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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 5, 2021 / Rules and Regulations private for-profit sector, the non-profit sector, or the public sector. Labor standards apply in any work experience setting where an employee/employer relationship, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act, exists.
A A work experience program may include:
1 A work activity performed in exchange for SNAP benefits that provides an individual with an opportunity to acquire the general skills, knowledge, and work habits necessary to obtain employment. The purpose of work activity is to improve the employability of those who cannot find unsubsidized full-time employment.
2 A work-based learning program, which, for the purposes of SNAP E&T, are sustained interactions with industry or community professionals in real world settings to the extent practicable, or simulated environments at an educational institution that foster indepth, firsthand engagement with the tasks required in a given career field, that are aligned to curriculum and instruction. Work-based learning emphasizes employer engagement, includes specific training objectives, and leads to regular employment. Workbased learning can include internships, pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, customized training, transitional jobs, incumbent worker training, and on-thejob training as defined under WIOA.
Work-based learning can include both subsidized and unsubsidized employment models.
B A work experience program must:
1 Not provide any work that has the effect of replacing the employment of an individual not participating in the employment or training experience program; and 2 Provide the same benefits and working conditions that are provided at the job site to employees performing comparable work for comparable hours.
v A project, program or experiment such as a supported work program aimed at accomplishing the purpose of the E&T program.
vi Educational programs or activities to improve basic skills, build work readiness, or otherwise improve employability including educational programs determined by the State agency to expand the job search abilities or employability of those subject to the program.
A Allowable educational programs or activities may include, but are not limited to, courses or programs of study that are part of a program of career and technical education as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006, high school or equivalent educational programs, remedial
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education programs to achieve a basic literacy level, and instructional programs in English as a second language.
B Only educational components that directly enhance the employability of the participants are allowable. A direct link between the education and jobreadiness must be established for a component to be approved.
vii A program designed to improve the self-sufficiency of recipients through self-employment. Included are programs that provide instruction for selfemployment ventures.
viii Job retention services that are designed to help achieve satisfactory performance, retain employment and to increase earnings over time. The State agency may offer job retention services, such as case management, job coaching, dependent care assistance and transportation assistance, for up to 90
days to an individual who has secured employment. State agencies must make a good faith effort to provide job retention services for at least 30 days.
The State agency may determine the start date for job retention services provided that the individual is participating in SNAP in the month of or the month prior to beginning job retention services. The State agency may provide job retention services to households leaving SNAP up to the 90day limit unless the individual is leaving SNAP due to a disqualification in accordance with 273.7f or 273.16. The participant must have secured employment after or while receiving other employment/training services under the E&T program offered by the State agency. There is no limit to the number of times an individual may receive job retention services as long as the individual has re-engaged with E&T
prior to obtaining new employment. An otherwise eligible individual who refuses or fails to accept or comply with job retention services offered by the State agency may not be disqualified as specified in paragraph f2 of this section.
ix Programs and activities conducted under the pilots authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014 Pub. L. 113
79 that the Secretary determines, based on the results from the independent evaluations conducted for those pilots, have the most demonstrable impact on the ability of participants to find and retain employment that leads to increased household income and reduced reliance on public assistance.
3 Exemptions. Each State agency may, at its discretion, exempt individual work registrants and categories of work registrants from E&T participation. Each State agency must periodically
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reevaluate its individual and categorical exemptions to determine whether they remain valid. Each State agency will establish the frequency of its periodic evaluation.
4 Time spent in an employment and training program. i Each State agency will determine the length of time a participant spends in case management or any E&T component it offers. The State agency may also determine the number of successive components in which a participant may be placed.
ii The time spent by the members of a household collectively each month in an E&T work program including, but not limited to, those carried out under paragraphs e2iii and iv of this section combined with any hours worked that month in a workfare program under paragraph m of this section must not exceed the number of hours equal to the households allotment for that month divided by the higher of the applicable Federal or State minimum wage. The total hours of participation in an E&T program for any household member individually in any month, together with any hours worked in a workfare program under paragraph m of this section and any hours worked for compensation in cash or in kind, must not exceed 120.
5 Voluntary participation. i A State agency may operate an E&T program in which individuals elect to participate.
ii A State agency must not disqualify voluntary participants in an E&T
program for failure to comply with E&T
requirements.
iii Voluntary participants are not subject to the restrictions in paragraph e4ii of this section, as long as the voluntary participants are paid a wage at least equal to the higher of the applicable Federal or State minimum wage for all hours spent in an E&T work program or workfare.
f Failure to comply1 Ineligibility for failure to comply. A nonexempt individual who refuses or fails without good cause, as defined in paragraphs i2, 3, and 4 of this section, to comply with SNAP work requirements listed under paragraph a1 of this section is ineligible to participate in SNAP, and will be considered an ineligible household member, pursuant to 273.1b7.
i As soon as the State agency learns of the individuals noncompliance it must determine whether good cause for the noncompliance exists, as discussed in paragraph i of this section. Within 10 days of establishing that the noncompliance was without good cause, the State agency must provide the individual with a notice of adverse action, as specified in 273.13. If the
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