
			 without good cause to participate in SNAP E&T to the extent required by the
			 county agency will result in a sanction. A sanction shall be applied in
			 accordance with rule 5101:4-3-11.2 of the Administrative Code.
(3) Failure or refusal
			 without good cause to accept an offer of suitable employment will result in a
			 sanction. A sanction shall be applied in accordance with rule 5101:4-3-11.2 of
			 the Administrative Code. Unsuitable employment is defined in paragraph (E) of
			 this rule.
(4) Failure or refusal
			 without good cause to provide the county agency with sufficient information to
			 allow the county agency to determine the employment status or the job
			 availability of the individual will result in a sanction. A sanction shall be
			 applied in accordance with rule 5101:4-3-11.2 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(5) Voluntarily and
			 without good cause: quits a job of thirty or more hours a week or reduces work
			 effort and, after the reduction, the individual is working less than thirty
			 hours per week will result in a sanction. A sanction shall be applied in
			 accordance with rule 5101:4-3-11.2 of the Administrative Code. When the
			 individual reduces his or her work hours to less than thirty a week, but
			 continues to earn weekly wages that exceed the federal minimum wage multiplied
			 by thirty hours, the individual remains exempt from work registration in
			 accordance with rule 5101:4-3-11 of the Administrative Code.
(C) What is good cause?
(1) The county agency
			 shall be responsible for determining good cause at any time when a work
			 registered individual fails or refuses to comply with an appraisal, SNAP
			 E&T assignment or when a work registered individual voluntarily quits a job
			 or reduces his or her work effort. In determining whether or not good cause
			 exists, the county agency shall take into account the facts and circumstances,
			 including information submitted by the employer and the assistance group member
			 involved.
(2) An able-bodied adult
			 without dependents (ABAWD) who received good cause for failure to comply with
			 the mandatory SNAP E&T requirement is to also receive good cause for
			 failure to comply with the ABAWD work requirement, except as specified in
			 paragraph (C)(4)(g) of this rule. 
(3) When a SNAP E&T
			 provider determines an ABAWD is not suited for participation in the assigned
			 component as described in rule 5101:4-3-11.2 of the Administrative Code the
			 individual has good cause from the SNAP E&T assignment and ABAWD work
			 requirement through the month the individual is notified in writing of the
			 determination. The ABAWD is to accrue countable months toward their three-month
			 time limit the next full benefit month after the notification.
(4) Good cause shall include
			 circumstances beyond the individual's control, such as, but not limited
			 to:
(a) Illness;
(b) Illness of another assistance group member requiring
				the presence of the member;
(c) Assistance group emergency;
(d) The unavailability of transportation;
(e) The lack of adequate child care for children who have
				reached age six but are under age twelve;
(f) Domestic violence as outlined in paragraph (F) of this
				rule; or
(g) When an appropriate SNAP E&T component is not
				available. This is not considered good cause from the able-bodied adults
				without dependents work requirement.
(5) When the county agency determines
			 that good cause exists the individual shall be excused and a sanction shall not
			 be imposed.
(D) What is good cause for leaving
		  employment?
Good cause for leaving employment includes the
		  good cause provisions outlined in paragraph (C) of this rule. Good cause for
		  leaving employment also includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Discrimination by an
			 employer based on age, race, sex, color, handicap, religious beliefs, national
			 origin or political beliefs.
(2) Work demands or
			 conditions that render continued employment unreasonable, such as working
			 without being paid on schedule.
(3) Acceptance of
			 employment by the individual, or enrollment by the individual in any recognized
			 school, training program, or institution of higher education on at least a half
			 time basis, that requires the individual to leave employment; or acceptance by
			 any other assistance group member of employment or enrollment at least half
			 time in any recognized school, training program, or institution of higher
			 education in another county or similar political subdivision that requires the
			 assistance group to move and thereby requires the individual to leave
			 employment.
(4) Resignations by
			 persons under the age of sixty that are recognized by the employer as
			 retirement.
(5) Employment that
			 becomes unsuitable, as specified in paragraph (E) of this rule, after the
			 acceptance of such employment.
(6) Acceptance of a bona
			 fide offer of employment of more than thirty hours a week or in which the
			 weekly earnings are equivalent to the federal minimum wage multiplied by thirty
			 hours that, because of circumstances beyond the control of the individual,
			 subsequently either does not materialize or results in employment that does not
			 meet the requirements provided for in paragraph (E)(1) of this
			 rule.
(7) Leaving a job in
			 connection with patterns of employment in which workers frequently move from
			 one employer to another such as migrant farm labor or construction work. There
			 may be some circumstances where assistance groups will apply for SNAP benefits
			 between jobs particularly in cases where work may not yet be available at the
			 new job site. Even though employment at the new site has not actually begun,
			 the quitting of the previous employment shall be considered good cause when it
			 is part of the pattern of that type of employment.
(8)  When a county agency
			 finds the information regarding an assertion of good cause is questionable as
			 defined in rule 5101:4-2-09 of the Administrative Code, the county agency shall
			 request verification of the assistance group's statements. It is the
			 assistance group's responsibility to provide the necessary verification in
			 accordance with rule 5101:4-2-09 of the Administrative Code. However, when the
			 county agency has access to the information needed it should be considered.
			 When assistance in gathering the information is needed, it must be provided.
			 When good cause is questionable and the assistance group fails or refuses to
			 provide verification of the questionable information, good cause shall not be
			 determined.
(E) What is unsuitable
		  employment?
(1) In addition to any
			 criteria established by county agencies, employment shall be considered
			 unsuitable under any of the following conditions:
(a) The wage offered is less than the highest of:
(i) The applicable
				  federal or state minimum wage; or
(ii) Eighty per cent of
				  the federal minimum wage, when neither the federal nor the state minimum wage
				  is applicable;
(b) The employment offered is on a piece-rate basis, and the
				average hourly yield the employee can reasonably be expected to earn is less
				than the applicable hourly wages;
(c) The assistance group member, as a condition of employment or
				continuing employment, is required to join, resign from, or refrain from
				joining any legitimate labor organization; or
(d) The work offered is at a site subject to a strike or lockout
				at the time of the offer unless the strike has been enjoined under section 208
				of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 29 U.S.C. 141 (6/1947), or unless
				an injunction has been issued under section 10 of the Railway Labor Act of
				1926, 45 U.S.C. 151 (10/1996).
(F) What are the requirements for victims
		  of domestic violence?
Individuals who are victims of domestic violence
		  as defined in rule 5101:1-3-20 of the Administrative Code shall be treated as
		  follows:
(1) Individuals who are
			 victims of domestic violence shall be identified through the appraisal process
			 in accordance with rule 5101:4-3-29 of the Administrative Code.
(2)  When the county
			 agency determines that the individual has been subjected to domestic violence
			 and requiring participation in SNAP E&T would make it more difficult for
			 the individual to escape domestic violence or unfairly penalize the individual,
			 the county agency may excuse the individual from the employment and training
			 program requirements, when supporting documentation as described in paragraph
			 (F)(1) of rule 5101:1-3-20 of the Administrative Code is provided.
(3)  When an individual
			 is assigned to and engaged in an employment and training activity and fails to
			 comply as a result of domestic violence, the county agency shall excuse and
			 shall not impose a sanction for failure to comply with the SNAP E&T
			 requirement.
(4) The county agency
			 shall review the continued eligibility of the excused non-participation at
			 least once every six months. The county agency may, at its option, review the
			 individual's excused non-participation more frequently than every six
			 months. There is no limit on the number of times (or length of time) that an
			 excuse can be extended.


Last updated November 18, 2021 at 8:40 AM