Understandably, you may not want to draw any unnecessary attention to yourself in the workplace and perform your job as normal. But a big part of your current personal life may be that you receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. You may not know whether to reveal this side of you to your employer, or if you legally must. Well, please continue reading to learn whether you have to notify your employer that you are collecting SSDI benefits and how an experienced New Jersey SSDI attorney at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur can help you navigate working and these payments simultaneously.
Do I have to inform my employer that I’m collecting SSDI benefits?
Generally speaking, you are not legally obligated to tell your employer you are a current recipient of SSDI benefits. But you should only keep this a secret if you truly believe that your disability does not hinder you from executing your job fully and successfully. If it does, it may be in the best interest of you job security to speak with your employer and draw up possible solutions.
By New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD), your employer is mandated to provide reasonable accomodations in the workplace to you and any other employees with disabilities. Importantly, this is so long as it does not cause them any undue hardship. For example, they may rework your job responsibilities, offer modified or assistive equipment, or give you a modified work schedule to give you necessary breaks or leaves to attend to required medical care.
Do I have to tell the SSA that I have resumed working?
When you initially applied for SSDI benefits, you may have argued to the Social Security Administration (SSA) that your disability hindered or is anticipated to hinder your ability to maintain substantial gainful employment activity (SGA) for at least 12 months. With that, you are required to inform the SSA of any changes in your work status, such as when you start work again, what your new hours, duties, and pay are, and what expenses you incur from working with your disability (i.e., the cost of transportation, handicap assistive gear, etc).
You must not be surprised if you get word that the SSA has contacted your employer to verify your work status. This is because, ultimately, they must confirm that you are still below the SGA threshold and, in turn, still eligible to collect SSDI benefits. However, you may rest a little easier knowing that the SSA will keep the details of your disability confidential and leave it to you to tell your employer whatever you are comfortable with or need to get a reasonable accommodation.
We can sympathize with how daunting this whole legal process may be for you. Well, lucky for you, the team at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur has successfully gone through this countless times before. So please, retain the services of a skilled New Jersey SSDI attorney today.
