It is no surprise that some clients consider taking a part-time job in order to survive financially as they endure during the LONG wait for their disability claim to be processed.  Generally speaking, working at a part-time job will not automatically cause your disability claim to be denied.  If you try out a job for 6 months or less, but your medical condition forces you to stop, SSA may consider it an “unsuccessful work attempt” that does not prevent you from being found disabled.  In addition, work that pays you less than what SSA calls the “substantial gainful activity” (SGA) amount ($980 per month for 2009; $1,000 for 2010) may not cause your claim to be denied.

That being said, it is important to remember that SSA defines disability as the inability to engage in substantial gainful employment.  Thus, the ALJ will closely examine any part-time work that you do to assess your ability to perform work-related activities.  If your part-time job is inconsistent with what we need to prove to win your case, the judge will rule that you are not disabled.  In addition, be aware that this result can’t be sidestepped by simply keeping your hours down just to keep your earnings under the SGA threshold – if the ALJ finds that you are doing this and are able to be working more, your claim will be denied.

The rules concerning this issue are complex, so you should let our office know if you are thinking about trying to go back to work before your claim is decided.