210.03 Employment-Related Requirements SR 02-04, 02/02 (AAM-A)

MEAD-eligible individuals must meet specific employment related requirements.

Employment

An individual must be employed by others for pay, or self-employed for pay, and:

• receive cash payment, pay stubs, or written documentation from his or her employer which provides the frequency and amount of:

- earnings; and

- payments withheld from earnings required pursuant to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act; or

• if self-employed, provide documentation that he or she makes regular income tax payments based on earnings required pursuant to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

Loss of Employment

Individuals determined eligible for MEAD who subsequently become unemployed will continue to meet the employment requirement for a period of up to one year from the day the individual becomes unemployed if the individual plans to return to work and:

• was involuntarily terminated from employment; or

• voluntarily terminated employment with good cause.

Good cause for leaving employment exists if one of the following criteria is met:

• discrimination by an employer based on age, race, sex, color, physical or mental disability, religious belief, national origin, or political beliefs;

• work demands or conditions that render continued employment unreasonable, including but not limited to, employment in which the degree of risk to health or safety is unreasonable or employment yielding weekly earnings of less than the state or federal hourly minimum wage;

• resignation by a person under the age of 60 which is recognized by the employer as retirement;

• employment which becomes or is revealed to be unsuitable following acceptance of such employment, including, but not limited to, employment which the individual is physically or mentally unfit to perform, or employment in which the distance from the individual’s home to the place of employment is unreasonable considering the wage and the time and cost of commuting;

• leaving a job in order to accept a bona-fide job offer which, because of subsequent circumstances beyond the control of the applicant, is withdrawn;

• leaving a job in connection with patterns of employment in which workers frequently move from one employer to another, such as migrant farm labor or construction work, even though employment at the new site has not actually begun; or

• leaving a job because of circumstances beyond the control of the individual which render continued employment impracticable, including but not limited to, lack of transportation or child care, illness, incapacity or disability, illness, incapacity or disability of another household member serious enough to require the presence in the home of the individual, net loss of cash income, required court appearance, or mandatory appointments.

Good cause decisions must be based on all available facts and circumstances, including written or verbal information provided by:

• the individual;

• the employer; or

• any other party with first hand knowledge of the facts and/or circumstances of the individual’s reasons for leaving employment.

If the individual becomes unemployed due to one of the reasons below, MEAD eligibility ceases:

• voluntarily quits or loses employment without good cause;

• decides not to seek employment or return to work; or

• terminates employment to seek medical treatment which will not enable the individual to become re-employed.

Determine the individual’s eligibility for all other types of medical assistance prior to terminating eligibility for MEAD.