How SSA Treats Employee Bonuses Provided by Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Corporation pays bonuses to employees on a regular basis that are based upon the overall financial performance of the store. All employees of the store share in the bonuses and FICA is deducted from these payments. The bonus payments are made at regular intervals (quarterly, annually) and reflect performance of the store over a period of months. These bonuses are not based upon individual productivity or work performance, but upon the combined performance of all employees who work in a particular store. Since Wal-Mart hires a large number of persons with disabilities who are SSA disability beneficiaries, a great many CWICs across the country have encountered questions about how these bonuses should be treated by SSA.

As a national company, the bonus program implemented by Wal-Mart is the same regardless of where the stores are located. Our problem is that various FOs, Area Offices and Regional Offices are treating these bonuses in different ways. Our questions are as follows:

QUESTION: Is this income earned income or unearned income for the SSI program? Assuming it does count as some form of income, we assume the income is counted in the month it is received as SSI does with all other forms of income. We would like verification that this is correct.

ANSWER: Yes, this interpretation is correct. Bonuses paid to an employee by an employer are wages (earned income) per SI 00820.100 and RS 01401.150.

We count income (including bonuses) at the earliest of the following points:
when it is received,
when it is credited to an individual's account, or
when it is set aside for his or her use.

We determine income monthly and count it in the month that it is received (SI 00810.030).


QUESTION: For title II disability benefits, does this income count when SSA makes TWP and SGA determinations? If it does count, is it the case that the bonus money should be applied retroactively for the months over which the bonus is being paid?

ANSWER: For the question regarding Wal-Mart, our policy on bonuses for T2 is contained in DI 10505.010D.

“When evaluating bonus/incentive payments, generally consider that those payments represent the person's own productivity. The adjudicator is not required to verify whether the bonus is related to the person's own productivity unless the beneficiary can provide evidence indicating that it is not. Determine if the bonus/incentive payment represents a specific period of time, and if it does, distribute the earnings over the period of time it was earned. If the amount does not represent a specific period of work activity, or a specific time period is not determinable, distribute the payment(s) monthly over the time period the person had worked for the employer up to but not exceeding a year.”

Generally, we will consider bonuses as countable earnings as described above. However, if a beneficiary provides evidence that the payment is not related to his or her own productivity (such as a shareholder bonus) then that payment is excluded from countable earnings for TWP and SGA purposes. We will take action to clarify this policy in the above POMS.


Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com