New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services
Subchapter B - Public Assistance
Article 4 - Services to Individuals
Part 385 - Public Assistance And Food Stamp Employment Program Requirements
Section 385.13 - Voluntary termination of employment and voluntary reduction of earning capacity (voluntary quit)
Universal Citation: 18 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 385.13
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) Public assistance.
(1) For purposes of this
section, the term voluntary quit means voluntary termination of employment
and/or a reduction in earning capacity for the purpose of qualifying for
initial or increased public assistance. Such term shall include individuals who
provoke their own termination from employment or provoke an employer to reduce
their work hours.
(2) An individual
will be disqualified from receiving public assistance for a period specified in
this subdivision if the social services official determines that such
individual voluntarily quit his/her job.
(3) Public assistance will not be denied to a
public assistance applicant or discontinued for a recipient of such public
assistance who requests an increase in benefits, unless he/she has been
provided a reasonable opportunity to explain why he/she terminated his/her
employment or reduced his/her earning capacity or otherwise demonstrated that
he/she did not terminate employment or reduce earning capacity for the purpose
of qualifying for initial or increased public assistance.
(4) It is the responsibility of the applicant
or recipient to provide reasons or otherwise demonstrate that his/her voluntary
quit was not for the purpose of qualifying for initial or increased public
assistance.
(5) Upon determining
that the applicant or recipient voluntarily quit his/her job, the social
services district must inform the individual that:
(i) he/she will be provided a reasonable
opportunity to explain his/her reasons for such action or otherwise demonstrate
that such action was not taken for the purpose of qualifying for initial or
increased public assistance; and
(ii) it is his/her responsibility to provide
reasons or otherwise demonstrate that such action was not taken for the purpose
of qualifying for initial or increased public assistance.
(6) If the applicant or recipient provides
reasons or other relevant information regarding his/her voluntary termination
of employment or reduced earning capacity, the social services official must
determine if the information is sufficient to conclude that the applicant or
recipient did not terminate employment or reduce earning capacity to qualify
for initial or increased assistance.
(i) If
the information is determined to be sufficient, the applicant or recipient will
receive or continue to receive public assistance if all other eligibility
conditions are met.
(ii) If the
information is determined not to be sufficient, the applicant or recipient will
receive a notice of denial or intent to reduce or discontinue the public
assistance benefits.
(7)
If the applicant or recipient provides no reasons for his/her voluntary
termination of employment or reduction in earning capacity, then the social
services official must conclude that such action was taken with the intent to
qualify for initial or increased public assistance.
(8) An applicant or recipient who has been
determined by the social services official to have voluntarily terminated
his/her employment or reduced his/her earning capacity for the purpose of
qualifying for public assistance or increasing his/her public assistance
benefits will be disqualified from receiving assistance as follows:
(i) as an applicant, for 90 days from the
date of voluntary termination or reduced earning capacity;
(ii) as a recipient, such disqualification
will be in accordance with the sanctions prescribed for noncompliance with
employment requirements as specified in section
385.12(d)
of this Part.
(b) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
(1) Voluntary quit: If an individual
who is subject to SNAP work requirements voluntarily quits his/her job as
described in this section without good cause, he/she is not eligible to
participate in the SNAP program. Disqualification from participation must be in
accordance with the provisions of this section for a SNAP applicant and section
385.12(e)
of this Part for a SNAP recipient. This provision applies if the employment
involved 30 hours or more per week or the weekly earnings were equivalent to
the federal minimum wage multiplied by 30 hours, and the individual voluntarily
quit his/her job within 30 days prior to the date of application for SNAP
benefits or any time thereafter.
(2) Reduction of work effort: The reduction
of work effort provision applies if, before the reduction, the individual was
employed 30 hours or more per week and reduced his/her earnings to less than 30
hours multiplied by the federal minimum wage; the reduction occurred within a
period of 30 days prior to the date of application for SNAP benefits or any
time thereafter; and the reduction was voluntary and without good
cause.
(3) Minor variations in an
individual's work hours or weekly minimum wage equivalent wages must be taken
into consideration when assessing a SNAP recipient's compliance with work
rules. Minor variations that are not expected to be of an ongoing nature shall
not be considered a reduction in work effort or result in an individual who is
exempt due to the hours of employment or minimum wage becoming a work
registrant.
