His $5,000 Employer Disability Check Reduced His Social Security. Six Months Later, It Stopped Counting.

Employer short-term disability payments count as earnings under Social Security's retirement earnings test only during the first six months after a worker's last day of actual work. Worried about household expenses, he also filed early for Social Security retirement benefits in January. Then Social Security counts the disability payments as earnings. For six months, however, the retirement earnings test can treat that employer sick pay much like an ordinary paycheck. Social Security Disability Insurance follows a separate framework.