If you receive SSDI and SSI or both, you and/or your representative must promptly report any changes in work activity. You must tell us if you:

• Return to work;
• Have a new employer;
• Increase the amount of your work;
• Have increased earnings for SSDI; and/or
• Have increased or decreased earnings for SSI.

You should also let us know if you start paying for expenses that you need for work due to your disability. For more information, refer to the Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE) and the Blind Work Expenses (BWE) section.

If you have authorized us to receive your wage and employment information through the Payroll Information Exchange (PIE) and your employer participates in this program, you may not need to report monthly wage changes for that employer. You will also be protected from penalties related to nonpayment of SSDI benefits and ineligibility for SSI cash benefits related to any wage and employment information SSA received through PIE. We will notify you if we are receiving your wage information through PIE and which employers are included. However, you must still report if you:

• Have an improved medical condition;
• Return to work; or
• Have a new employer.

If you have multiple employers and not all participate in PIE, you must still report wages for those employers not included in PIE. If you receive SSI, you must also continue to report any changes in other income, resources, and living arrangements, as well as any work-related expenses.

We must have your permission to receive your wage and employment information through PIE. You can give permission by providing authorization several ways:

• When you apply for SSI or SSDI benefits.
• During SSI redeterminations, SSDI work reviews, or when you report a work-related change.
• By contacting us at any time, or by completing and submitting the SSA-8240 form. The form is available on the Forms page of the SSA.gov website and through the upload document feature of your my Social Security account.

Providing authorization is voluntary. You can cancel at any time be sending a written revocation request using the SSA-8240 form or by contacting us. Refusing or revoking authorization does not affect your eligibility for SSI or SSDI or your payments. However, if you revoke your authorization, all your reporting responsibilities resume, and your penalty protection ends. We will notify you in writing of any changes.

You can report changes in your work activity by phone, fax, mail, in person or by using a personal my Social Security account. Call our toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, or you may call, visit, or write to your local Social Security office. You can find your local office by going to www.ssa.gov/locator.

If you receive SSDI or SSI and have a personal my Social Security account, you may be able to report your wages online. If you receive SSI, we also offer a toll-free automated wage reporting telephone system and a mobile wage reporting app. For more information about these electronic wage reporting methods, please go to www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-telephone-wage.htm or call our toll-free number 1-800-772-1213 and ask us how you can report wages using any of these options.

When you report changes in your work activity, we will give you a receipt to verify that you have properly fulfilled your obligation to report.  Save this receipt, along with your paystubs so that we can verify your monthly earnings, and any allowable deductions from earnings.

We will review your case periodically to see if your condition has medically improved or if you can perform substantial gainful activity (SGA). We will also review your case if you or a third party tells us that you have medically improved.

If you have received SSDI benefits for at least 24 months and are working, we do not use your work activity as a reason to conduct a medical review.

If you receive SSI, we may review your case if you work and are eligible for Medicaid while working or if there are changes in your work status. We will not review your case more often than once a year.

We will not perform a review to see if your condition has medically improved while you are actively pursuing your employment goal using a Ticket to Work provider.

If you receive SSDI benefits and we find that you no longer meet the requirements for disability due either to work at the SGA level or medical improvement, we say that your disability “ceased”. If we find that your disability ceased due to work at the SGA level, our decision is effective in the month shown by the evidence. If we find that your disability ceased due to medical improvement, our decision is effective in the month shown by the evidence, or the month we give you written notice, if later. In either case, we pay SSDI benefits for the cessation month and the following 2 months. We call these 3 months the “grace period”.

If you are working and have substantial earnings, you may have the option to request that we voluntarily suspend your cash benefits to avoid being overpaid while we review your earnings.  Please contact us by calling 1-800-772-1213 or visiting your local office to learn more about requesting voluntary suspension of your benefits. You must call to make an appointment before you visit your local office.

Your SSDI benefits may continue if one of these statements are true:

• We stop your disability benefit due to your work at the SGA level and then your earnings fall below SGA within the Extended Period of Eligibility.
• We stop your disability benefit due to medical improvement and you are participating in a program of vocational rehabilitation or similar services.

If you receive SSI and we find that you no longer meet the requirements for disability due to medical improvement, we say that your disability “ceased”. Our decision is effective with the month shown by the evidence, or the month we give you written notice, if later. However, your SSI eligibility continues for that month and the following 2 months if you meet all the non-disability-related requirements including the income and resources tests. We call these 3 months the “grace period”.

If we stop your disability payment due to medical improvement, your SSI payments may continue. This applies if you are participating in a program of vocational rehabilitation or similar services.

You are not eligible for an SSI payment for any months you do not meet the non-disability eligibility requirements, for example, the income or resources tests.