SNAP Work Requirements 2026: New Rules Under H.R. 1 & Who's Exempt

The SNAP work requirements changed more in July 2025 than in the previous 15 years combined. If you get food stamps, know someone who does, or work with people who do, this is the guide you need for what is actually happening in 2026, who now has to work to keep benefits, and who is still exempt.

What are SNAP work requirements?

SNAP has two separate work rules and they are easy to confuse. The general work requirement applies to most working-age adults on SNAP. The ABAWD requirement is stricter and applies to adults without dependents.

General work requirement. If you are 16 to 59 and able to work, you must register for work, take a suitable job if offered, not quit a job or cut your hours below 30 a week without a good reason, and participate in SNAP Employment and Training if your state assigns you. The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA), previously the Food and Nutrition Service, spells these out on its work requirements page.

ABAWD requirement. ABAWD stands for “able-bodied adult without dependents.” If you fall in this category, you have to work at least 80 hours a month, participate in a work or training program for 80 hours, or combine both to reach 80 hours. If you cannot show the hours, you can only get SNAP for three months in any three-year period. That three-month cap is called the ABAWD time limit.

The 80 hours is the number that has not changed. What changed in 2025 is who is now an ABAWD, which is the entire point of the new rules.

What changed under H.R. 1 (the Big Beautiful Bill Act)?

President Trump signed H.R. 1, also called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. L. 119-21), on July 4, 2025. It rewrote federal ABAWD rules in four ways that matter for anyone on SNAP.

1. The age ceiling jumped from 54 to 64. Before H.R. 1, once you turned 55 you were exempt from ABAWD rules. Now you have to keep meeting the 80-hour rule until you turn 65. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates this alone affects millions of older adults, many of whom are already working part-time in jobs with unstable hours.

2. Parents of school-age children lost their broad exemption. The old rule exempted any parent whose child was under 18. The new rule only exempts parents whose youngest child is under 14. If your youngest is 14, 15, 16, or 17, you are now on the clock for 80 hours a month unless you qualify for another exemption.

3. Three exemption groups were eliminated. Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth ages 18 to 24 all had explicit ABAWD exemptions before H.R. 1. All three groups now have to meet the same work rules as everyone else.

4. Area waivers got much harder to obtain. States used to be able to waive the three-month time limit in areas with weak labor markets. H.R. 1 requires the local unemployment rate to be over 10 percent for a waiver, and it eliminated the option to waive the rule statewide. Only a small fraction of US counties currently qualify.

One group gained a new exemption: members of federally recognized tribes and certain other Native American groups as defined by the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (Indian, Urban Indian, or California Indian). This exemption applies automatically once your state agency can verify eligibility.

When do the new SNAP work requirements take effect?

The federal law took effect on July 4, 2025, but states did not begin actually enforcing the rules on that date. Pennsylvania was first (September 1, 2025). Most other states began enforcement between December 1, 2025 and June 1, 2026 depending on their computer systems, staffing, and any active waivers. See the state timeline table below for the specific date in your state.

How enforcement actually rolls out. For new applicants, the rules apply the moment you apply for benefits. For people already on SNAP, states began applying the rules at your next scheduled recertification, which happens every six or twelve months depending on your household. If you recertified in October 2025, you were grandfathered until your next appointment in the spring or fall of 2026. If you were due to recertify in December, you likely got the new rules right away.

Countable months. The USDA told state agencies not to count November 2025 as a countable month against the three-month time limit. The clock effectively started in December 2025.

States that delayed enforcement into 2026. California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Nevada, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands all had statewide waivers or delayed rollouts that pushed enforcement into February 2026 or later. Pennsylvania has enforcement everywhere except the cities of Lancaster and Lebanon, where local waivers push start dates to September 2026.

Your state’s timeline. Check with your local SNAP office or your state’s Department of Human Services. Enforcement dates and county-level waivers change quickly, and the state agency has the current answer.

Who is exempt from SNAP work requirements in 2026?

Even under the tighter H.R. 1 rules, several groups remain exempt from either the general work requirement, the ABAWD requirement, or both. Read this list carefully. Most people who lose benefits do so because they qualify for an exemption but never told their caseworker.

