Despite widespread belief to the contrary, individuals receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) from the Social Security Administration (SSA), are eligible to test their ability to return to work without jeopardizing their benefits.

This program, overseen by the Social Security Administration (SSA), is known as a Trial Work Period (TWP).

Originally developed as a collection of special rules to incentivize SSDI beneficiaries to return to work, the TWP allows recipients to re-enter the workforce while continuing to collect full monthly benefits associated with their SSA program. Prior to this, and sometimes even now, people receiving benefits are afraid to go back to work because they fear it may jeopardize the benefits they need to make ends meet. 

 

Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) Trial Work Period

According to Social Security Administration regulations, those who receive social security disability benefits are eligible to test their ability to return to work through the Trial Work Period (TWP) program while maintaining their disabled status. The Trial Work Period is a Work Incentive allowing you to test your ability to work for at least nine months while still receiving SSDI benefits. 

How long is the trial work period for SSDI?

Without actually trying to go back to work, it is difficult to know whether you are up to it or not. The opportunity to try it over a five-year period is incredibly helpful for those who are ready to test the waters. A Trial Work Period consists of nine total months within a five-year (60-month period) rolling eligibility term, in which an SSDI beneficiary may earn an unlimited amount of money without negatively impacting their monthly cash benefit.

Additionally, the Trial Work Period does not have to consist of nine consecutive months. They may be spread out over the five-year period. The ability to earn some money while seeing if the person is well-equipped to work again offers an incentive to get back into the workforce without fear of the impact it could have if their benefits were discontinued. The injured party found they were unable to work after all. 

SSDI Trial Work Period Eligibility & Earnings

All SSDI beneficiaries are eligible for a Trial Work Period (TWP) so long as they:

• Received 24 months of payable benefits, known as an Initial Reinstatement Period (IRP)
• Have not previously participated in a TWP
• Report all work activity and wages to the Social Security Administration (SSA), including part-time work
• Remain eligible for Disability Benefits under SSA Regulations

Because TWP months are not required to be consecutive (nine total months in a five-year period), eligible months are determined by an SSA trigger known as the Trial Work Level (TWL). The TWL trigger is calculated annually based on the national average wage index and adjusted for national wage growth.

TWL earnings are an individual’s total earnings in a month, prior to tax deductions. In 2021, the net earnings trigger for TWP months is $940; meaning, any month in which an SSDI beneficiary earned $940 or more, that month counts towards their Trial Work Period.

For example, if an individual on SSDI attempts to return to work in the months of January, February and March of 2021, and earns $950, $575, and $1020 respectively, only 2 of their 9 TWP months are used.

Impairment-related expenses, such as medical supplies and service animal costs, can be deducted from monthly earnings prior to applying the TWL trigger. In addition to monthly earnings, self-employed participants are also subject to an 80 hours worked per month TWL trigger. If you are self-employed, any month during which you work over 80 hours or have net earnings from self-employment (NESE) over $850 counts toward your TWP.

How Many Trial Work Periods Can You Have?

SSDI Trial Work Periods are automatically triggered by reported earnings and do not require an actual enrollment process. It is important to keep track of and report all earnings to the SSA, as individuals are only eligible for one Trial Work Period.

What If You Have to Stop Working After Beginning a Trial Work Period?

If an individual does not complete all 9 TWL eligible months of a TWP within five years, following the conclusion of the 60-month rolling eligibility period, they may be entitled to a new TWP. If an individual loses SSDI eligibility and is subsequently reinstated, they will be allowed a new TWP after meeting all Social Security eligibility guidelines.

What Happens After Your Trial Work Period? Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE)

After completion of a Trial Work Period, individuals enter a 36-month long Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE), in which they continue to receive full SSDI benefits so long as they remain disabled and earn less in gross income than the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) threshold set annually by the SSA.

• In 2020, the SGA level for beneficiaries was $1,260 monthly income (or $2110 for blind disability recipients).
• In 2021, the SGA level for beneficiaries was $1,310 monthly income (or $2,190 for blind disability recipients).
• In 2022, the SGA level for beneficiaries was $1,350 monthly income (or $2460 for blind disability recipients).
• In 2023, the SGA level for beneficiaries is $1,460 monthly income (or $2460 for blind disability recipients).

Changes in these amounts are generally a reflection of the National Average Wage Index. 

