Work Incentives are special Social Security rules that make it easier for persons receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to work and still receive health care and, in some cases, cash benefits from Social Security. Work Incentives can help Ticketholders through the transition to work and financial independence. The Social Security Red Book has a general overview of all Work Incentives and other types of employment supports available to beneficiaries with disabilities. To learn more, visit https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/.

Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) is the term Social Security uses to describe a level of work activity and earnings. Work is “substantial” if it involves performing significant physical or mental activities or a combination of both. “Gainful” work activities denote work performed for pay or profit; or work of a nature generally performed for pay or profit; or work intended for profit, whether or not a profit is realized.

After a person becomes eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the Trial Work Period (TWP) allows the beneficiary to test his or her ability to work for at least nine months in a 60-month rolling period. The nine months do not have to be consecutive. During the TWP, a beneficiary will receive full SSDI benefits regardless of his or her earnings as long as the beneficiary reports his or her work activity and continues to have a disabling impairment. SSA will examine your earnings during the TWP months, and if gross earnings are more than $1,110/month in 2024 it will count as a TWP month.

The TWP starts when a beneficiary begins working and performing “services” and is earning at or above the amount Social Security designates as Trial Work Level (TWL) earnings. The TWP cannot begin until the first month a person is entitled to SSDI benefits or the month a person files for benefits, whichever is later. To learn more, visit https://www.ssa.gov/redbook/.

• • Lasts for 9 months .
  • Nine months do not have to be in a row .
  • Must take place within 60 months (5 years)

• • During your EPE, you will receive your cash benefit when your work and earnings are not at a substantial gainful activity (SGA) level.
  • You will get paid for the first month that your work and earnings are SGA and for the next 2 months.
  • Your benefits will end if your work is SGA in any month after your EPE ends.

• • You stop working above the SGA level
  • Your disability is the same as or related to your current disability
  • You make your request within 5 years of when your benefits end

EXR is a safety net for beneficiaries who enter the workforce and whose disability benefits end due to work and earnings. If the beneficiary loses his or her job within five years of benefit cessation, the beneficiary may request reinstatement of benefits without completing a new application. Under EXR, the beneficiary may receive up to six months of temporary or provisional benefits while Social Security conducts a medical review to determine if the person qualifies for the reinstatement of benefits. To learn more, visit https://ssa.gov/redbook/.