A pension from work that did not pay Social Security taxes no longer triggers the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO) for Social Security benefits payable for January 2024 and later. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed both provisions retroactively. December 2023 was the last month in which WEP or GPO applied.
The repeal does not automatically increase every public employee’s benefit. Your pension must be based on non-covered employment, and you must qualify for the Social Security retirement, disability, spouse, or survivor benefit involved. Your job title alone—teacher, police officer, firefighter, federal employee, or another public position—does not establish eligibility.
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What changed under the Social Security Fairness Act
Before the law changed, two rules could reduce Social Security when a person also received a pension from employment that did not withhold Social Security taxes:
- WEP could reduce the worker’s own Social Security retirement or disability benefit.
- GPO could reduce a spouse’s or surviving spouse’s benefit when the claimant received a government pension based on the claimant’s own non-covered earnings.
The Social Security Fairness Act repealed both offsets. The repeal applies to benefits payable for January 2024 and later, even though Congress enacted the law on January 5, 2025. Benefits payable for months before January 2024 remain subject to the rules that applied at that time. Do not use the old WEP or GPO formulas to estimate a current benefit.
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) says the Act covers benefits on your own record—retirement or disability—and benefits paid on another person’s record as a spouse or survivor. The size of any increase depends on the benefit type, your earnings record, the pension, and the months for which an offset had been applied. There is no single standard increase.
Why a non-covered pension matters—and why many pensions do not qualify
Social Security taxes generally come out of wages in covered employment. Some government jobs and certain work arrangements do not participate in Social Security, so the employee and employer do not pay Social Security taxes on those earnings. A pension based on those earnings is a non-covered pension for this purpose.
That distinction is more important than the employer’s name or your occupation. SSA notes that about 72 percent of state and local public employees work in Social Security-covered employment and therefore were not affected by WEP or GPO. A teacher in one state might have a non-covered pension, while a teacher in another state might have paid Social Security taxes throughout the job. The same variation can occur among police officers, firefighters, municipal workers, and other public employees.
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SSA has also identified some people with foreign social security coverage as potentially affected. A foreign pension does not automatically qualify; the decisive questions are whether the pension is based on work that was not covered by U.S. Social Security and whether you qualify for the U.S. benefit at issue.
Which benefit are you claiming?
The former offset depended on the relationship between the pension and the Social Security benefit. The repeal removes the reduction for covered months, but you still must meet the ordinary eligibility rules for each benefit.
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| Benefit situation | Historical rule | Rule for benefits payable January 2024 and later |
|---|---|---|
| Your own retirement benefit | WEP could reduce the benefit if you also received a pension from non-covered work. | WEP no longer reduces the benefit. |
| Your own disability benefit | WEP could reduce the benefit under the same non-covered-work circumstance. | WEP no longer reduces the benefit. |
| Spouse’s benefit | GPO could reduce the benefit when you received a government pension from your own non-covered earnings. | GPO no longer reduces the benefit. |
| Surviving spouse’s benefit | GPO could reduce the survivor benefit in the same type of case. | GPO no longer reduces the benefit. |
The Act does not create a new Social Security benefit category. It removes the old reductions. You still need enough covered earnings for your own retirement or disability benefit, or a qualifying relationship and application for a spouse or survivor benefit.
Federal employees: CSRS, FERS and mixed careers
Federal employment illustrates why checking your coverage history matters. Federal employees hired before January 1, 1984, generally did not pay Social Security taxes on those federal earnings and were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). A CSRS pension is typically based on non-covered federal service.
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) replaced CSRS for federal employees hired beginning January 1, 1984. FERS employees pay Social Security taxes on covered federal earnings and may qualify for Social Security using those earnings. A person can have both systems in one career—for example, CSRS service followed by covered employment under FERS or a private employer. SSA evaluates the actual earnings and pension records, not a simplified label such as “federal worker.”
If you worked in several systems, gather records for each period. A pension based on one non-covered period does not turn all of your other wages into non-covered employment, and covered wages may be essential to your Social Security eligibility.
Who may see a change?
The following situations can point to a possible adjustment, but none is an automatic qualification:
- You receive, or expect to receive, a pension based on state or local employment that did not withhold Social Security taxes.
- You have a CSRS pension or another federal pension from non-covered service.
- You receive a pension connected with a foreign social security system and also qualify for a U.S. Social Security benefit.
- SSA previously reduced your own retirement or disability benefit under WEP.
- SSA previously reduced or eliminated your spouse’s or survivor benefit under GPO.
Conversely, a pension from employment that paid Social Security taxes generally was not subject to WEP or GPO in the first place. A public-sector job can be fully covered, partly covered, or non-covered, so confirm the payroll treatment for the specific years of service.
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SSA generally handled recalculations for people already receiving a benefit that had been reduced under WEP or GPO. If SSA had your current mailing address and direct-deposit information, the agency said no additional action was required to receive an adjustment.
- Review your records. Sign in to your my Social Security account and check the benefit type, payment history, address, and bank information on file.
- Compare the payment with the effective month. The repeal applies to benefits payable from January 2024, so an adjustment may include amounts for earlier covered months.
- Watch for agency notices and deposits. SSA may issue a revised monthly amount and a separate retroactive payment.
- Contact SSA if information is wrong or a payment is missing. Update your address or direct-deposit details through your account or by calling SSA. Keep pension statements, prior benefit notices, and records of your non-covered service available.
