Any business licensed to accept SNAP benefits must have a training policy in place to teach employees appropriate procedures for accepting food stamps. Having a good training policy is only helpful if SNAP authorized retailers also have a compliance policy in effect to ensure that the regulations are being properly followed.
Compliance policies that the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) and Food and Nutrition Services (“FNS”) consider to be adequate include:
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Documentation reflecting the development of a policy that terminates the employment of any employee that is found violating SNAP regulations
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Documentation of policy that shows procedures of appropriate corrective action following complaints regarding violation of SNAP regulation
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Documentation showing procedures for internal review of employees’ compliance
An example of how to implement these policies would be providing employees with handbooks, which states these policies. An alternative can be providing employees with documents at the time of training regarding SNAP regulations that provides that employees who violate SNAP regulations will be fired. This documentation should also be supplied.
These policies should be developed and instituted as soon as a retailer becomes authorized to accept SNAP benefits. A retailer that has not yet created such policies should do so before any violations occur. Having these policies in place will help a retailer charged with violations of SNAP regulations in fighting disqualification of the retailer from accepting SNAP benefits.
Rincker Law, PLLC is prepared to help retailers create effective compliance policies to ensure employees follow regulations set by USDA for SNAP authorized retailers.