SNAP Work Requirements in Georgia

Check if the time limit applies to you Count your months

When the new rules started in Georgia

Georgia DHS says the change took effect November 1, 2025. The new rules apply to applications and renewals after that date, and current customers get a notice if their status changes. DFCS says adults aged 60 to 64 ("aged ABAWDs") must meet the time limit rules starting October 1, 2026.

Waived areas in Georgia

No part of Georgia is waived. The DFCS policy manual says all counties are time-limited.

That means the time limit can apply anywhere in the state to adults who are not exempt and do not meet the 80-hour rule.

Your 36-month period

Georgia uses one statewide period. The current one runs December 1, 2023 through November 30, 2026. A new 36-month period starts December 1, 2026.

You can get SNAP for only 3 countable months in that period unless you meet the 80-hour rule or are exempt. The time limit calculator helps you count.

How to meet and report the 80 hours

Job and training program: SNAP Works

Meet the rule with 20 hours a week of work, self-employment, SNAP Works, WIOA programs, or Comparable Workfare (an unpaid placement at a public or nonprofit site, with hours tracked on Form 805). Work hours are checked at recertification with pay stubs, Form 809 or attendance sheets. Watch the notices in your Georgia Gateway account.

Across all states, paid work, work for goods or services, volunteering, workfare and approved training count, and you can combine them. See what counts as work.

More Georgia details

• Comparable Workfare hours equal your monthly SNAP benefit divided by $7.25, up to 30 hours a week.
• You can regain eligibility by doing 80 hours of work, training or workfare within 30 days, as many times as needed. DFCS says you cannot use SNAP Works itself to regain eligibility.
• Georgia uses discretionary exemptions, decided case by case by the state office.

Contact

• Agency: Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS)
• Online account: Georgia Gateway
• Phone: (877) 423-4746

Federal rules that apply in Georgia

• Covered: adults 18 through 64 who can work, with no child under 14 in their SNAP household.
• Exempt: pregnancy; a health condition that keeps you from working; American Indian, Alaska Native, Urban Indian or California Indian; or being excused from the general work rules (caring for a child under 6 or a disabled person, unemployment benefits, 30 hours a week or $217.50 a week, half-time school, drug or alcohol treatment, TANF work rules). See all exemptions.
• Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth are no longer automatically exempt.
• If you lose SNAP, you can get it back by doing 80 hours in 30 days or becoming exempt. You can also ask for a fair hearing. See how to get SNAP back.