Can you apply for Social Security benefits while receiving unemployment?

Answer 1

Yes, if you have worked within the last year and were terminated from your job or quit under certain, narrow circumstances. Because they are separate programs, designed for different purposes, you need to qualify for them individually, but can receive benefits simultaneously.

Answer 2

Generally speaking, no, you cannot receive unemployment benefits after you apply for social security disability. This is because you have to be looking for work and just can't find any to draw unemployment. An SSDI claim means that you are unable to do any work. If you are unable to do any work, you can't really be looking for work.

This is a somewhat gray area, though. You CAN actually work a little if you are on SSDI. In fact, it is encouraged because they want you to get back to work and off of SSDI. But the amount you can work and still draw SSDI is rather limited ($900/month I think). Anything over the threshhold amount is deducted from your SSDI payments.

But actually drawing unemployment while stating that you are unable to work at any job seems to be a contradiction. My attorney told me that it may or may not get you into trouble and it's best not to tempt fate. Especially where the murky Federal Laws and state/local laws intertwine.

The best thing to do is contact your SSDI application attorney to find out for sure. If you don't have an SSDI attorney and you are applying "pro se", good luck to you. Almost all claims filed by the applicant (pro se) rather than an attorney fail.

"Pro se" means you are representing yourself without legal council and is frowned upon by attorneys in general and by the judiciary in particular. The saying goes that a lawyer (or lay person) who represents himself has a fool for a client. Best advice is to lawyer up.

Answer 3

If you are applying for Social Security Disability, you have to prove you are unable to work. If you collect unemployment benefits, you have to be ready willing and ABLE to immediately go to work at the full time job you are supposed to be seeking. Be careful that you don't commit unemployment fraud, in applying for both, as the two are incompatible.

Answer 4

Technically, yes, if you qualify for unemployment and are not too sick to work, but it may be a factor in whether you're approved for Social Security Disability (SSDI). Typically, state statutes require you to be able to fulfill the requirements of the contract you sign with your state's unemployment division, however.

While federal law and the Social Security Administration doesn't prohibit people on (SSDI) disability from receiving unemployment checks, state unemployment regulations usually require all unemployment recipients to be actively seeking, willing and able to accept full-time work for which they are qualified.This creates a conflict, because you're generally not eligible for Social Security disability benefits if you're capable of full-time work.

When you file for unemployment compensation, all states require you to provide your Social Security number (authorized under Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. 85, Sections 6011(a), 6050(b), 6109(a), P.L. 98-369, Section 1137(a)(1)). They will share information about your claim with other government agencies to determine how unemployment affects other benefits you may receive, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Under most state unemployment statutes, you must be ready, willing and able to accept full-time employment, be actively seeking work, and must accept any reasonable employment offer for which you are qualified (unless there are legitimate, extenuating circumstances for refusing the offer), or your unemployment compensation can (and probably will) be terminated.

If you are physically incapable of doing qualifying work under your state unemployment agreement, the state may consider you ineligible for benefits, or may consider your claim fraudulent if they later discover you're too disabled to fulfill your contractual agreement.

If you are in the process of filing for Social Security disability, the conflict between simultaneously claiming to be incapable of "Substantial Gainful Activity" (SGA), which generally translates to full-time work, and contractually agreeing that you're willing to accept full-time work (under state unemployment regulations) in exchange for unemployment compensation, mayresult in being denied disability status (most initial claims and first appeals are denied, anyway).

If you persist with the disability claim and proceed to a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), it will take approximately 18 months to two years from the date you originally filed the claim until your hearing date.

By then, your unemployment compensation will (probably) have been exhausted and you will either have been forced to accept employment (thus ending your disability claim for all practical purposes) or will continue to be unemployed or be under-employed.

Your employment status may be a factor in the judge's decision to award or deny disability, but it will not necessarily prevent you from being approved. The disability determination process is usually long, and should not be viewed as a way of generating quick cash.

For information regarding your specific circumstances, contact the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213, or seek consultation with a disability attorney.

Answer 5

Are you disabled?

SSDI is payable to covered individuals who are permanently and totally disabled.

Unemployment compensation is payable to those covered individuals who are able and willing to work, but unable to secure employment.

If you are disabled, you ineligible for unemployment. If you are willing and able to work, you do not qualify for SSDI.

If you broke your hip in a wreck, and are recovering in the hospital, you would qualify for neither, because your disability is temporary.

That's not to say that there aren't people collecting both SSDI and unemployment - but that's a criminal offense.

Answer 6

Yes. However, 3 states will offset your unemployment benefits by 50% of the amount of your Social Security payments (Illinois, Utah, and Virginia).