Many recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance benefits are able to return to limited employment without losing their monthly SSDI stipend as long as their income does not exceed certain limits. Those who want to work can do so for a trial period without any reduction in their benefit, regardless of how much they make.
Social Security rules are complex and sometimes confusing. Individuals who receive SSDI benefits may fear that they will jeopardize their disability benefits if they try to return to work. But Social Security programs allow more flexibility than is generally understood. At the law firm of Kraft & Associates, P.C., in Dallas, TX, our SSDI lawyers will be pleased to assist you with any questions you have regarding your Social Security Disability status.
We invite you to call us with your questions. If we cannot help you, we will attempt to refer you to an attorney or an agency that can.
SSDI Recipients Have a Right to Trial Work Periods
The federal government provides Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (SSDI) to eligible individuals who are totally disabled due to an illness or injury.
First, a person must be unable to engage in a job that pays a certain amount of income. A person who earns more than the monthly threshold set by the Social Security Administration (SSA) is considered to be engaging in substantial gainful activity.
For 2022, earning a monthly income of $1,350 ($16,200 a year) means you are engaged in substantial gainful activity. For a blind worker, the SGA threshold in 2022 is $2,260 a month ($27,120 a year).
Individuals unable to hold a job because of their injury or illness are considered disabled.
Second, a disabled individual must have worked long enough and recently enough and paid Social Security taxes on their earnings to be eligible for SSDI benefits. Social Security Disability is an insurance program. Payments are made to workers who have worked and paid into the program for at least 5 years during the last 10 years before they became disabled.
People who qualify as disabled and receive SSDI can be employed and earn a certain amount of money without it diminishing the benefit they receive. Because the SSA wants to encourage people to work if they can, SSDI recipients are allowed a 9-month trial work period (TWP) in which their benefit is not affected, regardless of how much money they make. (The TWP is not available to recipients of Supplemental Security Income benefits.)
How Many Trial Work Periods Can You Have?
The 9-month trial work period (TWP) available to SSDI recipients who may be able to hold down certain jobs is often confusing because it does not require nine consecutive months of work. An SSDI recipient has one 9-month TWP, but it is possible to make multiple attempts to find suitable work.
The TWP is a single 9-month allowance with time against the allowance counted when the individual works and makes a certain amount of money. For example, any month in 2022 in which an SSDI beneficiary earns $970 or more will count as a TWP and as a portion of the 9-month maximum. If you are self-employed, any month you earn $970 or work more than 80 hours in 2022 counts as a month of your TWP.
But if a job is not suitable, the individual may stop and could have time left to try another job.
When calculating the 9-month TWP, the SSA considers earnings across a 60-month window (5 years) of receiving SSDI. Therefore, here is an example of how an SSDI recipient trying to find suitable work could have used three of nine available TWP months:
- Earning $1,200 in January 2022 (more than $970) but only $800 in February before realizing they could not continue to perform the job – 1 month
- Working in November 2021 and making more than $940, the 2021 limit – 1 month
- Having been an SSDI recipient since 2018 and earning $850 or more in August 2018 – 1 month.
If an SSDI recipient does not work all 9 months of a TWP within the 60-month window, they may be granted a new 9-month TWP. If an individual improves and loses SSDI eligibility but then has a relapse and starts receiving disability benefits again, they will be allowed a full new TWP.
The SSA will keep up with your time in the TWP as your income is reported.
What Is the Extended Period of Eligibility?
The Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) is 36 months (3 years) in which the beneficiary continues to receive SSDI benefits any month their earnings do not meet the threshold for SGA. During the extended eligibility period, the SSA evaluates the individual’s work and earnings to decide whether they can continue to work at the SGA level. But the extended period ensures benefits are available for three years, regardless of whether the beneficiary continues to work.
A beneficiary who earns more than the SGA level during the extended eligibility period no longer qualifies for benefits. But if the person’s earnings fall below the SGA threshold during the period, benefits automatically start again.
Even when a beneficiary first earns the SGA amount, the SSA will pay benefits for that month and the next two months. If earnings fall back below the SGA level at any point within the 36-month EPE, benefits begin again.
Anyone who is not earning above the SGA threshold and would be eligible for a benefit payment for the 37th month of the EPE will continue to receive benefits until they work a month at the SGA level or recover medically.
What Happens After the Extended Eligibility Period?
At the conclusion of the 36-month EPE, SSDI benefits stop the first month the recipient earns above the SGA threshold. However, if earnings fall below the SGA limit again due to the individual’s disability, an Expedited Reinstatement of benefits is available.
Expedited Reinstatement allows a former SSDI recipient to reapply for benefits and, while their application is processed in a shortened process, be paid benefits for six months. In most cases, SSA also restores regular SSDI benefits within six months, assuming the individual’s disability still exists.
Expedited Reinstatement is available for five years after an Extended Period of Eligibility.
Get in Touch with One of Our Dallas SSDI Attorneys
As you can tell from reading this information, the eligibility rules for returning to work while receiving disability payments from the Social Security Disability Insurance program are complex. Mistakes can cause you to miss out on disability payments you may be eligible to receive.
At Kraft & Associates, P.C., our attorneys will be pleased to assist you with any questions you have regarding Social Security Disability. Our attorneys and legal staff have an average of 25 years with the firm. We have extensive experience helping Dallas area residents who have become disabled. Please contact us at (214) 999-9999 or online for a free initial consultation.
