If you suffer an on-the-job injury, there are several types of benefits that may be available to help you. Two of the most common resources for disabled workers are Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability.
However, many folks are unaware of how these programs intersect. If you have been seriously injured at work, you can benefit from a basic understanding of how workers’ compensation affects Social Security Disability payments or the reverse.
Workers’ Compensation provides payments to workers injured on the job or suffering from an employment-related illness. These benefits cover the cost of medical care as well as cash to partially replace lost wages. If the work-related condition has long-term health consequences, workers’ compensation may provide permanent disability payments and vocational training.
Social Security Disability benefits, on the other hand, are paid to workers with long term impairments that prevent them from engaging in any gainful full time employment, whether or not injuries or illnesses arose on-the-job.
What if a worker is eligible for both Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability?
Generally, while disability payments from private sources do not affect your Social Security Disability benefits, benefits provided by law, including Workers’ Compensation, do. Whether your Social Security benefits will be reduced because you also get Workers’ Compensation depends on the amounts you receive. There’s a ceiling that’s computed as follows:
The total amount of your payments from Workers Compensation and Social Security cannot exceed 80 percent of the average monthly amount you were earning before you became disabled. Any amount in excess of 80 percent of your former average earnings is deducted, dollar for dollar, from your Social Security Disability benefits. (If you’re permanently and totally disabled under Workers Compensation, which is very rare, it’s the Workers Compensation benefit that gets reduced.) The reduction in benefits applies to any month in which you get both kinds of benefits. It applies only to Social Security disability benefits, not to retirement benefits.
If you have a Workers Compensation claim and you think you might also apply for Social Security Disability, you should make sure your Workers Compensation lawyer considers Social Security or consults with a Social Security lawyer in handling your claim.
For more information: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10018.html