What Is Sheltered Work?

As we have already discussed, in order to determine if an individual is disabled Social Security will first look at whether or not that person can engage in Substantial Gainful Activity. However, there are special exceptions for when an individual can be found to be receiving more than SGA but still be found to be disabled.

A special exception to this rule is known as "sheltered work" or "special environment." Basically, this means that the individual is being offered a special opportunity by their employer that normally does not exist.

Recently I had a client who had very severe back injuries from a car accident awarded Social Security Disability Benefits even though he had been earning over SGA for the past year. The client had a friend, who operated a business and offered the disabled individual an opportunity to work for him. It was a commissioned position and he worked as an independent contractor. The employer had several different employees responsible for the same tasks however they were required to work a set schedule and work at least 40 hours per week. The employer knew that my client was disabled and was very flexible with him. The disabled individual was only able to work at most three hours per day and a few times per week it was common for him to call work and say he was in too much pain and couldn't come into work. The employer had no problem with the disabled worker going out to his car as needed to take naps when he became too fatigued to function.

Since the employer was his friend, he was giving him an opportunity that he would not have given to any other employee. The business owner completed a certification stating that he had given the individual the job only because he was his friend and that no other employee would be afforded the same flexibility. The individual knew that no other employer would hire him because of the flexibility that he required due to his disabilities. Although he was earning more than SGA most months, the only reason why he was able to keep a job was because of the special relationship he had with his employer.

The judge agreed that even though the applicant was involved in work where he was earning more than SGA, it was sheltered work.

It is usually not easy to show that work is sheltered, but an experienced Social Security attorney will know what questions to ask the employer, what documentation to get and how to present the argument to the judge at the Administrative Law Hearing.

What Is Substantial Gainful Activity?

Substantial Gainful Activity often referred to as SGA, is an important Social Security phrase.

When Social Security is making a determination to decide whether or not an applicant is disabled they first look at whether the person is unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. If an applicant is able to engage in  substantial gainful activity then they will not be found to be disabled.

Each year Social Security adjusts the amount of earnings per month which they consider to be SGA. Here is a chart for the SGA dated back to 1975. In 2011, earnings over $1,000 per month for non-blind individuals were considered to be substantial gainful activity. In 2012, SGA for non-blind individuals will increase to $1,010 per month.

Individuals who are blind have a different SGA than those who are not blind. For non-blind individuals SGA is the same whether you are applying for SSD or SSI. Whereas for blind individuals SGA for the blind does not apply to SSI.

There is a special exception to this rule of not being found to be disabled if earning over SGA. If you can prove that you work in what is known as a "sheltered work environment" then Social Security may ignore the amount of earnings you receive for that work.