Can You Work While on Disability in Baltimore, DC & Virginia?

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When Does Too Much Income Disqualify You from Disability Benefits?

Every dollar counts when health problems rob you of the ability to earn a living like you did before. Monthly checks from Social Security Disability can help keep you afloat.

But money is still tight. Disability benefits provide basic support, not full comfort. Can you work while on disability to make your financial situation easier?

Take caution. The whole purpose of Social Security Disability benefits is to help when you can’t work. Being unable to work—because of bad health—is the primary requirement to get benefits.

If you work, you risk losing benefits. The Social Security Disability program may view your work as proof that you don’t need their help.

To work and still get Social Security Disability, there are only two paths:

Working less than the limit set by Social Security

Going on a trial period to see if you can work again

Get expert guidance on what you should do from the Mathis & Mathis Disability Advocates in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Alexandria & Northern Virginia.

We’ve helped thousands of people get disability benefits.

We can help you make the right decisions for a more settled financial situation.

Social Security Disability Is All We Do.

How Much Can You Work on Disability and Keep Your Permanent Benefits?

Qualifying for disability benefits means that your health problems prevent you from doing what Social Security calls “substantial gainful activity,” or SGA.

SGA is measured in dollars.

If you earn under a certain amount per month, you’re still eligible for disability benefits. If you earn over that amount, Social Security figures your ability to work is strong enough that you don’t need benefits.

The substantial gainful activity line typically changes every year as overall costs in the economy change.

By 2024, Social Security said SGA meant earning $1,550 per month or more. (This is before taxes, not your take-home pay.)

People with statutory blindness could make up to $2,590 and still get disability benefits. (Also the before-tax amount.)

If your goal is to win benefits in the first place or continue benefits that you’ve already won, earning more than those amounts can get you denied.

But if your goal is to try out working to see if you’re able to return to the job permanently, that’s different.

When you’re up front with Social Security that you want to test going back to work but don’t know how it will go, there’s another way you can work without risking your benefits.

We’ll discuss that below.

And the Mathis & Mathis Disability Advocates can discuss your individual situation with you for free. If you have questions, get in touch any time.

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How Can You Work and Get Disability if You Want to Return to the Job?

Social Security wants to encourage you to return to the workforce if you can. It doesn’t want to scare you away from working because you could lose disability benefits only to discover later that you can’t keep working after all.

So it has a plan called a “trial work period.”

These are the rules for a trial work period under Social Security Disability:

You can work for up to nine months without losing benefits.

The nine months can be spread any time over a five-year period. They don’t have to be in a row.

A month of work counts toward the trial work period if you earn $1,110 before taxes, or more, in that month (as of 2024).

The monthly dollar amount that triggers a trial work period changes over time.

If you’re trying a trial work period, just make sure you’re ready to go off disability benefits if that’s how it goes.

But here’s a little reassurance: Even after you return to work, you can still take more time to see if you’re able to stay in the workforce while keeping your disability benefits on standby.

That way if your health interrupts your job again, you don’t have to go back to the beginning of the arduous process of applying for disability benefits.

After your trial work period, you’ll be in an “extended period of eligibility (EPE).”

For any month in the EPE when you earn above substantial gainful activity, your benefits will stop. But if you earn less in another month, you’ll get disability benefits again.

This extended period of eligibility goes on for three years. If your medical conditions flare up in those years and you have to stop working, you don’t have to reapply for Social Security Disability.

Talk to an experienced disability advocate to navigate these steps correctly without losing benefits needlessly.

Mathis & Mathis can help you get, and hold on to, the benefits that give you space to rebuild a normal life after a health crisis.

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Applying or Appealing, We Can Help

Whether you’re in the initial stages of applying, appealing a denial of benefits, or wondering if you qualify, Mathis & Mathis can help.

Social Security Disability FAQs

Because applying for Social Security Disability benefits can be complicated, you likely have many questions about the process. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions.

Disability FAQs »

Visual Guide: How to Pass a Continuing Disability Review

For a breakdown of the most important parts of how to pass a Social Security continuing disability review, see this easy-to-scan chart from Mathis & Mathis Disability Advocates:

CDRs Visual Guide »

Hear from a Mathis & Mathis Client

“I could not recommend Mathis & Mathis highly enough. They were kind, patient and thorough. No question was too small. They were timely in responding to me. While the process of applying for and obtaining disability is a long, tough road, Mr. Mathis made everything so much better. If you are thinking about applying, please do and know you will be taken very good care of . . . just like family.”

— Tracey Jones, Google Reviews