When disability claimants can no longer work, they’ll do almost anything to pay the bills.
Many are able to find part time jobs to pay the bills, or rely on friends and family for support. But others turn to unemployment insurance for assistance.
While there is no explicit Social Security rule that bars a claimant from collecting both unemployment and disability benefits, doing so can still negatively impact a case.
The reason for this is the conflicting rules of the two programs.
If you’re applying for Social Security disability, you’re effectively telling the federal government that there are no jobs that you can perform due to your medical conditions. However, one of the requirements to receive unemployment is promising the government that you’re seeking gainful employment.
Ultimately, how much these two things conflict comes down to who reviews a file within the Social Security system.
I’ve had some judges just completely ignore the fact that someone received unemployment at a hearing. However, others will spend several minutes peppering a claimant with questions about unemployment and whether they were looking for work.
The intricacies of these two systems to get even more confusing when you understand that under Social Security’s own regulations, an applicant over the age of 50 can be perfectly capable of performing some jobs and still be awarded benefits. In that scenario, there’s technically no conflict between disability and unemployment.
Still, whether to seek both disability and unemployment is a particularly tricky question, and one that you should consult with a disability attorney about.
