Your Bakersfield Social Security disability lawyer will advise you that in order to be qualified as substantial gainful activity (SGA), the work must consist of performing substantial mental or physical activities. Work might not be considered substantial if:
- You cannot “to do ordinary or simple tasks satisfactorily without more supervision or assistance than is usually given other people doing similar work.”
- The work you are performing “involves minimal duties that make little or no demands” on you and that are of “little or no use” to either your employer or to the functioning of your self-employed business.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) states “Work activity is gainful if it is the kind of work usually done for pay or profit, whether or not a profit is realized.” Nevertheless, in spite of this broad definition, “gainful” is most often determined by the amount of your earnings when you are employed by someone else.
The Income Factor
For the self-employed, your Bakersfield Social Security disability lawyer will tell you that the Social Security Administration takes a close look at both the type of work you perform and the value it gives to your business. This is true even if you are operating at a loss, as is common for many self-employed individuals from time to time. The SSA pays particular attention to this step when evaluating employed claimants who are able to manipulate the amount of their income or time spent working, such as those who are employed by relatives.
Your Bakersfield Social Security disability lawyer will also tell you that illegal activity may be considered “substantial gainful activity,” since the SSA evaluates work “without regard to legality.”
Additionally, the SSA makes a determination on “substantial gainful activity” by averaging income in accordance to the rules that consider:
- The period of time worked
- The nature of the work
- If the SGA level fluctuated during that time period (current SGA figures can be found at www.ssa.gov/cola/)
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If you would like to consult an experienced and knowledgeable Bakersfield Social Security disability lawyer concerning your disability case, please contact us.
