Social Security Disability and Workers Compensation

If you have a disability that was the result of a work related injury, you may be wondering if your Social Security disability payments could be affected by also receiving worker's compensation benefits.

Worker's compensation benefits are paid for job related injuries and illnesses. They are paid to you from your employer's insurance company or from a federal or state worker's compensation agency. If you receive worker's compensation benefits, this can result in a decrease in the amount of your Social Security disability payment.

No Reduction

There are several types of benefits that you can receive that won't cause a reduction in your Social Security disability benefits:

• payments from a disability insurance policy that you purchased individually (privately) would not reduce your Social Security payments
• Veteran's Administration benefit payments
• SSI (Supplemental Security Income) payments

• other state and local government payments (only applies if you paid Social Security taxes)

When There is a Reduction

If you do receive worker's compensation benefits, Social Security will adjust the amount of benefit that you are paid if certain criteria are met. The first thing that Social Security does is calculate a figure called your "average current earnings" before you became disabled. The formula they use to calculate this number varies depending on individual situations, but learning what Social Security determines your "average current earnings" is key to how they figure out whether or not, or how much to reduce your benefits:

• Social Security calculates what 80% of your "average current earnings" is
• Social Security will then add together your current disability payment plus the amount that is paid to any eligible family member(s) plus the amount of your worker's compensation payment
• If the total amount of payments (including those to your family members) is greater than 80% of your current average earnings, your benefits will be reduced by an amount equal to the excess

If your benefits are reduced because of worker's compensation benefits, the reduction will continue until the month those benefits stop or until you reach the age of 65. If you receive a lump sum benefit from worker's compensation instead of monthly payments, Social Security will need to know that and will use more involved calculations to determine if your benefits should be reduced.

Get Legal Assistance

Protecting the benefits that you are entitled to is important. You would not want to have your benefits inadvertently and incorrectly reduced for several or many years. Plan to work with an experienced attorney who can answer your questions and provide guidance about the impact other disability benefits can have on your Social Security disability benefits.