Benefits are only distributed if an individual does not surpass the SGA amount for gross earnings that month during their EPE. If an individual earns an amount above the threshold for any month during their EPE, SSDI benefits will not be provided for that month.

After completing the EPE, if an individual had even one month in which they earned above the SGA threshold, their SSDI benefits will be terminated following full disability payment for the current month (plus two additional grace period months).

However, if an individual never breaks the SGA threshold during the 36-month EPE, their benefits will continue.

For example, an individual beginning an EPE in January of 2020 who earns $1,260 or more in ten out of the 36 months will receive SSDI benefits for 36 of those months. Afterwards, they will not be eligible for SDDI at the end of January of 2023. 

For example, in an individual begins an EPE in January 2016, and earns $1250 or more in 10 out of the 26 months, he/she will receive SSDI benefits for 26 of those months, and will no longer be eligible for SSDI at the end of January 2019.

Expedited Reinstatement After Trial Work Period

After your nine-month trial work period is up, you will not be entitled to another trial work period. However, you are eligible to submit a new application for SSDI benefits or get expedited reinstatement. Expedited reinstatement lets you restart benefits without having to file a new application. This enables you to get benefits much faster than if you go through the application process again.

The SSA states that you are eligible for expedited reinstatement if you:

• Stopped receiving benefits because of earnings from work,
• Are unable to work or perform substantial gainful activity,
• Are disabled because of an impairment(s) that is the same as or related to the impairment(s) that allowed you to get benefits earlier, and
• Make the request within five years from the month your disability benefits ended.

Additionally, if you use fewer than nine months of your trial work period during any five-year period, you may be able to get another nine month trial work period without having to reapply. Trial work periods from

However, if you use fewer than nine trial work months during any five-year period, you might be able to get another set of nine trial work months down the road. Trial work months more than five years old are no longer counted, so your entitlement to nine months of trial work may start over, and you may end up getting more than nine trial work months.

In addition, if your disability benefits stopped for a period, but you applied for expedited reinstatement (see below) and became eligible for SSDI benefits again, you are eligible or a new trial work period 24 months after your disability benefits are reinstated.

How it Works

When your gross income is at or below the SGA’s designated amount during your EPE, you remain eligible for the full SSDI benefits for that month. If your countable gross income is greater than the SGA amount, which is $1,470 as of 2023, you will not receive benefits for that month. 

 

There is a grace period that allows you to receive benefits for the first month and the next two months during your EPE period, in which you earn more income than the SGA amount specified. Following that, your benefits will end if your earnings continue to be greater than the SGA amount. 

Here are a couple of examples:

You returned to work on the first day of January in 2022. Your countable gross income amounted to $2,000 a month. You received your full SSDI benefits throughout the trial work period. This period ended at the end of September of 2022. October of 2022 was the first month of your EPE and the first month of your grace period because you made more than the SGA amount. 

The Grace period, since you are earning more money than the SGA amount, runs from October through December of 2022, meaning that you would receive full benefits through the end of the year. During the next 33 months of the extended eligibility period, beginning in January of 2023, you will not obtain benefits during months in which your countable gross income is more than the SGA amount for 2023.

Another example is if you began working a part-time job on January 1, 2021, making a countable gross income of $1,300 per month. If you completed the trial work period at the end of September 2021, you would continue receiving SSDI benefits through the end of the year since your income was below the SGA’s designated amount. 

But, if you return to work a full-time job in January of 2022, and you earned $1,900 a month, which exceeds the SGA amount, then the next three months would constitute your grace period. In January, February, and March of 2022, you would receive SSDI benefits. 

Since you only are entitled to one grace period, you would not receive benefits from April of 2022 through the end of December 2024 if you made more during any of those months than the SGA’s designated amount. This applies even though you would still be in your Extended Period of Eligibility.  

In short, one grace period of three months is all that is available during the EPE period. 

Questions About SSDI Trial Work Periods?

The highly qualified team of Social Security disability lawyers at Krasno, Krasno, & Onwudinjo is here to answer all of your Social Security Disability and Trial Work Period questions. Schedule your free consultation today if you’re confused about how SSDI works or have questions about any of the requirements and benefits of Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

To get started, contact us today via email or call us at (844) 243-4849 or toll-free at 877-794-2396.