Will Unemployment Compensation Affect My Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits
By Shelley W. Elovitz, Esquire
There are cases where you can work and receive Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits But what if you lose your job? Are you eligible for Unemployment Compensation?
If you are enrolled in the Social Security Ticket to Work program and you worked for at least six months before you were laid off, you are eligible to collect unemployment benefits and disability benefits at the same time.
Social Security uses Grid Rules based on age, RFC level , education level, and work history and skills to determine disability. If you are over 50 years old and can only do sedentary work, and if you have been seeking sedentary work while collecting unemployment, you may remain eligible for both unemployment and disability. If you are over 55 years old and can only do light work, and you have been seeking light work while collecting unemployment, you may remain eligible for both unemployment and disability.
Unemployment benefits do not affect or reduce retirement and disability benefits. State unemployment compensation payments are not wages because they are paid due to unemployment rather than employment. However, income from Social Security may reduce your unemployment compensation.
Information About Unemployment Benefits For Ssi And Ssdi Recipients
A person is allowed to receive unemployment benefits and federal disability benefits at the same time, but as discussed below, receiving unemployment benefits could affect a persons disability benefits in negative ways.
If you receive Supplemental Security Income benefits, any unemployment benefits you receive will reduce your SSI payment dollar-for-dollar. You have a duty to report income to the Social Security Administration if you are an SSI recipient. If the money received in a month is not spent before the first day of the next month, then it will count toward the $2,000 SSI resource limit .
If you receive Social Security Disability Insurance , unemployment benefits will not affect the amount of the SSDI payment.
When you are receiving disability benefits, the Social Security Administration will periodically conduct a review of your condition to make sure you still qualify for disability benefits. If you received unemployment benefits since the last review, that may be considered in a continuing disability review.
Finally, people living in New York who received unemployment between March 2020 and September 6, 2021 will not have that money count as income or a resource for SSI purposes. However, if you received unemployment during that time period, it could still be considered in deciding whether you are disabled. Any unemployment received after September 6, 2021 is subject to the regular pre-pandemic income and resource rules.
Financial Requirements For Social Security Disability
The SSA imposes different financial requirements on eligibility for SSDI and SSI:
- You must meet certain standards concerning your work history. A 55-year old, for example, must have worked at least eight years during his working lifetime, five of which must have been during the last ten years. These standards vary according to age.
- To be eligible for SSDI, you must not be involved in substantial gainful activity, which means that you are not eligible for disability benefits if you earn at least $1,220 per month .
- To become eligible for SSI you dont need any work history, but you must meet very low family asset and income maximums.
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Not Letting Your Medical Provider Know Youre Applying For Sdi
Many people do not tell their medical providers about their plans to apply for State Disability Insurance . This can be a mistake, because SDI relies on your medical provider to let them know how serious your condition is, and how long it might last. Before applying, its good to talk with your medical provider about your SDI application and your condition, how your condition affects your day-to-day life, and how long it might last. If the medical report sent to the SDI is inaccurate or incomplete, you might get turned down for benefits, or get them for a shorter period of time than you need them.
Can You Apply For Disability While On Unemployment With A Skilled Attorney Representing You
The simple truth is that you need the advice of a knowledgeable disability lawyer to help you if you are considering applying for disability while on unemployment.
Moreover, its critical that you pick the right attorney. You need to look for an attorney with a practice focused on disability-related legal issues.
Its also important for them to have many years of legal experience and a great reputation.
Cottrell Law Office is not just any law firm. We are an award-winning firm with over 32 years of experience aiding injured and disabled people.
In addition, we have an outstanding track record of providing great client service, as our customer testimonials show.
Finally, our outstanding results show just how good we are at helping our clients win big and obtain the compensation they deserve.
Let us help you. Give us a call today at 800-364-8305 or contact us online to get started.
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Unemployment Insurance Benefits After A Period Of Disability
If you are laid off or terminated from your job while collecting Temporary Disability Insurance benefits or Workers Compensation benefits, you should file for Unemployment Insurance benefits after you recover. You may qualify for Unemployment Insurance benefits using wages you earned in an alternate base year set by the disability date.
To use the alternate base year, all of the following must have occurred.
