Working While Disabled — Social Security Can Help
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: July 15, 2021
For millions of people, work isn’t just a source of income. It’s a vital part of who they are – it gives them purpose and pride. It’s a connection to community. We’re here to help you get back to work if you’re disabled.
If you’re getting Social Security disability benefits, we have good news for you. Social Security’s work incentives and Ticket to Work programs can help you if you’re interested in working. Special rules make it possible for people receiving Social Security disability benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to work – and still receive monthly payments.
The Ticket to Work program may help you if you’d like to work. You can receive:
- Free vocational rehabilitation.
- Training.
- Job referrals.
- Other employment support.
You can read more about working while receiving disability benefits on our Ticket to Work Program page.
Work incentives include:
- Continued cash benefits for a time while you work.
- Continued Medicare or Medicaid while you work.
- Help with education, training, and rehabilitation to start a new line of work.
If you’re receiving Social Security disability benefits or SSI, let us know right away when you start or stop working. This is also important if any other change occurs that could affect your benefits.
If you returned to work, but you can’t continue working because of your medical condition, your benefits can start again. Plus, you may not have to file a new application.
You can learn more about the Ticket to Work program by reading our publication, Working While Disabled: How We Can Help.
Part of securing today and tomorrow is giving you the tools to create a fulfilling life. Getting back to work might be part of that. We’re here with a ticket to a secure tomorrow.
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Tags: Disability, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security benefits, social security disability benefits, SSI
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Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications
Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications
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Robin R.
What is the ceiling of how much a SSA disability person’s working earned income allowed, is it $850 a month? What is the restriction for how much a person can earn and still get their check? I think I know a lot of people who are trying to find a job while getting an SSDI check?
Robert E.
I have been working part time while receiving disability benefits. I have part time work where I can work from home and start and stop as needed during the day. I generally work on an average of about 17 to 22 hours a week. I recently got correspondence that gave me a lot of information about disability and included in the information it said that I have to report to Social security if I have any income, so I wanted to talk to someone about that. I’ve made between $6,000 to $10,000 the last two years and before that it was about $4,000. a year. I will be 66 years old this coming October and I am not sure if I have to do anything differently before that time. I would like to talk to someone about anything I need to do to be sure I am following all the rules that I need to follow. I’m just needing someone to please call me because I’m concerned about my disability payments being effected because I have worked some. My phone number is 417-827-7044. Thank You
K.O.
Thank you for contacting us, Robert. First, we pay disability benefits through two programs: the Social Security disability insurance program (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is a needs based disability program that pays benefits to people with limited income and resources who are disabled, blind, or age 65 or older. Blind or disabled children may also get SSI. There are times when people can receive both SSI and SSDI, depending on their situation and whether they meet the requirements.
For SSDI, a person may still be eligible for disability benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program if they work. However, their earnings cannot exceed a certain amount. This is called the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) limit. In 2018, the SGA limit is $1,180 per month (or $1,970 for blind applicants). In addition to the amount of money you make, Social Security may also look at the number of hours you’re able to work.
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions web page for more information on if you can return to work while getting Social Security disability benefits. We hope this helps.
anna m.
I want to help the disabled shopping I want to know how to start.
V.V.
Hello Anna. The Ticket to Work program provides Social Security disability beneficiaries who want to work with access to free employment support services. Please check it out!
Anna S.
As a retired Career Tech High School teacher, it makes me proud to read the positive approach that was used on this site. I tried very hard as a teacher to instill in my students the importance of developing a good work ethic and selecting and training for a vocation in which you are PASSIONATE! Not only are you happier in your work, but it helps on days when you just don’t even want to get out of bed because it’s cold or raining, etc. I also made every student accountable for their own actions. We explored many areas of all types of careers. For example, we didn’t just study nursing as a career. Today a nurse is not JUST a nurse. There are as many specialists in that field as their are specialties for physicians. I encouraged my students to volunteer for work in several areas of interest. Many have done this, gone to college and come back to be hired by the same company and have had quickly advanced to executive positions. There’s nothing that makes me happier than to see a former student who approaches me, tells me how much they enjoyed my class and the extra time we took researching careers, how people comment their good work ethic and just, in general, how happy they are in their work because I cared. Kudos to the writer of this article as YOU have realized that adults also need positive reinforcement.
Sam V.
This is really interesting if not contradictory to the facts. My Disabled Adult Son [34 yoa], who has been disabled since birth, as a result of numerous birth defects, has been denied SSDI 6 times. He was denied benefits at the age of 5, and systematically denied elegibility due to his parents income. He has been to vocational training, encouraged to apply for SSDI in TN only to be denied because he can read, walk and push a broom. He has worked for a grocery chain now for 13 years, earning no more than 10.75 per hour [averaging approx. 30 hrs. per week], not a living wage. He lives at home, does not drive, is visually and hearing impaired, cannot support himself outside of home, receives approximately 90% of his support from his eldery parents, who are his legal guardian, and does not qualify for SSDI not has ever been suggested that there were other alternatives for him. He does not and has never received federal benefits [Medicaid, Medicare, SSi or SSDI] of any kind. Only because I am a federal annuitant is he covered by my federal health benefits, and if it weren’t for that he would have no medical coverage at all. He does have the privilege of working side by side with others, who are also disabled but receive SSI or SSDI monthly, as they qualified for benefits years ago. Those individuals receive more in SSI/SSDi benefits than he does working. I am writing this only because I have found the system to be so contradictory in so many ways. As a former federal criminal investigator working the border, I watched the system provide benefits for illegal immigrants, criminals and their families, who never worked a day or paid a dollar in federal income tax and were paroled into the US, while their beloved criminal family member was serving time in a federal prison for a variety of criminal activity, primarily drug smuggling. Furthermore, adding insult to injury, I have to take a significant reduction in my earned SS Retirement benefits due to the federal offset;and because my son has worked and earned enough quarters to qualify for SS Retirement Benefits, when he can retire, he does not qualify for either my benefit or my spouses benefit. Can you explain the fairness in this flawed system. I think NOT!
