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State of Wisconsin |
Release 25-01 |
Non-ABAWDs may participate in FSET but are considered exempt and do not need to meet the FoodShare work requirement. Non-ABAWD or exempt FSET participants must be assigned to at least 12 hours of FSET activities per month but are not required to participate 12 hours per month. FSET agencies are required to work with the volunteer to establish reasonable expectations and hours of participation.
ABAWDs who are subject to time-limited benefits (TLBs) and do not meet the FoodShare work requirement will only be allowed to receive up to three full months of time-limited FoodShare benefits in the current three-year time period. After exhausting three months of TLBs, ABAWDs may regain eligibility by either meeting the work requirement or having a qualifying exemption. ABAWDs subject to TLBs may choose to meet the FoodShare work requirement by participating in FSET.
For ABAWDs, working is defined as one or any combination of the following:
An ABAWD is meeting the FoodShare work requirement if one of the following applies:
*See Section 10.5 Appendix E: Qualifying Work Program for ABAWDs for information about ‘allowable’ work programs. This information is relevant when counting participation hours for ABAWDs who are co-enrolled in FSET and another allowable work program.
| Note | Participation in the FSET program is voluntary. ABAWDs subject to TLBs may choose to meet the work requirement by participating in FSET. An ABAWD with a TLB referral enrolled in FSET must participate in qualifying activities to meet the work requirement and maintain ongoing FoodShare eligibility. |
ABAWDs subject to TLBs who enroll and participate in FSET to meet the work requirement may or may not need to participate in FSET for the full 80 hours per month. Some individuals may be partially meeting the work requirement through part-time work or participating in a work program other than FSET for fewer than 80 hours per month. Other individuals may be participating for fewer than 80 hours per month in other activities, such as an education program, that should be categorized as an FSET component and included on the participant employment plan. Individuals who are partially meeting the FoodShare work requirement outside of FSET can fulfill the full 80-hour work requirement by participating in FSET to close the gap in hours. The FSET worker should review each case independently to determine the number of FSET participation hours that would allow each ABAWD to meet the FoodShare work requirement.
ABAWDs who are not subject to TLBs and who have a non-TLB referral type may participate in FSET but are not subject to the time limit of the FoodShare work requirement. ABAWDs with a non-TLB referral type must be assigned to at least 12 hours of FSET activities per month but are not required to participate 12 hours per month. FSET agencies are required to work with the participant to establish reasonable expectations and hours of participation.
FSET participation requirements differ for Workfare in terms of the number of hours needed for an ABAWD to meet the FoodShare work requirement. The number of required Workfare hours per month is equivalent to the household’s current monthly FoodShare allotment divided by the state or federal minimum wage, whichever is higher. It is not allowable to require additional hours of participation beyond the maximum requirement calculated as described above.
Changes in the amount of the monthly FoodShare allotment may increase or decrease the number of required monthly hours for workfare. If there is a change in benefit amount, the FSET agency should recalculate the required number of participation hours, and apply that change beginning the month that follows the month the change in allotment becomes known to the FSET agency. The monthly hours of participation in Workfare can be rounded down to the nearest whole number. However, agencies should not round down weekly participation in Workfare.
| Example 1 | Mary is an ABAWD, enrolled in FSET, and participating in Workfare. Mary is a FoodShare household of one and is eligible for a monthly allotment of $281. Both the state and federal minimum wage are $7.25 per hour. $281 divided by $7.25 equals 38.76. Mary will be assigned 38 monthly Workfare hours to meet the FoodShare Work Requirement. |
| Example 2 | Mary reports and verifies a new source of income. Mary remains eligible for FoodShare, is still an ABAWD, but is now eligible for a monthly allotment of $172. The FSET worker recalculates Mary’s Workfare hours. $172 divided by $7.25 equals 23.72. Mary will be assigned 23 monthly Workfare hours to meet the FoodShare work Requirement. |
The hours that a participant may participate in the Work Activity component are calculated in the same way. An individual may only participate in the Work Activity component for the number of hours per month that is equivalent to the household’s current monthly FoodShare allotment divided by the state or federal minimum wage, whichever is higher. However, unlike Workfare, this does not meet the FoodShare work requirement. To meet the FoodShare work requirement, ABAWDs must participate in another qualifying activity to meet the 80-hour per month work requirement.
