Ask Larry

I'm curious about how SSA evaluates earning paid vs earned. I am paid biweekly, so a lot of pay periods fall over two months. Also, I never work a set schedule, so sometimes some months and weeks have more than others. There's really no way of knowing short of a daily breakdown when wages were earned, which I don't have. The paychecks contain the period covered, but again, it often spans two months. How is that handled? Thank you!

Hi. I assume you want to know how Social Security counts earnings when determining substantial gainful activity (SGA) for people receiving disability benefits. Social Security counts earnings in the month they are earned, assuming that adequate documentation is available. However, if it can't be established in which month earnings were earned, then Social Security assumes that earnings were earned in the month(s) they were paid (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0410505005#c).

Anyone receiving disability benefits from Social Security should keep copies of their payroll records so that they can be submitted to Social Security if necessary.

Best, Jerry