602-1 M.     GOOD CAUSE PROVISIONS

A person who is required to meet SNAP work requirements will be considered to be satisfying the work requirements if good cause exists, the absence from the assigned work activity is temporary, and, if the person is employed, the person retains the job.

The household must provide verification of the reason for the quit or reduction of work hours when information appears questionable.  If the cause cannot be verified, such as when the resignation is due to discriminatory practices or unreasonable demands by the employer, the household member will not be disqualified.

In determining if good cause exists, all facts and circumstances must be considered.  This includes information provided by the household member and, if applicable, by the employer.  Good cause includes:

1. Circumstances beyond the member's control, such as illness, illness of another household member serious enough to require the presence of the member, unavailability of transportation, inability to write or speak English and job information was given only in English, unanticipated emergency, or the lack of adequate child care for children 6 through 11 years of age.
 

2. Discrimination by an employer based on age, race, sex, color, handicap, religious beliefs, national origin or political beliefs.
 

3. Work demands or conditions that render continued employment unreasonable, such as working without being paid on schedule.
 

4. Acceptance by the head of household of employment or enrollment of at least half-time in any recognized school, training program or institution of higher education that forces the head of household to leave employment.
 

5. Acceptance by any other household member of employment or enrollment at least half-time in any recognized school, training program or institution of higher education in another city which requires the household to move and thereby requires the head of household to leave employment.
 

6. Resignations by persons under the age of 60 that are recognized by the employer as retirement.
 

7. Employment becomes unsuitable, as defined at MS 602-1N after the acceptance of such employment.
 

8. Acceptance of a bona fide job offer of more than 30 hours weekly in which the weekly wages equal the federal minimum wage times 30 hours, but then, because of circumstances beyond the wage earner's control, the job either does not materialize or results in less than 30 hours of work a week or weekly earnings of less than the federal minimum wage times 30 hours.
 

9. Leaving a job in connection with patterns of employment in which workers frequently move from one employer to another such as construction work. There may be some circumstances where households will apply for SNAP 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 if it is part of the pattern of that type of employment.

Note:   

Good cause does not exist for federal, state, or local government personnel who participate in a strike and are then dismissed from that job because of being a striker.  These people are considered to have voluntarily quit their jobs.