| Example 3 | Nancy is an ABAWD, enrolled in FSET, and participating in Work Activity. Nancy is a FoodShare household of one and is eligible for a monthly allotment of $281. Both the state and federal minimum wage are $7.25 per hour. $281 divided by $7.25 equals 38.76. Nancy will be assigned 38 monthly Work Activity hours. In order to meet the FoodShare Work Requirement through FSET, Nancy must complete 42 hours of one or more different FSET activities. Nancy could also work or participate in another allowable work program for the additional 42 hours. |
When monthly Workfare and Work Activity hours do not divide into a whole number for weekly Workfare and Work Activity assignment, agencies may do one of the following:
Annual changes in allotment amounts, utility allowances, and other credits occur on October 1. FSET agencies should review Workfare and Work Activity participation calculations for all ABAWDs in October.
Workfare and Work Activity are household-level programs, meaning that all ABAWD household members share the hourly obligation each month. FSET agencies should document in the FSET participant’s PIN comments when the participant lives in a household that includes multiple ABAWDs sharing responsibility for meeting Workfare or Work Activity participation requirements. ABAWDs are not required to report changes in household composition to their IM agency, except at the time of FoodShare renewal or Six-Month Report Form (SMRF). When a change in household composition is reported, this status change will not result in a referral update being sent to the FSET agency for individuals who remain on the case. An updated referral will be sent when an individual is deleted from a case. When the FSET worker receives a referral update for a Workfare or Work Activity participant with a status of “FoodShare Ineligible,” they must check the CARES Worker Web (CWW) case to see if there are or were other Workfare or Work Activity participants whose hourly participation requirement needs to be updated (see Section 1.4.5 Workfare or Section 1.4.6.1 Work Activity).
Prior to placing an ABAWD in a workfare position, a workfare job search period may be established for up to 30 days. An ABAWD may only participate in workfare job search during the first 30 days after enrollment in FSET at initial certification. ABAWDs who are employed should not be assigned to workfare job search. Non-ABAWDs should not be assigned to workfare job search (see Section 1.4.5 Workfare for more information on assigning participants to workfare).
| Example 4 | Andre is receiving $180 in FoodShare benefits per month. He is placed in workfare job search for the initial 30 days. The FSET agency divides the monthly allotment of $180 by the minimum wage of $7.25, and determines that Andre must participate in workfare job search for a combined total of 24 hours per month ($180 ÷ $7.25 = 24.83 or 24 hours per month) to meet the work requirement. |
FSET workers must assign only the number of hours calculated by household allotment divided by minimum wage in all work-related activities including Workfare, Work Activity, and Work-based Learning Activities. However, because Wisconsin operates a voluntary employment and training program, FSET participants can volunteer additional hours in a work-related activity beyond the hours equal to the household allotment divided by the minimum wage. In this scenario, the FSET participant must receive compensation earned by non-FSET participants while performing comparable work for comparable hours and be in compliance with minimum wage laws. FSET participants don’t need to be paid for those additional hours if others participating in the work-related activity are also not paid while performing comparable work for comparable hours and the work does not fall under state or federal minimum wage requirements.
This page last updated in Release Number: 23-02
Release Date: 12/18/2023
Sections 6.3.2 - 6.3.2.3 Effective Date: 10/01/2023
Notice: The content within this manual is the sole responsibility of the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS). This site will link to sites outside of DHS where appropriate. DHS is in no way responsible for the content of sites outside of DHS.
Publication Number: P-00419