When You May Not Qualify for Social Security Disability If You're Still Working

If You Are Still Working, You May Still Qualify for Social Security Disability

Generally, Social Security’s Disability program is intended to provide income replacement for those with medical impairments that make them unable to work. However, impaired individuals can engage in some work activity without disqualifying themselves from disability benefits. 

Step 1 of Social Security’s sequential evaluation process is whether an individual is engaged in “substantial gainful activity” or “SGA,” for short. If Social Security finds someone involved in SGA, their claim fails at Step 1, and they are denied disability. Every year, Social Security issues a rule on the maximum wage workers can make before they are found to be engaging in SGA. For 2024, this amount is $1,550 per month before taxes. (If you read this after 2024, you can look up SGA for the current year and find this amount.) 

Sometimes, clients will ask how many hours they can work without disqualifying themselves from their disability. However, for a wage worker, the Step 1 analysis depends solely on the amount of wages, not how many hours the individual is working. 

For purposes of this analysis, impairment-related work expenses (IRWEs) can be deducted from wages. For example, if someone had an impairment that required them to purchase a prosthetic device or other equipment to work, the costs for these could be deducted. If someone has an impairment that necessitates special transportation to and from work, the cost of the transportation could also be deducted. 

Also, there is an exception to the SGA amount for those who are “legally blind,” meeting Social Security’s Listing 2.02 or 2.03A. For 2024, these individuals can make up to $2,590 per month without disqualifying themselves from disability.

What About Self-Employment?

The evaluation is slightly different for self-employed individuals. No bright-line dollar amount indicates SGA for someone self-employed, although the SGA amount for a wage worker could be considered a guideline. When Social Security considers whether a self-employed individual is engaged in SGA, they will consider the “economic value of the individual’s services” instead of strictly how much they make. 

For example, suppose someone had previously purchased equipment that enabled them to make more than the wage-worker SGA amount despite contributing very little “economic value” to the business via their services. In that case, this individual may be found not to be engaged in SGA. An example of this would be someone who bought a food truck and then had an accident that left them unable to work the food truck or do much to manage it other than hiring an employee but still had income from the food truck more than the amount of wage-worker SGA. On the other hand, someone could be making less than the wage-worker SGA amount and be considered to be engaged in SGA if their work activity was “comparable to that of unimpaired self-employed individuals in his or her community engaged in the same or similar businesses as their means of livelihood.” This rule may have been implemented to create a more restrictive SGA standard for poor, rural, primarily subsistence-based farmers.  

What if I Am Driving Uber or Delivering DoorDash?

Those driving Uber or delivering DoorDash would be considered self-employed and therefore not subject to strict, bright-line SGA dollar amounts like a wage worker. Delivery workers like these would have vehicle and gas costs, which should be considered, plus wear and tear on the vehicle. While this is seemingly obvious, gross revenue exceeding the amount of wage-worker SGA ($1,550 for 2024) could still likely make the judge or adjudicator consider your claim more skeptical. 

Generally, it’s important to remember that even if your work does not exceed SGA levels, that does not mean the work activity is irrelevant or a decision-maker can’t consider it. If someone is making only a few dollars less than the SGA level, decision-makers may wonder if the worker is capable of more or if they are artificially restricting income to below SGA levels.

Trial Work Periods

Once the disability has been established, Social Security allows for a Trial Work Period, allowing workers to explore a return to work without losing their Social Security benefit. A Trial Work Period can last up to 9 months. The months do not have to be consecutive. For 2024, any month in which someone earns more than $1,110 before taxes will count as a month of the Trial Work Period. A disabled worker receives their disability benefit during the trial work period, no matter how much they earn.

After nine months of a Trial Work Period, the worker enters an Extended Eligibility Period. During this period, if someone’s earnings exceed the SGA amount ($1,550 for 2024), that person would not receive a disability benefit for that month. If the individual earns less than SGA, they will receive their benefit for that month.

Subsidized Work

Sometimes, an individual will receive extra assistance in the workplace, such as job coaching. This is known as supported employment. Benevolent employers may pay these impaired individuals wages comparable to unimpaired employees, even though they require extra assistance and may be less productive. In these circumstances, Social Security will consider the actual value of an individual's work to make the SGA determination. Thus, the “subsidy” is the difference between what an employee earns and their actual value. The subsidy should be deducted from the wages when considering SGA.

Vocational rehabilitation programs are available, which are intended to match impaired individuals with the work they can perform. Participation in vocational rehabilitation would be advisable for many considering applying for disability or in the process of seeking disability. It’s possible that vocational rehabilitation could match someone with a job opportunity, enabling them to make more money than a disability payment, plus obtain the health and well-being benefits of working. If the vocational rehabilitation professionals conduct an analysis that shows that an individual is capable of supported employment but not competitive employment, such a conclusion is consistent with a finding of disability.

Your Employment Status Is Crucial to Your Claim

As you can see, the kind of work you do and the amount you earn will be crucial to your SSDI claim. Working with our experienced and dedicated Social Security disability attorneys will ensure that you have documented your case sufficiently to qualify for benefits. Contact Keller & Keller today to discuss your particular case.