Project ABLE’s Benefits Specialists offer free, confidential benefits counseling to assist SSI/SSDI beneficiaries in learning more about:

The impact of employment and wages on monthly benefits (Trial Work Period and Extended Period of Eligibility Assessment) Trial Work Period

The Trial Work Period allows you to test your ability to work without losing your SSDI benefit. It lasts nine calendar months that do not have to be consecutive. After a beneficiary has finished the Trial Work Period, the Social Security Administration has another safety net that is called the Extended Period of Eligibility, or the EPE. The EPE lasts for 36 months in a row. Essentially, if your earnings demonstrate the ability to do “substantial work,” you may not be due benefits. If you are in your EPE and your benefits are stopped due to work, you can receive benefits again without reapplying if your earnings drop below the level that the Social Security Administration uses to define “substantial gainful activity.”

Substantial Gainful Activity is the term that the Social Security Administration uses to determine if someone receiving disability benefits is able to work. The decision of whether or not the work is “substantial” is up to the Social Security Administration. There are factors that the Social Security Administration considers when making this decision. Impairment-Related Work Expenses and Subsidy are two of these tools.