R.F.
Hello Sam. You’re correct! A person’s living arrangements, income, and resources can affect their eligibility to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). However, if your son has been working and paying into Social Security, he may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits or SSDI.
Generally, you need 40 credits, 20 of which you have to earn within the last 10 years before you become disabled, but the requirement may change according to the individual’s age at time of filing.
Keep in mind, a person who is earning more than a certain monthly amount is ordinarily considered to be engaging in what we refer to as: Substantial Gainful Activity or SGA.
See Code of Federal Regulations—Disability Insured Status and our Frequently Asked Questions web page on disability for more information.
You should continue working with your local Social Security office. You can request to speak with the manager if necessary, but our technicians will be able to review your son’s situation and provide further guidance.
If you are unable to visit the local office, you can call our toll free number at 1-800-772-1213, representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Generally, you will have a shorter wait time if you call later in the week. Thanks.
Peter K.
I am recieving SSD. My disability prevents me from doing the work I used to. I still need to do something to earn enought to pay my medicare. I still drive and am doing so on a limited bais for Lyft. What do I need to do? I would like to weigh my options.
Claudia F.
if i have been denied disability benefits…can i get a part time job while i wait for the appeal process? I need the money to survive but i am only capable of working part time because of my disability…and i’m not sure i can even do that. will my ability to work part time disqualify me from getting an approval for disability? I can’t afford to have no income while i wait. My disability is on your list of accepted medical conditions for disability and i was sure i would be approved and am in shock that i wasn’t. so i have to do something to keep from ending up on the streets.
R.F.
Hello Claudia. A person may still be eligible for disability benefits under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program if they work. However, their earnings cannot exceed a certain amount. This is called the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) limit. In 2018, the SGA limit is $1,180 per month (or $1,970 for blind applicants). In addition to the amount of money you make, Social Security may also look at the number of hours you’re able to work.
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions web page for more information. Thanks!
arlene z.
i am now retired, however, was on SSI disability, until you guys told me that since I was 65 years young, that I would have to start my SSI retirement. I am not making it on SSI retirement, so I need to go back to work. I have Parkinson, I don’t have tremors, I have what is called freezing of gate, and my handwriting is not legible. How can you help me get a part time job? I worked many years as an executive assistant. thank you.
R.F.
Hello Arlene. Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions web page for information on how we can help Social Security beneficiaries go back to work. Thanks!
Faithe W.
How much can I make each month while I’m on SSD. I need my benefits but the amount is to low.
V.V.
Hi Faithe, thank you for your question. Social Security has special rules that make it possible for people with disabilities receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to work and still receive monthly payments. These are called work incentives.
For SSDI beneficiaries, there is a Trial Work Period (TWP) and then an Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE). The TWP allows you to test your ability to work for at least 9 months. During this period, you will receive your full disability benefit regardless of how much you earn as long as your work activity is reported and you continue to have a disabling impairment. In 2018, any month in which earnings exceed $850 is considered a month of the 9-month trial work period.
Once you’ve completed your TWP, you get a 36-month safety net called the EPE. During the EPE, you get benefits for all months your earnings or work activities are below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level as long as you continue to have a disabling impairment. Social Security will suspend cash benefits for months earnings are over SGA and start benefits again if earnings fall below the SGA level. In 2018, you are earning SGA if your earnings, after any allowable deductions, are more than $1,180 in a month.
Go to Social Security’s Red Book for descriptions of the many work incentives.
Frances
My husband is totally blind in one eye and has never applied for disability
Is this something he should do
V.V.
Hi Frances. We pay disability benefits through two programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. To qualify for SSDI benefits, you must have worked long enough and recently enough in jobs covered by Social Security (usually within the last 10 years). The (SSI) program is a needs based program that gives cash assistance to disabled individuals with limited income and resources. We pay disability benefits to people who are unable to work because of a medical condition that is expected to last one year or more or to end in death. If your husband thinks he may be eligible to receive disability benefits and would like to apply, he can use our online application.
Applying online for disability benefits offers several advantages:
• You can start your disability claim immediately. There is no need to wait for an appointment.
• You can apply from the convenience of your home, or on any computer; and
• You can avoid trips to a Social Security office, saving you time and money.
If unable to file online, your husband can call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday to make an appointment. For more information visit our “Frequently Asked Questions” web page on disability. Thanks!