Do not assume that an unchanged payment proves you are ineligible. SSA may need additional pension or earnings information, and some people were never subject to WEP or GPO because their work was covered.
What people who never applied should do
If you were not receiving an affected benefit, the repeal did not automatically create an application or start payments. You may need to file a claim for your own retirement or disability benefit, or for a spouse or survivor benefit.
- Identify the benefit. Decide whether you are applying on your own earnings record or on a spouse’s or deceased worker’s record.
- Document coverage. Obtain your Social Security earnings record and a pension statement showing the employer, service period, and whether Social Security taxes were withheld.
- File with SSA. Contact the agency or use the available online application for the benefit involved. Tell SSA about the non-covered pension and any prior WEP or GPO determination.
- Ask about the protective filing date. The Act did not change application-retroactivity rules. SSA says some retirement and survivor claims are generally payable only up to six months before the application month, subject to the rules for the specific benefit.
- Read the decision notice. Check the entitlement month, benefit type, earnings record, and any retroactive period. Request reconsideration if the agency used incorrect work or pension information.
Filing sooner can matter because the Act did not provide unlimited retroactivity for people who delayed an application. SSA must determine the applicable filing and entitlement rules in your case.
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Implementation dates and payment timing
Although the law was signed January 5, 2025, its benefit effect reaches back to January 2024. SSA began adjusting affected payments on February 25, 2025. Because Social Security benefits are paid one month behind, SSA said most affected beneficiaries would see the new monthly amount beginning with the March 2025 benefit paid in April 2025.
SSA reported that by July 7, 2025, it had completed more than 3.1 million payments totaling $17 billion. That is an agency implementation figure as of that date, not a guarantee about an individual claim’s processing time.
In a March 4, 2025 release, SSA reported that the former provisions had reduced or eliminated benefits for more than 3.2 million people. The same release reported an average retroactive payment of $6,710 among payments made by that date. That average was an early implementation snapshot, not a promised payment amount or a final average for all beneficiaries.
SSA’s Act overview separately estimated that more than 2.8 million current beneficiaries had been identified when the law became effective. The 2.8 million, 3.1 million, and 3.2 million figures describe different dates and populations; they should not be combined into one count.
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Covered public employment
A city employee pays Social Security taxes on every year of employment and later receives a city pension. Because the work was covered, the pension was not the type that triggered WEP or GPO. The repeal does not create an additional increase merely because the employer was a city.
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Non-covered employment and an own-record benefit
A public employee worked in a position that did not withhold Social Security taxes, receives a pension from that service, and also has enough covered earnings from other jobs to qualify for a Social Security retirement benefit. If WEP had reduced the benefit for months before the repeal, the WEP reduction no longer applies to benefits payable from January 2024 onward. SSA must calculate the actual amount from the person’s earnings and pension records.
Non-covered employment and a spouse benefit
A worker receives a government pension based on non-covered earnings and qualifies for a spouse’s benefit on a partner’s record. The former GPO reduction no longer applies to spouse benefits payable from January 2024 onward. The worker still must satisfy the ordinary spouse-benefit requirements.
Mixed federal service
A federal employee has CSRS service before 1984, later moves into FERS, and also works for a private employer. The CSRS period may be non-covered while FERS and private-sector wages are covered. SSA must separate those periods rather than treating the entire career as one coverage category.
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- Assuming every teacher or first responder qualifies. Verify whether Social Security taxes were withheld for the actual job and years involved.
- Using a pre-2024 WEP calculator. Historical formulas explain old notices but do not determine benefits payable from January 2024 forward.
- Expecting a fixed dollar increase. The amount varies by benefit type, earnings record, pension, and affected months.
- Confusing a pension with eligibility. A non-covered pension alone does not qualify you for a Social Security benefit; you must meet the benefit’s normal requirements.
- Ignoring the application date. The repeal did not change the ordinary limits on retroactive applications.
- Combining payment statistics. SSA’s published counts and averages have different dates and definitions.
- Failing to update contact information. Incorrect mailing or banking details can delay an adjustment or notice.
A practical document checklist
Before contacting SSA, assemble:
- Your Social Security number and government-issued identification.
- Your current and prior Social Security benefit notices.
- A complete Social Security earnings record, including corrections you have requested.
- Pension award letters or statements identifying the employer, service dates, pension system, and Social Security-tax treatment.
- CSRS or FERS records if you had federal service.
- Foreign pension or social-security records, translated when SSA requires it.
- Marriage, divorce, or death records when claiming a spouse or survivor benefit.
- Bank and address information used for direct deposit and correspondence.
Keep copies of every submission and note the date, office, and representative for each conversation with SSA. If SSA issues a determination that appears inconsistent with your work or pension records, use the appeal instructions and deadline printed on the notice.
The bottom line for pension holders
For benefits payable January 2024 and later, a pension from work that did not pay Social Security taxes no longer reduces your own retirement or disability benefit under WEP, or your spouse or survivor benefit under GPO. The key tests are the coverage of the pension-producing work and your eligibility for the Social Security benefit—not your occupation or public-sector status. Existing beneficiaries should verify their payment and contact information; people who have not applied may need to file a claim, and normal retroactivity rules still apply. Only SSA can determine the amount and effective date in an individual case.
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