You are receiving social security disability. But you feel that you can still perform some form of work. How many hours are you able to work and still receive your social security disability (SSD)?
While this is a fair question, as no one wants to lose benefits that they may need, the answer doesn’t really come down to actual hours worked as the main factor. The typical defining factor is whether or not your disability causes you to be able to gain substantial employment or not. If you are able to work a full-time job, or enough to earn $1,220 per month, you will likely no longer be able to get benefits. If you are blind, that number goes up to $2,040 that you are able to earn outside of benefits.
If you are able to work a very limited job and are under the $1,220 threshold for monthly earnings, you may be fine. But, depending on the job you are able to perform on a part-time or limited income basis, it could make it more difficult for you to prove that you are not able to work full-time.
Nine-Month Trial Period for Work
For those who may be in a position to work, but are unsure how their condition will react, there is a nine-month trial period that allows you to attempt to work a new job while still receiving social security disability benefits. Once you are approved for the trial period, you can start earning above the $1,220 threshold while still receiving full benefits. For 2019, any month that you are making more than $850 or working more than 80 hours while self employed will be considered a trial month.
Once the nine-month trial is completed, it may be determined that you are not able to sustain the full-time work. In this case, you will return to receiving your full SSD benefits. If you are able to work and choose to do so, you may still receive benefits for any month that you don’t make over the $1,220 for the first 36 months. During this 36 months, you may also find that you are unable to work and wish to have your benefits reinstated. After this period, the Social Security Administration will keep your application on file for five years so that you don’t have to go through the entire application process provided you are looking to go back on full benefits.
While this may be confusing, you don’t have to navigate through all of this alone. If you have questions, your Milwaukee-based social security disability lawyer can help out. We service clients all over the country and have gotten benefits for thousands of denied individuals.