If you have become disabled and can no longer work for a living, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. To qualify, your disability must prevent you from working for one year or be expected to lead to your death. Generally, SSDI will provide 40% of your pre-retirement income.
Kentucky residents who receive SSDI and can do some level of work but need to understand the rules to avoid losing their benefits. In many cases, earnings are more important than hours worked.
If your disability benefits have been denied, contact our law firm for a free case consultation. We are proud to help our fellow Kentuckians receive the disability benefits available by law.
What Is Considered Work Under SSDI?
Under SSDI rules, working for a living is engaging in substantial gainful activity. This may be traditional employment, self-employment, contract work, or gig work. For work to be considered substantial gainful activity, it must pay a certain amount of income.
In 2024, earning $1,550 or more per month or $2,590 if you are blind is considered substantial gainful activity.
To be eligible for SSDI benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity.
Hours vs. Income – What Matters Most?
As we have seen, the Social Security Administration (SSA) definition of substantial gainful activity is based on money earned, not hours worked.
Meanwhile, the SSA encourages people to work if they are able. Therefore, SSDI benefit recipients may participate in a nine-month trial work period, during which their disability benefits are not affected, regardless of how much money they make or how many hours they work.
SSDI Recipients Have a Right to Trial Work Periods
Social Security Disability Insurance pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you meet the criteria for benefits and you have paid Social Security taxes on your earnings for a long enough period of time.
To be eligible for SSDI benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial work activity. A person whose income exceeds a certain amount set by the Social Security Administration is ordinarily considered to be engaging in substantial gainful activity.
For 2022, you can earn up to $1,350 a month ($16,200 a year) before you are categorized as engaging in substantial gainful activity. For someone who is blind, the threshold in 2022 is $2,260 a month ($27,120 a year).
Because the Social Security Administration encourages people to work if they are able, SSDI benefit recipients may participate in a trial work period for 9 months, without affecting their disability benefits, regardless of how much money they make. The trial work period does not apply to recipients of SSI benefits.
Self-Employment and SSDI
Self-employed individuals have slightly different guidelines for SSDI eligibility.
Because people who are self-employed may be unable to rely on an hourly wage, the SSA will consider their earnings and work hours to determine whether they are engaged in gainful activity.
When considering hours, the SSA typically allows up to 45 hours of work per month for someone who is self-employed and receiving SSDI benefits. That comes out to around 10 hours per week.
When considering SGA income limits, the SSA allows some deductions for business expenses.
A knowledgeable Social Security disability lawyer can review your specific self-employment situation if you are collecting disability benefits and discuss how the rules apply to you.
Can You Go On Vacation While On Workers’ Comp?
If you have accrued leave time from your place of employment, there is nothing about a workers’ compensation claim to keep you from using it.
Private-sector employers are not required to provide paid vacation to employees. Private employers have significant discretion in developing vacation and personal leave policies. Kentucky state employees get paid leave for a variety of reasons.
The main requirement of employers who offer vacation and other types of leave is that, if promised, vacation must be granted. If an employer’s policies, practices, or statements create a promise of vacation, the employer has likely established a binding legal obligation to provide vacation.
But if you take a vacation while recovering from a workplace injury, you must avoid jeopardizing your workers’ compensation claim.
You need to avoid any activities that conflict with your doctor’s advice for your recovery or that could aggravate the injury. A round of golf or even hours sitting in a plane or a car can be bad for certain injuries.
In addition to making sure you don’t take part in activities that could set back your recovery, you don’t want to do anything that could lead an insurer to challenge your claim. Insurance companies really do send investigators to gather evidence of workers’ comp fraud. Don’t let vacation photos that someone posts to social media cost you your workers’ compensation benefits.
Second, part of following doctor’s orders is keeping follow-up appointments. Check your schedule. Don’t create evidence that you’re not as badly injured as you claim by skipping doctor or rehab appointments. Discuss your vacation plans with your doctor and follow his or her advice about timing and any dos and don’ts.
What If I Exceed The Limits?
If your earnings indicate that you are capable of working for a living, your SSDI benefit may end.
The SSA periodically reviews the files of disability recipients to see whether they can engage in meaningful work. If your SSDI benefit is terminated because your work records indicate that you are able to work for a living, the decision is effective in the month shown by the evidence. Then, the SSA pays SSDI benefits for the cessation month and the following two months, a three-month grace period.
If within five years of your benefits ceasing, your income no longer meets the gainful activity threshold, and your disability is related to your original impairment, you can have your benefits reinstated without completing a new application. SSA calls this process “expedited reinstatement.”
Contact Our Kentucky Lawyers Today
Taking on the Social Security Administration by yourself may seem courageous. But the reality is that you have a better chance of navigating the disability benefits system successfully if a Social Security disability attorney handles your case. A knowledgeable disability attorney can help with the initial application process or an appeal or we can present your case for Social Security benefits to an administrative law judge.
Our legal team can help you take on the SSA from offices in Lexington, Somerset, Manchester, London, Hazard, Paducah, Paintsville, Prestonsburg and Princeton. Contact us at 877-809-5352 or online today for your free consultation.
