Can You Work and Be on Social Security Disability?
Working offers a sense of financial independence, but having a job may not seem possible when you have a disabling medical condition and receive Social Security disability benefits. Social Security Administration work rules make it possible to have a paying job without risking loss of your benefits, but you must follow specific rules that a working while on SSDI disability attorney can explain to you.
Working And the SSI Disability Program
The effect of SSA work rules on your disability benefits depends on whether you receive them through the SSDI or Supplemental Security Income program. SSI and SSDI have different work rules.
If you work while receiving SSI benefits, the money you make, along with income you receive from other sources, may reduce your monthly benefits. If the total income exceeds the amount of your benefits, your SSI payments may stop.
When SSI benefits stop because of earnings from working, you may request expedited reinstatement of them in the event you are unable to work because of your medical condition. Expedited reinstatement does not require completion of a new application, and you may request it within five years.
An SSI work program specifically for students with disabilities excludes part of the income earned by a student who is younger than 22 and attends school or a training program. Speak to a Social Security disability lawyer for more information.
Working While Receiving SSDI Benefits
The definition of disability used by the SSA to evaluate initial disability claims is an inability to do substantial gainful activity (SGA) due to a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 months or is likely to result in death. A measure of the ability to do substantial gainful activity is monthly earnings.
If you have work earnings over $1,690 in a month in 2026, you are doing SGA and could lose your SSDI benefits. However, a trial work period, one of the SSA work incentives, allows you to test your ability to work without fear of losing your benefits by earning more than the SGA threshold.
Here are the basic rules of the trial work period:
- You must notify the SSA that you wish to work during a trial work period.
- The trial period is nine months to be used within a 60-month period.
- Any month in 2026 that you earn more than $1,210 becomes a trial work month.
- You continue to receive your SSDI benefits regardless of how much money you earn from working during a trial work period. This includes exceeding the SGA threshold.
A trial work month for self-employed individuals is any month in which their income after business expenses exceeds $1,210 or their time at work exceeds 80 hours.
Learn more by speaking to a can you work and be on Social Security disability lawyer before you begin working for helpful information. For example, the cost of items or services you need for work may be used to reduce your monthly earnings.
Transportation expenses, counseling services, and other costs incurred because of a disability may be used to keep your monthly earnings below the SGA threshold. A disability advocate or attorney can advise you about work expenses that may be deducted.
What Happens After a Trial Work Period?
You can continue to work and receive SSDI benefits after a trial work period. An extended period of eligibility starts after the trial work period and lasts for 36 months.
The earnings rules change under an extended period of eligibility. If you have monthly earnings in excess of the SGA threshold, your SSDI benefits may stop. However, you can request reinstatement within five years without having to submit a new application or waiting for a disability review. If you want to work and be on Social Security disability, seek disability benefits legal guidance working with a disability advocate.
