Social Security Administration releases Social Security Fairness Act Q&As

• The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025, repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) applicable to workers, and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) applicable to surviving spouses, with respect to monthly benefits payable in or after 2024.
• The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates that about 72% of government employees’ wages are subject to Social Security and thus are not impacted by the Social Security Fairness Act.
   

Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

The WEP reduced the primary insurance amount of a government worker who has wages covered by Social Security and who also has a pension based in whole or in part on their own earnings from employment not covered by Social Security. Note: Some states do not require Social Security payments or wage reductions for certain professions (e.g., teachers).

• The repeal of the WEP means that retired federal workers and other public servants who spent part of their career working in the private sector will not have their benefits reduced with respect to monthly benefits payable in or after 2024.

Government Pension Offset (GPO)

The GPO reduced a surviving spouse’s Social Security benefit if the deceased worker had also received a federal, state, or local pension based on earnings from non-covered government employment.

• The repeal of the GPO means that a surviving spouse of an applicable deceased participant will not have their Social Security benefit decreased with respect to monthly benefits payable in or after 2024.

Additional information

On January 24, 2025, the SSA updated its dedicated website, Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update,¹ to post Q&As. Among the takeaways from the Q&As:

1. No firm implementation date: The SSA has not announced an implementation date for the adjustment of Social Security monthly benefits (applicable for monthly benefits in or after 2024) for individuals impacted by the repeal of the WEP or the GPO. According to the website:
   • “The SSA is finalizing its plan to implement the Act while limiting negative effects on our regular workloads and services to the public. We cannot yet provide an estimated timeframe for when we will adjust a person’s past or future benefits, but we will continue to provide updates on this webpage.”
   • The SSA indicated that they will continue to update their website when additional information becomes available.
2. No automated solution in place (yet): The SSA estimates that over 3 million people are impacted, and much of the processing of benefits adjustments are likely to be performed manually, as they involve analysis on an individual case-by-case basis. There is no current procedure for automated solutions, although that is in the development stage.
3. No funding allocated to implement the Social Security Fairness Act: The current freeze on new hires further impacts the ability of the SSA to implement the adjustments, and the SSA estimates it may take more than a year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits. According to SSA:
   • “The Act did not provide money to implement the law. The law requires SSA to adjust benefits for over 3 million people. Since the law’s effective date is retroactive, SSA must adjust people’s past benefits as well as future benefits. Though SSA is helping some affected beneficiaries now, under SSA’s current budget, SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits. Helping people with this new and unfunded workload is made more difficult by SSA’s ongoing staffing shortages, including operating under a hiring freeze since November 2024. This hiring freeze is likely to continue. All SSA customers, including those not affected by the Act, will face delays and increased wait times as SSA prioritizes this new workload.”
4. Some surviving and eligible spouses may not have applied for spouse’s or surviving spouse’s Social Security benefits because of the GPO. If that is the case, the SSA recommends that these individuals apply for benefits online or call the SSA. If an individual is not sure whether they have applied for spouse’s or surviving spouse’s Social Security benefits, they should contact the SSA to determine if an application is needed.

Voya will continue to monitor developments regarding the Social Security Fairness Act and provide updates when applicable.

Contact your Voya Representative for more information. 

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