EBT Work Requirements: ABAWD Limits, Exemptions, and Appeals

If you get SNAP benefits on an EBT card and you’re between 16 and 59, you almost certainly have to meet some form of work requirement to keep them. The EBT work requirements come in two layers: a general set of duties (register for work, accept a suitable job, don’t quit without cause) that applies to nearly all working-age adults, and a stricter 80-hour-per-month rule for able-bodied adults without dependents, who lose benefits after three months if they don’t meet it. Big changes take effect in 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, pulling many more people into the stricter tier.

The Baseline Rules for Adults 16 to 59

If you’re in this age range and physically able to work, four obligations apply to you.¹ You have to register for work, take part in a SNAP Employment and Training program if your state assigns you to one, accept a suitable job when it’s offered, and avoid voluntarily quitting a job or cutting your hours below 30 a week without good reason.

“Suitable” is a defined term, not a judgment call. A job counts as suitable only if it pays at least the federal or state minimum wage (whichever is higher), doesn’t pose an unreasonable health or safety risk, doesn’t require more than a two-hour round-trip commute, and doesn’t conflict with your religious practices.² During your first 30 days after registering, you can also turn down a job that falls outside your primary line of work.

These general duties are the floor. Even if you don’t fall into the stricter ABAWD group described next, ignoring them still gets your benefits cut off.

The 80-Hour Rule and the Three-Month Clock

A second, tougher set of rules applies to Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs). If you fall into this group, you must work or take part in a qualifying activity for at least 80 hours a month — roughly 20 hours a week averaged across the month.³

Miss that threshold and you can only receive SNAP for three months in any three-year period.³ After the third month, benefits stop. You get them back by either working a full 80 hours in a 30-day stretch or qualifying for an exemption. Otherwise you wait for the three-year clock to reset.¹

This is where most people run into trouble. Every month you receive benefits without meeting the requirement burns one of your three months, whether or not you know it’s counting. By the time the notice arrives, the window is often already closed.

Who Counts as ABAWD in 2026

Before the 2026 changes, ABAWD rules covered adults 18 to 54 with no dependents.¹ The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) expands the group in two significant ways starting in 2026.

First, the upper age climbs from 54 to 64. Second, the “no dependents” test tightens: adults are now subject to the time limit unless they have a dependent child under 14. Previously, any child under 18 in the SNAP household kept you out of the ABAWD category.⁴

The law also removes several ABAWD exemptions added by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 — for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults who aged out of foster care — while adding new exemptions for certain Native American and Alaska Native individuals.⁴ USDA is still issuing implementation guidance, so confirm the current status with your local SNAP office.¹

Who Is Exempt

Exemptions exist for both tiers, and they don’t line up exactly.

Exemptions From the General Requirements

You don’t have to meet the general work requirements if any of these apply:¹

You already work at least 30 hours a week, or earn the equivalent of the federal minimum wage times 30 hours.
You care for a child under six or an incapacitated household member.
You’re unable to work due to a documented physical or mental limitation.
You’re regularly participating in a drug or alcohol treatment program.
You’re enrolled at least half-time in school or a training program (college students face separate SNAP eligibility rules).
You already meet work requirements for TANF or unemployment compensation.

Exemptions From the ABAWD Time Limit

Under current USDA guidance, the 80-hour rule doesn’t apply if you’re pregnant, have someone under 18 in your SNAP household, are unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation, or are already exempt from the general work requirements above.¹ The exemptions for veterans, homeless individuals, and former foster youth under 25 still appear in current guidance but are scheduled for removal under the 2025 law.⁴

A medical exemption often does not require a formal disability determination. A written statement from a doctor or licensed psychologist saying you can’t work is generally enough.²

College students should note that being in school can lift the general work requirement but doesn’t by itself qualify you for SNAP. You generally also need to work at least 20 hours a week in paid employment, take part in federal or state work-study, or be a single parent enrolled full-time caring for a child under 12. Students caring for a child under six also qualify, as do those caring for a child 6 to 11 who lack the childcare they’d need to work 20 hours a week while attending school.⁵

If you live in an area with an unemployment rate above 10 percent, your state may have obtained a federal waiver of the ABAWD time limit, meaning the three-month cutoff doesn’t apply while the waiver is in effect.⁶ The waiver only lifts the 80-hour rule; the general work requirements still apply.

