You do not have to work to get SNAP benefits. However, you should try and find a job if you can. Some people must attend the SNAP Employment and Training program, or the Earnfare Program if they are parents. You could lose your benefits if you are required to participate in a work or training program and you do not. 

Each SNAP unit member must:

• Register for work;
• Cooperate with the SNAP Employment or TANF work and training program requirements,
• Accept a job offer of suitable employment;
• Not voluntarily quit a job; and
• Not voluntarily reduce work hours to less than 30 hours per week.

You may not be required to work if you are:

• Under age 16 or age 60 or older
• An ineligible SNAP unit member;
• Age 16 or 17 and not the SNAP payee;
• A student enrolled at least half-time in any recognized school or training program, including a school of higher education. Students of higher education must also meet the student eligibility requirements.
• Physically or mentally unable to work;
• Responsible for the care of a child under age 6, or for an incapacitated person, and the child or incapacitated person does not have to live in the home;
• Receiving Unemployment Insurance benefits, or applying for Unemployment Insurance benefits if they registered with Job Service as a part of the application process;
• Enrolled in and cooperating with a substance abuse treatment program;
• Working at least 30 hours per week or receiving weekly wages of 30 times the Federal minimum wage, and the person can be employed or self-employed; and
• A full-time Americorps VISTA volunteer under Title I or II of the 1973 Domestic Volunteer Services Act, as amended. For Title I programs, to be exempt, the person must have been receiving SNAP benefits, TANF, AABD, or GA at the time they joined Americorps VISTA.

Also, some people must participate in SNAP Employment and Training, or do the Earnfare Program, which is limited to adults who receive SNAP benefits and volunteer, or to persons who are court-ordered to participate. You could lose your benefits if you are required to participate in a work or training program and you do not.