In addition to acquiring enough work credits during a career, an employee must also have worked sufficiently close to the time of the onset of the disability. Specifically, for a worker with 40 work credits, at least 20 of those credits must have been earned in the 10 years before becoming disabled. In other words, an employee must have worked during five of the past 10 years.
For workers who are disabled at younger ages, the rules regarding the recent nature of employment are adjusted. For example, a worker who becomes disabled at age 24 must have earned six work credits which equal one and half years of work, and those credits must have been earned in the three years before the onset of the disability.