Many people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments think that if they do any kind of work for money, they will lose their disability benefits. But the law does provide a trial work period during which you can work and still draw disability benefits.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) allows SSDI recipients to accept employment without risking their benefits as long as their income does not exceed certain limits. If you receive SSDI benefits, you have the right to a 9-month trial work period in which you can receive your full benefits, regardless of the amount you make.
Do you have questions about working while receiving SSDI or other aspects of disability benefits? An experienced Paducah SSDI lawyer at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer know that the Social Security disability program is complex and that it’s easy to misinterpret the guidelines.
We understand the rules and the common problems that arise when Kentuckians seek Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. We can help you seek the benefits available to you by law. Call us or contact us online to schedule a free discussion of your SSDI claim and how we can help you.
SSDI Recipients Have a Right to Trial Work Periods
Social Security Disability Insurance pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you meet the criteria for benefits and you have paid Social Security taxes on your earnings for a long enough period of time.
To be eligible for SSDI benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial work activity. A person whose income exceeds a certain amount set by the Social Security Administration is ordinarily considered to be engaging in substantial gainful activity.
For 2022, you can earn up to $1,350 a month ($16,200 a year) before you are categorized as engaging in substantial gainful activity. For someone who is blind, the threshold in 2022 is $2,260 a month ($27,120 a year).
Because the Social Security Administration encourages people to work if they are able, SSDI benefit recipients may participate in a trial work period for 9 months, without affecting their disability benefits, regardless of how much money they make. The trial work period does not apply to recipients of SSI benefits.
How Is the SSDI Trial Work Period Calculated?
It’s important to understand that the Trial Work Period constitutes a 9-month allowance. The 9 months do not have to be consecutive, and the SSA considers earnings across a 60-month window of receiving SSDI.
In 2022, any month in which you earn $970 or more will trigger a TWP and count toward your 9-month maximum. If you earned $1,500 in January 2022 and $800 in February and then realized you could not continue to perform the job, yaou would have used one of the nine months allowed as part of the trial work period. If you were receiving SSDI in 2021 and made more than $940 in November 2021, that would be counted as another of your 9 months.
If you start a job as a self-employed person, any month you earn $970 or work more than 80 hours in 2022 counts as a TWP service month.
A disability benefits recipient is typically entitled to only one 9-month trial period during a five-year period. Once you have completed the trial work period while receiving SSDI benefits, then you will be subject to the monthly earnings cap.
To start a new trial work period, the individual’s SSDI benefits would have to end and they would then have to either file a new application and qualify for SSDI benefits or obtain an expedited reinstatement.
What If You Have to Stop Working After Beginning a Trial Work Period?
If an individual loses SSDI eligibility and is subsequently reinstated for disability benefits, they will be allowed a new trial work period.
What Is the Extended Period of Eligibility?
The Extended Period of Eligibility is 36 months in which you continue to receive SSDI benefits any month your earnings or work activities do not meet the threshold to qualify as substantial gainful activity. This ensures the availability of disability benefits for three years, regardless of whether the beneficiary continues to work.
During the extended period of eligibility, the SSA evaluates the individual’s work and earnings to decide whether he or she can continue to work at the substantial gainful activity level.
A beneficiary who earns more than the income limit during the extended period of eligibility will lose their benefits. If earnings fall below the income limit during the period, disability benefits start again without a new application.
Even when a disability benefits recipient has monthly earnings that exceed the income limit to qualify for disability checks, the Social Security Administration will pay benefits for that month and the following two months. If earnings fall back below the income limit within the 36-month extended, disability benefits begin again.
Talk to Our Paducah Social Security Disability Insurance Attorneys
Every individual’s disability is different and there are many factors that can affect your ability to work at some level and receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. If you are receiving SSDI benefits but have an opportunity to work, let Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer help ensure you continue to receive all the benefits you are due.
Social Security Disability Insurance benefits are paid to those who have worked and paid into the Social Security system. Contact Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer in Paducah, KY, for a free discussion of how we can help protect your rights and your SSDI benefit.