What Counts Toward the 80 Hours

You don’t need a traditional 9-to-5 to meet the ABAWD requirement. Federal rules recognize a range of activities.¹

Any paid employment counts, including part-time, gig, and seasonal work.
Self-employment counts, with qualifying hours calculated by dividing your net earnings (gross income minus business expenses) by the federal minimum wage.
Unpaid or in-kind work — trading labor for something other than money, like cleaning apartments in exchange for reduced rent — counts.
Participation in SNAP Employment and Training, a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act program, or another approved federal, state, or local work program counts.
Volunteer work through a community service program and hours in a workfare program count.
Any combination of the above can add up to 80.

Job search, resume writing, and skills training may count too, but only when they’re part of a state-approved Employment and Training program. Deciding on your own to spend 80 hours a month job searching, without state coordination, does not satisfy the rule.

What Happens If You Don’t Comply

Penalties differ depending on which tier you broke.

For a general work requirement violation — not registering, refusing a suitable job, or quitting without good cause — disqualification periods escalate:²

First violation: at least one month, up to three at your state’s discretion.
Second violation: at least three months, up to six.
Third or later violation: at least six months, and some states may impose permanent disqualification.

In every case, benefits don’t restart until you actually begin complying — waiting out the minimum period is not enough. Voluntarily quitting a job or dropping below 30 hours a week without good cause triggers the same schedule.

Good cause can include temporary illness, an eviction or foreclosure, a sudden loss of transportation or childcare, a required court appearance, or domestic violence. If something outside your control kept you from meeting a requirement, tell your caseworker right away rather than assuming the penalty will lift on its own.

For ABAWDs, the consequence is simpler and harder to reverse. After three months on benefits without hitting 80 hours, you lose eligibility. You get benefits back by working 80 hours in a 30-day period or qualifying for an exemption, or by waiting for the three-year period to reset.¹

Separately, if you don’t report a change in work status and end up receiving more SNAP than you were entitled to, the state has to recover the overpayment.⁷ Recovery methods vary, but they commonly include reducing future benefits, lump-sum repayment, or installment plans. Delinquent overpayments can be referred to the federal Treasury Offset Program, which can intercept tax refunds and other federal payments.

Reporting Your Hours

Documentation is what keeps benefits flowing. Most states let you upload pay stubs, employer verification letters, or similar records through an online portal, and you can typically mail or drop them off if you don’t have internet access.

Timing is strict. Changes in employment or a drop in hours below the required threshold generally must be reported within 10 days after the end of the month the change happened in. Missing that window is one of the most common ways people trigger an overpayment claim or a sudden benefits cutoff.

If you’re self-employed, keep careful records of gross earnings and business expenses. Your qualifying hours are based on net income divided by the minimum wage, and your state may only recalculate at periodic reviews, so what you document now sets the baseline for months to come.

Appealing a Cutoff

If your benefits are reduced or terminated over a work requirement issue, you can request a fair hearing. Federal rules give you 90 days from the date of the agency’s action to file.⁸ You can also dispute your current benefit level at any point during your certification period.

Filing early matters. If you request a hearing before the effective date of the adverse action or within your state’s notice period, benefits may continue at the current level while the appeal is pending. Wait until after benefits have already been cut and no continued benefits are available during the appeal. And if you receive continued benefits but lose the hearing, the state can collect that amount back as an overpayment.

Fair hearings are run by an independent hearing officer, not the caseworker who made the original decision. You can bring evidence, bring witnesses, and explain circumstances the caseworker may not have considered, including good-cause reasons for noncompliance. Recipients disqualified over paperwork problems or miscommunication often win at this stage.

1
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
2
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.7 – Work Provisions
3
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.24 – Time Limit for Able-Bodied Adults
4
Congress.gov. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Related Provisions
5
Food and Nutrition Service. Students
6
Food and Nutrition Service. ABAWD Waivers
7
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Quality Control
8
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.15 – Fair Hearings