(4) Benefits may not
be delayed beyond the normal processing times as specified in section
387.14
of this Title pending the outcome of the determination of whether the applicant
voluntarily quit his/her job.
(5)
In the case of a SNAP applicant household, it must be determined if any
household member subject to SNAP work requirements voluntarily quit his or her
job or reduced his or her work effort without good cause within a period of 30
days prior to the date of application.
(6) In the case of a SNAP applicant
household, if the household has lost a source of income or experienced a
reduction in income after the date of application, but before the household is
certified, it must be determined whether a voluntary quit or reduction in work
effort occurred.
(7) In the case of
a SNAP applicant household where a voluntary quit without good cause by a
household member has been established, the household member must be
disqualified from the SNAP program for a period of time as outlined below,
provided, however, that the time period of such disqualification shall begin on
the date of the application for SNAP benefits.
(i) For the first instance of voluntary quit
or reduction in work effort without good cause, a period of 30 days and
thereafter until the individual complies with the requirements of this section
as determined by the social services district.
(ii) For the second instance of voluntary
quit or reduction in work effort without good cause, a period of 90 days and
thereafter until the individual complies with the requirements of this section
as determined by the social services district.
(iii) For the third and all subsequent
instances of voluntary quit or reduction in work effort without good cause, a
period of 180 days and thereafter until the individual complies with the
requirements of this section as determined by the social services
district.
(8)
(i) In the case of a SNAP recipient where a
willful and without good cause voluntary quit or reduction in work effort by an
individual has been established, including where the voluntary quit by the
individual occurred prior to application or between application and
certification, but which was discovered after certification, the individual
must be disqualified from participation in accordance with the provisions of
section
385.12(e)
of this Part; provided, however, that the period of disqualification begins
with the first month after all normal procedures for taking adverse action have
been followed unless a fair hearing is requested and the household requests
that SNAP benefits be continued without change. In such case, the
disqualification period may not begin until the fair hearing request is
withdrawn, the individual fails to appear or a fair hearing decision upholding
the social services district's action is issued. An individual whose voluntary
quit occurs or is determined in the last month of his/her certification period
must be denied recertification for a disqualification period established
pursuant to the provisions of section
385.12(e)
of this Part beginning with the first month after the certification period
ends. If such individual does not recertify, the disqualification period begins
with the month after the month in which the voluntary quit occurred, and a
claim must be established for any benefits received by the household during
that period of ineligibility.
(ii)
In the case of a recipient where a voluntary quit by a member of the household
has been established, the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph
apply, and the sanction will only apply to the needs of the disqualified
member.
(9) A household
member who is an employee of any federal, State or local government who is
dismissed from his/her job due to participation in a strike is deemed to have
voluntarily quit his/her job. The social services official must evaluate such a
voluntary quit in accordance with the requirements of this subdivision.
However, terminating a self-employment enterprise or resigning a job at the
employer's demand cannot be considered a voluntary quit for purposes of this
subdivision. In addition, for an individual who quits a job, secures new and
comparable employment, but through no fault of his/her own, loses the new job,
the earlier quit must not be considered a voluntary quit.
(10) Persons who, at the time they terminated
employment were exempt from the requirement to participate in SNAP work
requirements pursuant to section
385.3
of this Part, are exempt from the voluntary quit provisions.
(11) Applicants and recipients must be
provided with appropriate notice as specified in section
387.20
of this Title if they are disqualified from participation due to a
determination of voluntary quit. Such notification must contain the proposed
period of disqualification, notice of the household's or a household member's
right to reapply in order to resume participation at the end of the
disqualification period established pursuant to the provisions of section
385.12(e)
of this Part, and notice of such person's right to a fair hearing.
(12) A person who has been disqualified for a
voluntary quit and who joins a new household remains ineligible for the
remainder of the disqualification period.
(13) If an application is filed in the last
month of disqualification, the social services official must use the same
application for the denial of benefits in the remaining month of
disqualification and for certification for any subsequent month(s) if all other
eligibility criteria are met.
(14)
Good cause for leaving employment or reducing work hours.
