Montana labor news., 1944-12-07
WORKERS MAY GET
INCREASED BENEFITS
UNDER new RULING

Patrick J. Shafer, manager of the
Butte office of the Social Security Board,
today explained the effect of the Board s
ruling that upon request it will re-calcu-
late the amount Of old-age insurance
benefits available to once-retired work
ers to include credit for wages received
since their benefits were first claimed,
This action shafer said. is in
tended to take into account the fact that
many workers past the age of 65, who
have retired and drawn benefits, have
gone back to work since the country
started its preparation for war. Origin
ally, these workers by filing a claim set
their benefits so that they could not be
moved up or down. Many have returned
to covered work and have received high
er wages than they received before. The
Board has therefore announced that, in
order to meet the intent of the law, bene-
fits may be reeomputed in order to credit
towards monthly retirement benefits,
wages received after a claim had once
been filed"
Many workers in the Montana area
who are past age 65 and have received
some benefits under social security have
had their payments suspended and pro-
badly will benefit from the Boards de-
cision," Shafer said.
To prevent confusion or misunder-
standing. he issued the following
cautions.
% Increased benefits VIII be available
only to workers 65 or older who have
once claimed benefits and who later
worked in jobs covered by the Social
Security Act at higher pay than their
former average monthly wage. Benefit
payments to widows, orphans or aged
parents whose benefits were based on
wages up to the time Of an insured work
ers death cannot be changed.
(2) Benefits will only be refigured up
on request of beneficiary.
80 The announcement does not mean
that a person may receive benefits while
working in jobs covered by the law. The
law provides that benefits must be sus-
pended for any month in which the
beneficiary makes more than s1499 on
a covered job
"a There is no need for anybody who
has been working in covered employment
after filing a claim to ask for a recon-
putation of his benefits as long as his
pay is not greater than his average
monthly wage between January l. 1887
and the date he filed his original claim.
On the other hand, if his pay starts go
ing down-as a result Of illness, reduced
hours loss Of his job or for any other
reason, the worker who is 65 or older
should consult the nearest office of the
Social Security Board at once.
The Butte office of the Social Security
Board is located in Room 4O2, Silver
Bow Block.
In time, the manager pointed out, this
new ruling will prove beneficial to many
workers who attain age IS and face the
possibility that reduced pay, no matter
what the cause, may result in reduced
benefits In the past, he said, some Of
these workers have chosen to freeze
their benefit amounts by filing a claim
even though they intended to keep on
working. That protected them against
any drop in the benefit, but it also pre-
vented any increase. The net effect is
that a worker, upon reaching age G5, may
peg" his benefit so that it will not be
reduced but it may be increased on the
basis Of his future work record,
1t is also suggested that workers IS
or over get in touch with the nearest
Field Office and discuss their case, even
though they may not expect to retire
soon.