K. Todd Butler

Monday, June 4, 2012

Unemployment vs. Disability


                John's story shows how unemployment benefits can complicate your disability claim.  A learning impairment got him kicked out of school at sixteen when he was still in the sixth grade.  He spent the first few years of his work-life sweeping floors, carrying bags and boxes, and digging holes, and then he got lucky.  A friend of his dad's got him a factory job. 
                Raised to appreciate opportunity and mind grown-ups, John worked hard to learn how to clean and service the machines.  Then he diligently tended them for more than three decades.
                Arthritis in his knees, shoulders and back slowed him down as he approached his 50s.  He found ways to keep going, but he couldn't cope with the new machines with computerized brains of their own.
                When the crash of 2008 hit, the company closed John's factory.  Some of John's co-workers who knew computers got transfers, but John got laid off after thirty-three years. John got severance pay and unemployment benefits, enough to survive a few months but not enough for early retirement.
                John tried to find another job.  He went to the Labor Department every day, but everthing was either too physically demanding for a 53-year-old, or the jobs required skills he didn't have and that were beyond his potential.
                About six months before his unemployment benefits ran out, John figured he'd never find another job.  He applied for disability benefits, Social Security turned him down, and he got in touch with us.
                In his application, John claimed he became disabled when he got laid off in 2008, and then he continued to draw the last six months of his unemployment benefits.
                The problem with his case was that John's application raised a credibility issue.  When you apply for unemployment benefits, you tell the government that you're ready, willing and able to work, and that you're actively looking for a job.  When you apply for disability, you say you're not able to work at all.
                Both claims can't be true. As the economy slogs along after the crash of 2008 and as more and more people realize they're not able to compete in the new job market, ALJs (Social Security judges) are paying attention to the contradiction.  Social Security is under a lot of politicial pressure to prevent the disability income program from becoming a permanent unemployment scam.
                Nevertheless, we got John approved.  The federal district and appellate judges have said that a person may honestly want to work and try to find work, even though he or she isn't really able to work anymore.  If your unemployment claim is just wishful thinking, the courts won't let Social Security hold it against you.

1 comment:

  1. I really think its so great how much these social security disability minnesota attorneys can do for their clients. It really makes a huge difference in the outcome for them by being well represented.

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