Social Security Disability Trial Work Period, EPE, and Expedited Reinstatement

Not everybody who is awarded Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) remains unable to work forever. Advances in medical technology can bring a once debilitating impairment under control, for example. Other people might find fulfillment taking on a part-time job in order to remain engaged in their community. And because the average SSDI benefit amount in 2026 is $1,630, many disabled beneficiaries need to pick up some extra income to make ends meet.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is aware of these common situations and has several "stepping stone" programs to avoid penalizing beneficiaries who want to get back to work. Known as the "trial work period," "extended period of eligibility," and "expedited reinstatement," these programs allow people who receive SSDI to return to work without jeopardizing their benefits. If you're thinking about trying to find a job—whether as a side gig or permanent employment—it's important to go about it the right way so that you don't lose your SSDI.

The SSA's Trial Work Period

Social Security can find you disabled when you have a medically determinable impairment that keeps you from earning substantial gainful activity (SGA) for at least a year. SGA is a dollar amount that the agency considers equivalent to full-time work. In 2026, the SGA amount is $1,690 per month, so if you start earning more than that, it indicates to Social Security that you're going back to full-time work (and are potentially no longer disabled).

Social Security lets you both receive SSDI benefits and earn income simultaneously for nine months. These nine months are called the "trial work period." Its purpose is to let SSDI recipients dip their toes into the workforce without having to worry that they'll lose their benefits immediately if they aren't successful. Here's what you need to know about trial work periods:

• You can earn above SGA and receive your entire SSDI payments during your trial work period.
• Any month where you make less than $1,210 (or you're self-employed but working less than 80 hours a month) doesn't count towards your nine month trial work period.
• Your nine trial work period months don't have to be consecutive.
• You have five years to "exhaust" your total trial work period. If you use up your trial work period within that span, you can't get a new one until another five years have passed.

Calculating trial work periods can get a bit complicated. Let's look at some examples:

After you've had nine months of both receiving SSDI and earning income, even if it's above SGA, your trial work period ends and your benefits will stop. As you can see in the examples above, you can sometimes have multiple trial work periods if you go a long time without earnings above the trial work amount (which increases every year). Or, you might successfully return to work for a while, but your condition worsens and you're found disabled again. Theoretically, there's no limit on how many trial work periods you can have, but you can only have one every five years.

Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE)

Once your trial work period is over, Social Security will decide if you're working at or above the SGA level. If you are, you'll lose your benefits—but they won't stop right away, and they won't be terminated permanently.

Immediately after the ninth trial work period month, you'll enter into a 36-month "extended period of eligibility" (EPE) during which your SSDI payments are determined on a month-to-month basis. That means that if you don't make above the SGA amount in a particular month, you can still get your SSDI check. But if you do make over the SGA amount, you won't get a check for that month.

How Does the EPE Work?

If your countable gross income—the total amount you earn minus any exemptions or deductions—is at or below the SGA amount for any month during your EPE, you're eligible for your full SSDI benefit amount for that month. In any month in which your countable gross income exceeds the SGA amount ($1,690 in 2026), you aren't entitled to benefits for that month.

However, there's a one-time exception to this rule known as the "grace period." You're eligible for benefits for the first month and the following two consecutive months during your EPE in which you work above the SGA amount. After that, your benefits will stop if you continue to earn above the SGA amount. Here's how that might work in practice:

How Do I Calculate My Income During the EPE?

For your EPE, your countable gross income is your gross income minus any impairment-related work expenses you have. Subsidies approved by Social Security are also subtracted from your income. (Keep in mind that these expenses and subsidies aren't subtracted from your income during the trial work period.)

If you're self-employed, a special formula is used to determine your annual net earnings from self-employment, and the resulting amount is divided by 12 (or by the applicable number of months, if you worked for less than a full year). This determines your monthly countable income.

What Happens After My EPE Ends?

When your EPE ends, so will your benefits, starting in the first month your countable gross income exceeds the SGA amount. Your eligibility will no longer be determined on a month-to-month basis. But if you become disabled again after your EPE ends, you have a period of "expedited reinstatement" when you won't need to reapply for SSDI to get benefits.

Expedited Reinstatement

For five years after your EPE ends as a result of work activity, you can submit an application for expedited reinstatement if your countable gross income falls below the SGA amount or stops altogether. (After this five-year period is up, you must file a new claim for benefits in order to qualify again.)

If you file for expedited reinstatement, the SSA will pay you benefits for six months while the agency processes your application. Even if your application for expedited reinstatement was denied, Social Security will let you keep the benefits paid while the application was pending. Expedited reinstatement can take several months, so it's not instantaneous—but it's often a lot quicker than filing a new application and potentially waiting several years for an approval.

Getting your benefits back is typically easier than it is to get them in the first place, however. That's because when denying an application for expedited restatement, Social Security has to show that you've medically improved enough to work since the last time you were receiving benefits. But if you file a new application, the burden is on you to establish that you're medically disabled. (You can learn more in our article about expedited reinstatement.)

Do I Need a Lawyer's Help to Get My Benefits Back?

You have the right to appeal any decision made by the SSA to deny or end your benefits. While you aren't obligated to hire an attorney in order to do so, it can be a good idea, particularly if your case is especially complex with a potentially significant amount of past-due benefits. (Disability lawyers' fees are paid from Social Security out of any money that the agency already owes you—and only if you win your appeal—so attorneys may be wary of taking on a case where the fee amount doesn't represent the amount of work required.)

It doesn't hurt to ask around to find a lawyer who may be interested in your case, however. Many offer free consultations over the phone, so you can briefly discuss your issues and get a sense of what your next steps should be. You may also want to check out our article on what Social Security disability lawyers do so you can ask questions of your potential representative and see if they would be a good fit for you.