(i) Prior to any action to deny or terminate
eligibility, the social services official must determine whether there was good
cause for terminating employment or reducing the hours of work to a total of
less than 30 hours per week. In determining whether or not good cause exists,
the social services official must consider all relevant facts and
circumstances, including information submitted by the individual who quit or
reduced his/her hours and by the current or former employer of such member. A
determination of good cause will be made where the social services official
finds that employment was terminated due to:
(a) discrimination by an employer based on
age, race, sex, color, handicap, religious beliefs, national origin or
political beliefs;
(b) work demands
or conditions that rendered continued employment unreasonable, such as not
being paid on schedule;
(c)
acceptance by the individual of employment or enrollment of at least half-time
in any recognized school, training program or institution of higher education,
that required the individual to leave employment;
(d) 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 county or
similar political subdivision which required the household to move and thereby
required the individual to leave employment;
(e) resignations by persons under the age of
60 which are recognized by the employer as retirement;
(f) acceptance of a bona fide offer of
employment of 30 hours per week or which on a weekly basis yields earnings of
at least 30 times the federal minimum wage but which, because of circumstances
beyond the individual's control, subsequently did not materialize or which
resulted in employment of less than 30 hours per week or which pays less than
30 times the federal minimum wage on a weekly basis;
(g) 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; and
(h) resignation from a job which is
unsuitable pursuant to the criteria specified in paragraph (15) of this
subdivision.
(ii)
Questionable information pertaining to a voluntary quit must be verified. The
social services district must offer assistance to the household in order to
assist it to obtain needed verification. Whenever documentary evidence cannot
be obtained, the social services district must substitute a possible collateral
source. If the household and social services district are unable to obtain the
requested verification because the voluntary quit resulted from circumstances
that for good reason cannot be verified (such as a resignation from employment
due to discrimination practices, unreasonable demands by an employer, or
because the employer cannot be located), the household cannot be denied access
to or terminated from participation in the program.
(15) Any SNAP employment is considered
unsuitable if:
(i) the wage offered is less
than the highest of the applicable Federal minimum wage, the applicable State
minimum wage, or 80 percent of the Federal minimum wage, if neither the Federal
nor State minimum wage is applicable;
(ii) the employment is offered on a
piece-rate basis and the average hourly yield the employee can reasonably
expect to earn is less than the applicable hourly wages as specified in
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph;
(iii) the household member, as a condition of
employment, must join, resign from, or refrain from joining a legitimate labor
organization; or
(iv) the work 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, commonly known as the Taft-Hartley Act, or unless an injunction has been
issued under section 10 of the Railway Labor Act.
(16) In addition, employment is suitable
unless the household member involved demonstrates or the social services
district otherwise becomes aware that:
(i)
the degree of risk to health and safety is unreasonable;
(ii) medical evidence or other reliable
information documents that the individual is physically or mentally unfit to
perform the job;
(iii) the
employment offered is not within the individual's major field of experience;
however, this provision only applies during the first 30 days after the date of
registration;
(iv) the distance
from the individual's home to the place of employment is unreasonable. In
determining reasonability, the social services district shall consider the
expected wage and the time and cost of commuting. Employment must not be
considered suitable if daily commuting time exceeds two hours per day, not
including the time involved in transporting of a child to and from a child care
facility. Employment may also be considered unsuitable if the distance to the
place of employment makes walking prohibitive and neither public nor private
transportation is available;
(v)
the working hours or type of employment conflicts with the individual's
religious observance, convictions or beliefs; or
(vi) the individual lacks adequate child care
for children in the household who are under age 13.
(17) Ending a voluntary quit or reduction in
hours disqualification.
(i) An individual may
reestablish eligibility after the end of his/her disqualification period if
he/she applies and is otherwise eligible, and if he/she:
(a) complies with the requirements of this
section and of this Part as determined by the social services district,
or
(b) secures new employment which
is comparable in salary or hours to the job which was quit; however, comparable
employment may entail fewer hours or lower net salary than the job which was
quit; or
(c) becomes exempt from
SNAP work requirements pursuant to section
385.3
of this Part.
(ii)
Eligibility may be reestablished during a disqualification, and the individual,
if otherwise eligible, may be permitted to resume participation if the
individual becomes exempt from SNAP work requirements pursuant to the
provisions of section
385.3(a)
of this Part.
(iii) Except in cases
of permanent disqualification, following the end of a disqualification, if an
application for SNAP benefits is filed in the final month of the mandatory
disqualification period, the social services district shall use the same
application for the denial of benefits in the remaining month of
disqualification and for the certification for any subsequent month(s) if all
other eligibility criteria are met.
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