Learn All About Collecting Social Security Disability
Income And Unemployment Benefits

Contributed by Scott Transue

Many members of the Disability Digest are collecting, or have collected, unemployment benefits. One of the biggest questions raised is: "Can I collect unemployment benefits and still be approved for Social Security Disability?"

In a memo sent to all Administrative Law Judges some time ago, the Chief Administrative Law Judge on the Appeals Council noted that "the mere receipt of unemployment benefits by a claimant does not, by itself, justify a determination of not disabled." In other words, collecting unemployment benefits does not automatically preclude a "fully favorable" decision regarding disability benefits.

If a case is strong enough on its own, i.e. sufficient medical documentation and strong support from doctors, unemployment benefits have no impact (or, at least, should not have any impact) on the judge's final ruling. Advocate Scott Transue can testify to this personally.

He applied for SSDI in New York State after having been laid off in January 2009. This route was the furthest thing from his mind, but it was recommended to him by vocational rehabilitation counselors. He had lost his job in large part due to interpersonal conflicts stemming from post-traumatic stress disorder. He applied for unemployment benefits and was approved for them. He did not file an initial claim for SSDI until about a month after his unemployment benefits started. 

Like most folks, he was denied SSDI benefits. He appealed and basically forgot about the claim for over six months. During that time, he continued seeking work. When he received a letter from Social Security with his hearing date scheduled, he contacted a nearby disability resource center. The advocate there told him to retain an attorney immediately. He did so and brought up the unemployment benefits to his lawyer. The attorney responded "no problem" and instructed him to simply tell the judge he was unsure of his true ability to work. 

At the hearing, Scott's attorney volunteered the fact that he had been receiving unemployment. The judge did inquire, but only to the extent of whether Scott had turned down any job offers. Scott had not. His attorney "reminded" the judge that unemployment benefits do not, by themselves, justify a finding of "not disabled." A "fully favorable" decision followed.

Granted, some states will see repayment of any unemployment benefits received once you are deemed disabled by Social Security. We know of at least one case where this happened. However, to the best of our knowledge, no state will refuse to pay unemployment if a claimant has a disability claim in process with Social Security.

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