Social Security Disability and Continuing to Work

The following situation and question is from Toolin66:

"My issue is that I found work and my job positions changed due to new diagnosis in addition to my original claim. I have continued to work and times the Doctor treating me took me off for complications related to new dx. I am in position that I make more than SGA and not really able to continue with the work schedule I currently have. Would your opinion be that this will be my denial, end of story even with RFC?"


Toolin66,

I am not sure I understand your post. Have you already filed a disability claim with Social Security? If you have filed for disability, were you denied, or are you in the appeal process? Since I don't know, I am going to answer this question as if you have not filed but are thinking about filing for disability with Social Security.

The Social Security Act states that individuals who are earning over the monthly established SGA amount can be denied if they allege no special considerations from their employer, or subsidy, even if they are working less than a full time work week or even if they are not performing the job that they usually perform.

Note: SGA, the substantial gainful activity amount, is an earnings cutoff limit. Also, in a subsidy situation, your work is not actually worth your pay and your employer is willing to verify that it is not.

In your case, I would say that an RFC will not help you with your disability claim as long as your earnings are over the SGA amount.

In fact, your disability claim would most likely be denied in the Social Security field office rather than at a state disability agency (i.e. at DDS, or disability determination services). In that case, no adjudicator (decision-maker on a disability claim) would ever see the RFC.

Social Security disability is a total disability program and that means that either A) your condition has limited you to the extent that you've been unable to work at the SGA level for 12 months, B) your condition can be expected to preclude work activity at the SGA level for 12 months, or C) your condition may result in death.

Remember, I have very limited details regarding your situation, therefore my answer might change if I knew whether you were in the disability process, have been denied in the past, or are thinking about filing now that you have a new condition.

However, I doubt it would change too much no matter what your condition is if you are still able to work over the SGA amount. It does not matter if your doctor has taken you out of work here and there: it only matters if you cannot perform a job at the SGA level due to the restrictions imposed upon you by your disabling condition or conditions.

I hope that this helps and good luck.


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