If you qualify for disability benefits through the Social Security Disability (SSDI) program, it’s because you have a physical or mental condition that keeps you from working. Under certain circumstances, you may work without affecting your eligibility for the program.
How much you earn during a month more than the hours worked determines how it affects your eligibility or the amount of benefits you continue to receive. The following information explains Social Security work rules and how to avoid violating them. If you have additional questions or need assistance with an application for benefits or to appeal a claim denial, contact the disability lawyers at Sackett and Associates for a free consultation.
Work Rules And SSDI Benefits
One of the eligibility requirements for SSDI is that you must have worked long enough at jobs or through self-employment and paid Social Security taxes on your earnings. The other is that you must be disabled and unable to work.
The definition of disability used by the Social Security Administration to determine if you qualify for SSDI benefits can be found in the federal regulations. For the SSA to determine that you are disabled and eligible for the SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs, you must meet the following criteria:
- You must be unable to do any substantial gainful activity (SGA);
- Your inability to do SGA is because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment; and
- The impairment or impairments must be expected to result in death or have lasted or be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.
SGA is the level of work involving significant mental and physical activity that people perform in exchange for pay or profit. The measure of the ability of a worker to do SGA generally does not get measured by the hours worked. Instead, the SSA uses monthly earnings.
Monthly Earnings And SGA
Substantial gainful activity (SGA) is a term used to describe work that involves significant physical or mental activity, or both, performed for pay or profit. The SSA uses monthly earnings to determine if you can do SGA.
The monthly earnings limit for someone who is statutorily blind is $2,700. If you earn more than $2,700 in a month, you can do SGA. Individuals who are disabled and not blind have an SGA limit of $1,620 per month. These are the SGA amounts for 2025, but they change annually.
If you are self-employed, you may encounter SSDI work hour limits the SSA uses to determine whether you can do SGA. The SSA may evaluate individuals who have received SSDI benefits for at least 24 months using the SGA monthly income test.
The SSA has other tests that evaluate the hours, responsibilities, and energy output that a self-employed person commits to a business in determining SGA. If you are self-employed and receiving or applying for SSDI, a disability lawyer at Sackett Law can help.
Working While Receiving Disability Benefits
The SSA offers programs to encourage people receiving disability benefits to do part-time work on Social Security disability or to attempt a return to working full time without the earnings affecting their benefits. For example, you can test your ability to work during a trial work period without reducing your SSDI benefits or affecting your eligibility if your earnings exceed the SGA limit.
A trial work period gives you nine months to work and earn as much as you want without affecting your benefits or eligibility. Each month you earn over $1,160 is a trial work month in 2025, and you have 60 months to use the trial months. If you are self-employed, a trial work month is any month when you earn more than $1,160 after business expenses or a month that you work more than 80 hours in your business.
If you receive disability benefits through SSI, the SSA encourages you, as it does recipients of SSDI, to try working on either a full- or part-time basis. Your earnings from working and other income you may receive during a month may not exceed the SSI income limits for the state where you live. Each state is different, so ask your disability lawyer at Sackett Law for advice about how much you can earn.
Should your monthly countable income exceed SSI limits, your disability benefits will stop. You may request reinstatement without a new application, provided you do so within five years.
Contact An Experienced Disability Lawyer About SSI &SSDI Work Restrictions
Before getting a part- or full-time job while receiving SSI and SSDI benefits, you need to know: How much can you work on disability? Sackett Law has helped people throughout Northern California and across the nation for 45 years with their disability benefit issues. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Leave A Comment