SNAP Work Requirements in Illinois

Check if the time limit applies to you Count your months

When the new rules started in Illinois

Illinois had a statewide waiver until January 31, 2026. The work rule started February 1, 2026. People who did not meet it or qualify for an exemption began losing SNAP on May 1, 2026, after three countable months (February, March and April). IDHS says about 100,000 people lost eligibility that day.

Waived areas in Illinois

No part of Illinois is waived. The old statewide waiver could not be renewed under the new law.

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

Illinois uses one statewide period: January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2026. The next period runs January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029, when the count starts over.

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 Employment and Training (SNAP E&T)

Approved programs include SNAP E&T, Job Ready Illinois, WIOA Title I and others, plus self-arranged community service with a community organization. Ask for an exemption with form IL444-2341 through Manage My Case, by phone, mail or fax, or at a Family Community Resource Center. Report volunteer hours on the SNAP Activity Report (IL444-2610). IDHS usually needs proof when you start and at renewal, not every month. SNAP E&T providers track hours for you.

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 Illinois details

• IDHS has an online exemption screener at aberp.illinois.gov/screener/ABAWD.
• FRESH (Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger) gives a one-time $400 payment on the Link card to each eligible person whose SNAP stopped under the work rule. No application is needed.
• After you regain SNAP by meeting the 80-hour rule, you can get one more set of 3 months once per 36-month period if you later stop meeting it.

Contact

• Agency: Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS)
• Online account: ABE Manage My Case
• Phone: 1-800-843-6154 (TTY 1-866-324-5553)

Federal rules that apply in Illinois

• 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.