Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability

It is common for injured workers to be eligible for benefits from both worker’s compensation and from Social Security disability, although the qualifying definition of disability may differ between them.

Generally, you may collect both workers’ compensation and disability benefits at the same time. You should file for Social Security disability benefits as soon as you are injured. This may reduce any potential time gap between the end of workers’ compensation and disability benefits.

In the state of Georgia, if you are receiving any disability payments simultaneously (i.e., if you receive workers’ compensation and any other public disability benefits or Social Security disability benefits), the cumulative total of these benefits cannot exceed 80% of your average current earnings before you became disabled.

In this scenario, Social Security payments could be limited.

Note: It is advisable to consult an attorney in this process as when your workers’ compensation case is settled, the documentation of the settlement agreement could be drawn so as to recoup a large portion of this lost offset.

Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect your Social Security disability benefits. Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related. Examples are civil service disability benefits, military disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are based on disability.