Social Security Disability with a Part-Time Job?

In an earlier post, I said the question about whether you’re working isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. That’s because the ALJ doesn’t actually ask the question in those words. The ALJ asks if there are any “SGA issues.” SGA is the acronym for Substantial Gainful Activity, an expression from the Social Security regulations meaning significant mental or physical activity normally done for pay or profit. The regulations give specific dollar figures the ALJ uses to decide if your are doing SGA, but other factors are considered, as well.

If you have what we call a “public job” here in the deep south, meaning you work for a boss who takes withholdings out of your paycheck, the Social Security Administration will get your earnings history for the ALJ from your boss’s monthly federal payroll tax returns. As a general rule, if your earnings history average is less than $1010 per month in 2012 (or smaller amounts in earlier years), the ALJ will find that you are not doing SGA and move on to the second step of the sequential analysis. This means that you may be working, you may have a part-time job, but still be unable to go hard enough to make the SGA amount. You’re working, but your work isn’t SGA.

On the other hand, you may have a part-time job because your boss doesn’t need you full-time. If that’s the problem, then your work may be SGA even though you’re not earning the minimum amount.

Some people are lucky enough to have a boss who keeps paying you even though you can’t work anymore. This usually comes up in small, family-owned, incorporated businesses where your “boss” is also your spouse, your parent, or a son or daughter. The goal here would be to prove that your income is not earned, but is rather a gift. Also, if you own a business that continues as a going concern even though you can’t provide management and supervisory services, then your income is not earned. You’re not doing work that counts as SGA. Its more like investment income.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your activities of daily living (your ADLs), don’t count as SGA. The regulations specifically exclude “activities like taking care of yourself, household tasks, hobbies, therapy, school attendance, club activities, or social programs [from] substantial gainful activity.” The ability to do these things may show that you are able to do SGA, but are not themselves SGA. So even if you are going to school, doing occasional housework, driving and visiting with friends, going to church and so forth, you can still pass the first part of the five-step sequential analysis.