You are exempt from ABAWD work requirements if any of these apply:

• Under 18 or age 65 and older. The old cutoff of 55 no longer applies. You have to be 65 to age out.
• Unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation. This is broader than Social Security’s disability standard. A doctor’s note explaining why you cannot meet an 80-hour work schedule is usually enough.
• Pregnant. Exempt for the entire pregnancy.
• Living with someone under 14 in your SNAP household. Note: this changed from under 18 to under 14 under H.R. 1. If your youngest is 14 or older, this exemption no longer applies.
• Caring for a child under 6 or an incapacitated person. This is a separate general work requirement exemption and it still applies.
• Already working 30+ hours a week or earning at least the federal minimum wage times 30 hours ($217.50 a week as of 2026 — see our SNAP income limits guide).
• In school or a training program at least half-time. College students face additional eligibility rules; the general exemption from work requirements still applies.
• Meeting work requirements for TANF or unemployment. If you are participating in one of these programs’ work rules, you do not have to double up for SNAP.
• In a drug or alcohol treatment program. Regular participation counts.
• A member of a federally recognized Native American tribe as defined by the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (Indian, Urban Indian, or California Indian). This is the one new exemption H.R. 1 added.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) confirmed in a June 2026 brief that the four broad exempt categories are: age (under 18 or 65+), incapacity, care responsibility, and tribal membership. Everything else is a status test that has to be verified at each recertification.

How many hours do you have to work?

80 hours a month is the ABAWD rule. That works out to about 20 hours a week, or 4 hours a day, five days a week. You can meet the 80 hours in any of these ways:

• Paid work. A regular job, gig work, self-employment, or an unpaid family business where you contribute the labor.
• Volunteer work. Any unpaid work that benefits an organization or the public. Church volunteering, food pantry shifts, and community garden work all count.
• A work or training program. SNAP Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) is the federal program most states run. Community college workforce classes and state-approved training also count.
• Workfare. A structured community service program run by your state. The hours required in workfare are calculated based on your SNAP benefit amount divided by the federal or state minimum wage, so the number is usually less than 80.
• A combination of the above. 40 hours of paid work and 40 hours of volunteering together satisfy the 80-hour rule.

The general work requirement does not have an hours target beyond “30 hours a week or earning $217.50.” It focuses on job-search behavior: registering for work, not quitting, taking suitable jobs, and participating in programs when assigned.

Who is an ABAWD?

Under H.R. 1, an ABAWD is anyone who meets all four of these criteria:

1. Age 18 through 64
2. Physically and mentally able to work
3. Not caring for a dependent child under 14 in the SNAP household
4. Not otherwise exempt (veteran, homeless, former foster youth exemptions were eliminated in H.R. 1)

If you meet all four, you have to work at least 80 hours a month to keep SNAP past three months. If any one of those four is not true for you, you are not subject to the ABAWD rule.

This is where most confusion happens. Someone can be an ABAWD one month and not the next. Take a 26-year-old with no kids who has been in a car accident. Before the accident, she was an ABAWD. During her physical recovery, a doctor’s note documenting her inability to work moves her out of ABAWD status until she recovers. Once she is cleared, she becomes an ABAWD again.

The USDA’s guidance on state agencies is to screen for exemptions at every certification and every recertification. If you think you might qualify for one, tell your caseworker.

What counts as work for SNAP requirements?

This is the question that trips people up the most. The short answer: more counts than you think.

Paid employment. Full-time, part-time, seasonal, gig work, and self-employment all count. If you drive for Uber or DoorDash, those hours count. If you work as a nanny or house cleaner, those hours count. If you run a small side business, the hours you actually spend working count (not the hours you spend advertising or doing paperwork).

Unpaid work in a family business. If your family runs a business and you contribute unpaid labor, that time counts.

Volunteer work. This is where most people underestimate what they can claim. Church volunteer work, community garden shifts, food pantry sorting, tutoring, animal shelter time, blood drive help, and cleanup crews all count. So does mutual aid work: helping an elderly neighbor with errands, driving people to medical appointments, or providing childcare for a working parent. The activity has to benefit an organization or the community, and you need to document your hours (see the next section).

Approved training programs. SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) is the federal program, but most states also approve local workforce classes, community college courses aligned to job pathways, apprenticeships, and state-registered vocational programs.

Workfare. State-run community service where you work in exchange for benefits. The number of hours required is based on your SNAP benefit divided by minimum wage, and it is usually less than 80. Ask your caseworker if workfare is available in your county.

What does NOT count. Job searching by itself does not count. Applying for jobs online, going to interviews, and doing career research are not countable hours (though they may count toward general work registration). Household chores, personal errands, childcare for your own household, and time spent in medical treatment do not count toward the ABAWD rule.

How to prove you’re meeting the requirements

States verify work hours at your SNAP recertification, and some states do interim check-ins. The documents you need vary by state, but this list covers what almost every SNAP office asks for.

