MAY I GET DISABILITY BENEFITS IF I WORK FULL-TIME?

The general answer to this question is, No.  A person may not receive Social Security disability benefits if he/she is currently working full-time.

According to 20 Code of Federal Regulations 404.1520(b), if an individual engages in Substantial Gainful Activity, she is not disabled regardless of how severe her physical or mental impairments are and regardless of her age, education or work experience.

Social Security defines "substantial gainful activity" as activity that is substantial and gainful.  Work will generally be deemed SGA if it produces gross wages of at least $1,090 per month.

Another question arises:  May I work part-time and receive Social Security disability benefits.  The answer here is not so clear cut.  The boundary line is still earning gross wages of at least $1,090 per month.  It is possible for a person to earn wages below that mark and still be eligible for disability benefits.  For example, I once had a client who earned $350 per month at a part-time job and still received SSDI benefits.  This amount, of course, was far below SGA level and far below full-time work.

It is possible for an individual to meet the medical definition of disability and not be eligible for benefits because of working.  It will prove helpful to speak with a qualified disability representative before making the judgment about how your work affects a potential disability claim.

CONFUSING TERMS & WHAT THEY MEAN

Some important terms stand out in the Social Security disability regulations.  Here is what they mean.

Alleged Onset Date (AOD).  This is the date the claimant alleges to have first become disabled.  If it becomes the Established Onset Date (EOD), meaning that the Social Security Administration agrees that the claimant did indeed become disabled on that date, benefits may be paid back to that date.  So the AOD/EOD affects how many months of back pay or past due benefits the claimant is entitled to receive.

Waiting Period.  The waiting period for all Title 2 (regular disability) claims is 5 full calendar months.  This is really an elimination period.  5 months of benefits will be subtracted from the Established Onset Date.  For example, if you are found to have become disabled on March 15^th, your waiting period will include the months of April –August and your first benefit payment eligibility will be for the month of September.  This does not necessarily mean you would have to wait 5 months from the decision to get a benefit. It depends on when hour established onset date was. You wait 5 months from the ONSET date.

Duration Requirement.  Social Security regulations require a claimant to be disabled for at least 12 consecutive months in order to receive disability benefits.  And the 12 months must be from the same impairment(s).  For example, if a person is disabled for 5 months because of a heart attack, then becomes disabled again for 7 months because of back surgery, the two impairments cannot be combined to satisfy the 12 month duration requirement.  A claimant does not necessarily have to wait 12 months before filing an application for disability benefits, however.  If he/she expects to be disabled for a period of 12 consecutive months by the same condition or combination of conditions, the application can be filed immediately.  The requirement is that the claimant provides medical documentation that he/she can reasonably be expected to be disabled for at least 12 consecutive months.  Disability expected to last less than 12 consecutive months are not covered by Social Security.  Benefits may be awarded before the 12 month period expires.  The duration requirement is intended to eliminate benefits for impairments that are expected to last less than 12 months.

Date Last Insured (DLI).  This is the date the claimant’s Social Security disability insurance expires.  Yes, disability insurance does expire if you stop working and stop paying FICA taxes.  If your DLI is 12/31/17, for instance, you must file a disability claim before 12/31/17 or prove that you became disabled prior to 12/31/17.  Otherwise, you lose the right to file a new claim after 12/31/17.  If you are receiving disability benefits from Social Security, this date has nothing to do with when your payments will stop, when your case will be reviewed again, etc.  It simply means that there was a point in time beyond which you could not file a new disability claim.  That date is called The Date Last insured (DLI).  If you are receiving disability benefits, you obviously filed a claim prior to the DLI, so the date means nothing to you after you file your claim.

COMMON QUESTIONS AT DISABILITY HEARINGS

Disability hearings are presided over by administrative law judges (ALJs).  The judges will ask the claimant questions under oath to try to discover the facts related to why the claimant is (or is not) disabled under Social Security regulations.  There is no list of questions--the judge may ask anything.  However, here are some common questions that come up frequently:

1. Tell me why you believe you are not able to work.
2. Under what circumstances did you leave your last job?
3. Specific functional limitations:  How long can you sit?  Stand?  How long/how far can you walk?  Lift, on a repeated basis?
4. How do you spend your day?  (What kind of activities do you regularly engage in:  shopping, housework, yard work, social events, etc.)?
5. Do you drive?  How often?  (Be sure to explain any limitations).
6. Did you apply for or receive any unemployment after you stopped working?
7. When is the last day you worked, even for one day?
8. Tell me about your past work. 
• Kind of machine(s) you operated. 
• How much you routinely/frequently lifted?
• What is the heaviest weight you ever lifted, even occasionally?
• Out of an 8 hour day, how much of the time were you sitting?  Standing/walking?
• Did you supervise others?  Write reports?  Hire and fire workers?

General advice about answering questions at your hearing:

• Always be truthful.  Don't exaggerate.
•  If you don't understand a question, ask that it be clarified before you answer.
• Questions involving the word "how" should be answered specificially:  use feet, yards, pounds, times per week, times per day, etc.  Avoid generalities like "not very long, not very much, sometimes or once in a while," which mean different things to different people.
•  Use an example if it helps explain your answer.  Use these sparingly.

Please remember that the Social Security act does not cover any form of unemployment or vocational problem, such as getting laid off, fired, conflicts with other workers, business closings, job relocations, family problems, etc.  You must be unable to work based on a severe physical and/or mental impairment.  Any other reason is not covered by the Social Security Act, is not a disability, and will not pay benefits.

In most cases, the administrative law judge will have access to your entire earnings record, including unemployment benefits and self employment income.  He/she may also have information about your legal history, such as arrests, imprisonments, drug use or smoking habits.  If you are asked, for example, "Do you smoke," you should answer truthfully.  Don't say you have quit smoking unless you really have, and unless you quit some time in the past, not a week or two ago.  The judge's next question is likely to be, "When's the last time you smoked a cigarette?"  If you answer "Yesterday," you lose credibility.  Total honesty is always best.