1. You must have recovered from either:
- a Workers’ Compensation disability that began less than two years before the Unemployment Insurance claim date, or
- a temporary disability covered by the Temporary Disability Insurance program.
2. You must have contacted your employer after you recovered, and work is no longer available.
3. You must have filed for Unemployment Insurance benefits within four weeks of your recovery.
The alternate base year cannot be used if work was available and you did not return to work. If you have sufficient wages in the regular base year to file a claim, you may use the base year to calculate your Unemployment Insurance benefit amount. Wages in both the regular and alternate base years cannot be combined to establish a valid claim. Wages used for an earlier claim cannot be used again.
Disability Benefits From State Government
From January 2021, the Department of Paid Family Medical leave offers a cash benefit to Massachusetts employees who need to take paid leave for medical or family reasons. Find out more at Paid Family and Medical Leave .
Some employers offer short- or long-term disability insurance as a benefit to their employees. You should check with your human resources department to find out whether your employer offers this benefit and if you have previously enrolled in it. If you have private disability insurance through your employer, or that youve bought individually, typically it will require you to apply for any public benefits available. In conversations about disability insurance, if people are referring to disability, they often mean PFML.
The Department of Transitional Assistance provides cash benefits to people with very low income and assets. If you are unable to work for at least 60 days due to a disabling condition, you may be eligible for one of their programs.
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Applying For Both Benefits Programs
What should you do if you want to apply for both benefits programs? The process for applying for both is not much different to applying for each individually.
U.S. citizens automatically become eligible for partial Social security when they are age 62, with increasingly higher benefits when they choose to defer enrollment.
If you want to apply for retirement benefits, you need to visit the SSA website and submit your application online.
Alternatively, you can also apply by mail or in person at your local SSA office.
Applying for unemployment works in a similar way. You can either apply online or by phone through your states unemployment office.
Sometimes you may be asked to schedule a telephone interview in order to confirm some of your application details.
While you dont generally have to disclose Social Security benefits payments as income , its a good idea to mention it to an unemployment intake worker so your paperwork is all up to date.
Whether To Apply For Unemployment Benefits
What should you do? To be safe, especially in the few states where filing an application for unemployment means you’re saying you’re available to work full time, some disablity applicants wait to apply for disability benefits until their unemployment benefits run out. Others change the date they say they became disabled until after their unemployment benefits have stopped.
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Does Pension Affect Unemployment Benefits
Most states such as California or Georgia have chosen to reduce the unemployment compensation for everyone who receive any type of pension payments.
Its good to note here that Social Security benefits are not affected by UI benefits or pension.
Although the reductions vary by state, typically the weekly benefit amount is reduced by the amount contributed by your base period employer towards your pension .
Make Sure You’re Properly Covered: Get Professional Legal Help Today
If your case is especially complex, or you have additional questions about disability and unemployment, you may benefit from a consultation with a Social Security Disability Insurance lawyer. An attorney will understand how to navigate the system and ensure everything is filed correctly. Contact an experienced SSDI attorney today.
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Can I File A Disability Claim While Collecting Unemployment Benefits
It is completely understandable for someone to file a disability claim because a mental or physical disability prevents them from working.
It also is not unreasonable to file a claim for unemployment benefits after being laid off. Yet people sometimes wonder, Can you apply for disability while on unemployment benefits?
The simple answer is that you technically can file for both. However, it is rarely a good idea and often creates more problems than solutions.
If you are asking, Can you get unemployment and disability at the same time? then you should reach out to a qualified and experienced disability lawyer for further guidance right away.
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Eligibility Criteria: Social Security Disability And Unemployment Benefits
There is no hard and fast rule which requires denial of Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income claims by those already receiving unemployment benefits. But there is an obvious tension between the two types of benefits:
- Unemployment: Must be ready, willing and able to work on a full-time basis
- Disability: Must be unable to work a full-time job for 12 months because of a disabling medical condition. If a person is expected to be unable to work for 12 months, this qualifies as well.
A 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case held that Social Security disability claims “did not inherently conflict” with other types of benefits. But the reality is that if an administrative law judge sees that a claimant has admitted he was ready, willing and able to work, then this is not consistent with a claim for disability benefits.
