Social Security Disability

• The Social Security Disability program (SSD) is a federal program designed to provide monetary help to people who have become disabled and, due to this condition, are no longer capable of performing a paid job that would help to provide income to their families. The SSD is funded through the Social Security tax, a 6.2-percent tax deducted from each employee's wage. The SSD requirements for eligibility include that a person must have a condition of disability that will last at least one year or that will eventually be the cause of death.
  
  

Social Security Disability Eligibility and Benefits

• Benefits are only paid to people with total disability, not a partial disability. To receive these benefits, a person must have worked enough years to be able to show a history of paying Social Security tax. People who are eligible receive monthly payments that are supposed to substitute part of the income an employee would receive if he were actively working. Payments start after five months of full disability (on the sixth month). How much a person receives depends on his conditions and the size of his family.
  
  

Workers' Compensation

• United States labor laws require that employers provide economical help to those employees who suffered any injury at work that keeps them from working. This program was established as a way of providing fair working situations and keeping employers from abusing their employees. The workers' compensation program requires that employers help to pay for the medical costs that the employee has due to the accident and also a monthly income that substitute part of the wage the employee was supposed to be earning.
  
  

Workers' Compensation Eligibility and Benefits

• To receive the monetary benefits an employer is required to pay, an employee must have had an accident at work or while working. The employee must not have voluntarily caused the accident, and the accident must make the employee unable to work for a period of time and sometimes for the rest of their lives. Employers are also required to pay the costs of vocational rehabilitation to eligible employees to help them receive training in new areas in which they would be able to work despite their disability. Employers can purchase liability insurance that helps them to pay for such a situation in case it does occur.