70. Wage supplementation programs
A food stamp wage supplementation program is a program where the food stamp office gives a person’s food stamp benefits as cash to an employer, instead of to the person herself. The employer then will hire that person for a full-time or part-time job. [7 U.S.C. § 2025(b).]
A wage supplementation job must pay the person at least the minimum wage. [Id.] A person participating in a food stamp wage supplementation program will not get food stamp benefits even if the person’s wages from the job are low enough that she would still qualify for food stamps. But if the food stamp allotment would have been more than what she gets in wages from the job, the state must give her food stamp benefits to make up the difference. [Id.]
A wage supplementation job must comply with the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. [29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq.] The employer must also give the person the same benefits (e.g., sick leave, health coverage and workers’ compensation) that the employer gives to other employees not in the wage supplementation program. [Id.]
(The California Food Stamp Program does not provide a wage supplementation program.)