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How To Apply For Both Programs
If you are eligible to receive both unemployment compensation and Social Security, then you will need to apply separately for each benefit in the same manner as you would if you were only applying for one of them.
Unemployment insurance is administered at the state level and each state has different rules and processes. The Department of Labor provides contact information and websites for all state unemployment insurance agencies. You should refer to your states website for the most up-to-date information about how to apply for unemployment benefits.
Social Security, on the other hand, is a federally funded program operated by the U.S. Social Security Administration. The fastest way to complete your application for Social Security benefits is to do so online.
Keep in mind that you donât have to wait to begin receiving one benefit before filing for the other. You can file for both benefits at the same time. Also, remember that because each benefit is provided by a different agency, the time frame for receiving payments after you file will vary.
Can A Disability Attorney Help Me Decide Whether To Apply For Unemployment Benefits And Disability Benefits
Absolutely. An experienced disability lawyer will be able to assess your claim and explain your potential options. They can also explain the benefits and drawbacks for each choice.
Because they are experienced with working with ALJs and other government officials, an attorney can provide you sound advice on how to move forward.
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What You Need To Know If You’re Unemployed And Eligible For Social Security Benefits
No one wants to risk losing their Social Security benefits, so many Americans applying for or receiving Social Security benefits, whether through Social Security Disability Insurance are hesitant to apply for unemployment in the event of a job loss.
Is it true that you will lose benefits? If youre wondering how can unemployment benefits affect Social Security disability earnings, then DEF is here to answer your questions.
Unemployment In : How Does It Affect Disability And Why
The above is a picture of a man carrying a box of his things out of the office.
How Does Disability Affect Unemployment in 2020 and Why?
If youve been receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, youre able to do so because of a medical condition that prevents you from being able to work. Unemployment benefits, on the other hand, are only available to people who were once employed but then lost their job due to a lay-off.
In most cases, a person cant claim both disability benefits and unemployment at the same time. However, there are some unique situations in which its possible to claim both.
If you have questions about how disability affects unemployment, this article is for you.
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Can You Collect Unemployment Benefits While Waiting For Disability Is This A Conflict
When I asked my clients about the apparent discrepancy, they would tell me that something like: “I want to work and am willing to try to work, and if I could get a job I would work hard to perform it. I dont know if my medical condition would allow me to perform reliably, but I would certainly try.”
Social Securitys stated policy is to encourage people with disabilities to return to work, and I personally do not see a huge inconsistency in a claimant who is applying for both unemployment and SSDI.
But Social Security tends to view things in an either-or fashion. You are disabled or you are not, and there seems to be no middle ground.
Some judges take the position that if you say you are ready, willing and able to work, then by definition, you are not disabled.
Apparently, if you accept unemployment compensation and sign your name to a statement that asserts that you can work, then you must not be disabled.
Of course, you dont automatically receive disability benefits if you do not apply for unemployment and sign a statement that you are not able to work.
And there remains no answer to the question of how you can feed and house yourself and your family during the time that Social Security takes to decide whether you are disabled.
When Will Ssdi Coverage Lapse
You must meet the recent work test and the duration of work test in order to qualify for SSDI. Heres the recent work test: Typically, if you are 31 or older, you must have worked at least 5 of the last 10 years to keep up your SSDI coverage. Put another way, you will need to have earned 20 credits in the 10 years immediately before you became disabled. There is an exception to this rule for certain blind applicants.
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When Can You Retire And Claim Unemployment Insurance
The Social Security Administration of the US states clearly that the earliest retirement age is 65, for people born in 1937 or earlier.
For anyone born after 1937 until 1943, the retirement age increases successively by two months. This means, those born between 1943 1954 can retire at age 66.
The same applies for people born after 1955. The retirement age increases also by two months each successive year to 67 for those born in 1960 and later.
Do I Have To Be Working At My Job For A Certain Amount Of Time To Be Eligible For Disability Benefits
No. Eligibility is based on the earnings shown in your base period. Your base period is wages you earned 5 to 18 months before your disability claim begins. To learn more, use our DI/PFL calculator to create a general estimate. You must have at least $300 in wages in your base period, and they must have been subject to the SDI tax deduction . If you think you are eligible for disability, file a claim.
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