SNAP Work Requirements in West Virginia

Check if the time limit applies to you Count your months

When the new rules started in West Virginia

DoHS says the new policy took effect statewide on November 1, 2025, from the month after your 18th birthday until the month you turn 65. About 36,000 recipients were expected to be affected.

Waived areas in West Virginia

No part of West Virginia is waived.

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

West Virginia uses one statewide period: January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027.

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)

Paid work, self-employment, volunteering, WIOA services, Trade Adjustment Act services and SNAP E&T all count toward 80 hours. Ask your local office how to report hours.

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 West Virginia details

• You can regain eligibility at any time by doing 80 hours in a 30-day period, qualifying for an exemption, or when the 36-month period ends.
• If you regain eligibility and then stop meeting the rule, you can get one extra set of 3 months in a row once per period.

Contact

• Agency: West Virginia Department of Human Services (DoHS), Bureau for Family Assistance
• Phone: 1-877-716-1212 (DoHS Office of Constituent Services)

Federal rules that apply in West Virginia

• 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.