Collecting Unemployment Insurance When Applying for Disability Benefits

By Robert J. Osborne, Esq.

The law defines disability as the inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.  If you can engage in substantial gainful activity, the Social Security Administration will find that you are not disabled.  The work that you have done, legal or illegal, during any period in which you believe you are disabled may show that you are able to work at the substantial gainful activity level.  Even if the work you have done was not substantial gainful activity, it may show that you are able to do more work than you actually did.  If you apply for Social Security Disability Benefits or Supplemental Security Income, the Social Security Administration will consider all of the medical and vocational evidence in your file to decide whether or not you have the ability to engage in substantial gainful activity. [Read more…]