WEP & GPO — Social Security for New York Public Sector Workers

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) modifies the Social Security benefit formula for workers who receive a pension from employment that was not covered by Social Security — meaning Social Security taxes were not withheld from those wages. The standard Social Security benefit formula replaces a higher percentage of low earnings than high earnings. WEP reduces this replacement percentage for the lowest earnings tier, effectively reducing the benefit for workers who appear to have low lifetime Social Security earnings because a significant portion of their career was in non-covered employment. The maximum WEP reduction in 2024 is $587 per month. The reduction is smaller if you have 20 or more years of substantial Social Security earnings — and it phases out entirely at 30 years.

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduces spousal and survivor Social Security benefits for workers who receive a pension from non-covered government employment. The GPO reduces the spousal or survivor benefit by two-thirds of the government pension amount. For a retiree with a monthly government pension of $3,000, the GPO reduces the spousal Social Security benefit by $2,000 per month. If the spousal benefit is $1,500 per month, the GPO eliminates it entirely. The GPO affects a significant number of NYC public sector retirees — particularly those whose spouse has a larger Social Security benefit — and it is frequently miscalculated or overlooked in retirement planning.

In New York, WEP and GPO affect workers whose employment was not covered by Social Security — primarily NYPD officers, FDNY fire fighters, NYC teachers (TRS), and other NYC public sector workers enrolled in NYCERS, NYCTRS, or NYCBERS. New York State employees enrolled in NYSLRS may also be affected depending on their tier and employment history. Workers who paid Social Security taxes on their public sector salary — some MTA employees, federal employees under FERS, and others — are not subject to WEP or GPO on that employment. The first step is confirming whether your public sector employment was covered by Social Security.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in January 2025, eliminated both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) for benefits payable after December 2023. This is a significant change that increases Social Security benefits for approximately 3.2 million public sector workers and their spouses nationwide. If you were previously subject to WEP or GPO, you should receive an increased benefit and potentially a retroactive lump sum payment. Doug recalculates the Social Security benefit for every affected client and ensures the SSA has applied the change correctly — the SSA has been processing these adjustments in phases and errors have occurred.

The elimination of WEP and GPO means that public sector workers who previously had reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits now receive the full benefit they would have received without the offset. For some retirees, this is a significant income increase — potentially $500 to $1,000 or more per month. The SSA is processing adjustments automatically, but the timeline has been extended and some beneficiaries have received incorrect amounts. Doug reviews the SSA's calculation for every affected client and files corrections where necessary. The retroactive lump sum payment for benefits payable after December 2023 should also be verified.