A question I often hear is whether a claimant for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits is able to work while they wait for their application to be approved. The answer is, it depends. In order to initially qualify – and continue to qualify – for SSDI or SSI benefits, you must be disabled and unable to work for a period of at least twelve months.
However, while you are able to work while waiting for your benefits to be approved, and even after, there are limits on how many hours you can work each week and on how much money you can earn each month. The Social Security Administration (SSA) calls any work above these limits “substantial gainful activity.”
For one, if a Claimant works more than twenty hours a week, Social Security will not even look at the medical portion of the application. Therefore, if you work twenty or more hours per week, SSA will find that you are engaging in substantial gainful activity and therefore deny your application.
In 2019, if your gross earnings (before taxes and other deductions) in a given month is more than $1,220, SSA will also consider you to be engaging in substantial gainful activity and deny your application for benefits.
In either of the aforementioned situations, SSA does not consider your medical records or your disability when denying your claim. This means you could very well qualify for benefits medically, but because you have found employment that works with you to some extent and/or allows you to work and earn money, SSDI and SSI will not be options for you at this time.
If you are self-employed, Social Security uses different measures to determine if you are engaging in “substantial gainful activity” and therefore ineligible for benefits.
If you have questions about how much you are working and/or earning and whether it will impact your ability to receive SSDI or SSI benefits, contact a lawyer today.