SECTION 340:50-5-89. Voluntary quit and reduction of work effort

(a)   Per Section 273.7(j) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations, any applicant or participating adult household member who is not exempt from work registration requirements per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:50-5-86 is not eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits when, within 60-calendar days of the application or any time thereafter, the person voluntarily and without good cause:

(1)   quits a job of 30 hours or more per week or a job that provided weekly earnings equaling at least the equivalent of the federal minimum wage multiplied by 30; or

(2)   reduces his or her work effort. The reduction in work effort is:

(A)   considered a voluntary quit when the person worked 30 hours or more per week prior to the reduction; and

(B)   not considered a voluntary quit when after the reduction, he or she continues to earn weekly wages that exceed the federal minimum wage multiplied by 30 hours.

(b)   When a household files an application or a participating household reports loss of income, the worker determines if the voluntary quit sanction applies. When information provided by the household is questionable, the worker may request or obtain verification of the household's statement.

(c)   Changes in employment status that result from terminating a self-employment enterprise or resigning from a job at the demand of the employer are not considered as a voluntary quit.

(d)   When the household member who voluntarily quit subsequently secures new employment of at least 30 hours per week or weekly earnings equivalent to the federal minimum wage multiplied by 30 hours, the voluntary quit provision does not apply. When the household member is then laid off or through no fault of his or her own loses the new job, the earlier voluntary quit does not form the basis for a disqualification.

(e)   A federal, state, or local government employee who participates in a strike against such government and is dismissed from his or her job because of participation in the strike, is considered to have voluntarily quit the job.

[Source: Amended at 9 Ok Reg 3843, eff 8-24-92 (emergency); Amended at 10 Ok Reg 1821, eff 5-13-93; Amended at 10 Ok Reg 4851, eff 9-8-93 (preemptive); Amended at 18 Ok Reg 2079, eff 7-1-01; Amended at 35 Ok Reg 1659, eff 9-17-18]