For paid work:

• Pay stubs from the last 30 days
• An employment verification letter or form signed by your employer
• Your employer’s contact info (phone and email)
• For self-employment or gig work: your most recent tax return (Form 1040 with Schedule C, or 1099s)

For volunteer work:

• A signed letter from the organization confirming your role and hours
• A volunteer log (many organizations track this on your behalf)
• Contact info for the volunteer coordinator

For training programs:

• Enrollment confirmation from the school or program
• An attendance record or transcript showing your hours
• A signed statement from the program coordinator

For workfare:

• Your assignment sheet from your state SNAP agency
• Time sheets signed by the workfare supervisor

Keep copies of everything. Some caseworkers ask for original documents at the appointment; keep digital scans in a cloud drive or a folder on your phone so you always have a backup. If your state runs an online portal (California’s BenefitsCal, New York’s ACCESS HRA, Texas’s YourTexasBenefits), you can usually upload documents from your phone camera the same way you check your EBT card balance.

What happens if you don’t meet the requirements?

The consequences depend on which rule you fail to meet.

General work requirement failure. If your state assigns you to a job or training program and you refuse without a good reason, or if you voluntarily quit a job earning over $217.50 a week without a good reason, you lose SNAP for at least one month for the first violation. A second violation extends the disqualification. A third violation can disqualify you permanently.

ABAWD failure. This is the three-month time limit. If you have to meet the ABAWD rule and you cannot document 80 hours in a month, that month counts against your three-month allowance in any three-year period. Once you hit three countable months, your SNAP benefits stop.

Getting benefits back after an ABAWD termination. You have three paths:

1. Meet the rule for a full 30 days. Work or participate in a program for 80 hours in a single month, document it, and reapply.
2. Become exempt. If you develop a disability, become pregnant, start caring for a child under 14, turn 65, or otherwise qualify for an exemption, you can reapply immediately.
3. Wait out the three-year period. Once your three-year window resets, you get another three months of benefits without meeting the rule.

The three-year clock resets on the first day of your fourth year of SNAP eligibility, not on the January 1 calendar rollover.

One good news detail. The three-month cap does not have to be three consecutive months. You could get one month in January, one in June, and one in November and the clock still allows two remaining months over the three-year period. Many people who lose SNAP under this rule regain it during periods of temporary work, then lose it again when work dries up.

State-by-state variations

SNAP is federal but administered by states, and the H.R. 1 rules land differently in each state depending on staffing, IT systems, and local waivers.

SNAP work requirements: state-by-state enforcement dates

Verified against each state’s SNAP agency, August 2026

State & status	Effective date	Notes
Pennsylvania In effect	Sept 1, 2025 ages 18-54 · Nov 1, 2025 for 18-64	Two-phase rollout, earliest in the country
Minnesota In effect	Jan 1, 2026	Three-year time-limit clock reset
Illinois In effect	Feb 2026 partial waivers by county	Chicago rules differ from downstate
New York In effect	March 1, 2026 all counties statewide	3-year clock runs through Sep 30, 2026
Maryland In effect	March 3, 2026 statewide	Verified via Maryland DHS
California In effect	June 1, 2026 CalFresh, statewide	California uses the CalFresh program name
District of Columbia In effect	June 1, 2026	Fixed 36-month clock through May 31, 2029
Florida In effect	June 1, 2026 DCF implementation	Phased through fall 2026
Texas Phased	Phased in FY2026	HHSC SNAP E&T mandatory for adults under 30 hrs/week
Nevada Coming soon	Late 2026	Statewide waiver expired, implementation catching up
Guam & USVI Coming soon	Late 2026	Territory-specific rollout
Most other states USDA default	Dec 1, 2025 USDA default timeline	Includes GA, NC, OH, SC, TN, VA and 25+ others

States with the earliest enforcement (December 1, 2025). Most red-state and swing-state agencies followed USDA’s default timeline, including Texas, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania (except Lancaster and Lebanon cities), Ohio, and North Carolina.

States with delayed enforcement. California, DC, Illinois, Nevada, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands pushed enforcement into early or mid-2026 while updating their computer systems and staffing.

States with county-level waivers. Pennsylvania’s Lancaster and Lebanon cities do not begin enforcement until September 2026. New York City has different rules than upstate New York in some categories. Chicago has different rules than downstate Illinois. Check your specific county’s SNAP office.

“Trigger” states. Some state legislatures passed laws that automatically apply stricter federal rules the moment they take effect. These states cannot delay enforcement even when the federal timeline allows more flexibility.

For the specific rules in your state, look up your state’s SNAP agency (called Department of Human Services, Department of Social Services, or Department of Children and Family Services depending on the state). The USDA’s FNA also maintains a state directory linking to each program.