The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in early 2025, increases the Social Security benefits available to millions of public sector retirees. Bottom Line Personal asked Social Security expert Martha Shedden who is eligible for Social Security Fairness Act benefits…
What Does the Social Security Fairness Act Do?
The Act repeals a pair of laws enacted years ago that reduced Social Security benefits for millions of public sector retirees. Public sector employees are people who worked for a government agency at the federal, state, county or local level, including teachers, police officers and firefighters among others.
Social Security taxes are not withheld from the paychecks of some—though not all—of these public sector employees. Since Social Security taxes aren’t withheld from their paychecks, these employees often aren’t eligible for Social Security benefits in retirement. Instead, they have “non-covered pensions.”
But: Things aren’t always so cut and dry. Examples: What if a retiree has a non-covered pension but also worked in jobs where Social Security taxes were withheld—can he/she receive benefits from both programs? And what if someone has a non-covered pension but is married to someone who paid Social Security taxes—can he claim Social Security spousal or survivor benefits plus the pension?
Over the years, a pair of laws were created to cope with these non-covered-pension–related complications…
Government Pension Offset (GPO), enacted in 1977, reduced or eliminated the Social Security spousal and survivor benefits that retirees received if they also received non-covered pension benefits.
Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), enacted in 1983, reduced the Social Security worker benefits that retirees received if they also received non-covered pension benefits.
The new Social Security Fairness Act repeals both these laws. Result: Larger monthly Social Security benefits for many retirees who also have non-covered pensions. Fairness Act benefit increases are retroactive to January 2024, so many eligible retirees also received an additional payment in mid-2025 to cover the prior year-plus of benefit increases.
Critics of the Social Security Fairness Act note that the GPO and WEP were enacted for a reason and repealing them has pushed the Social Security system nine months closer to running short of money.
Who Might Have Been Missed?
The Social Security Administration already has adjusted benefits to account for the Fairness Act—but some retirees have been overlooked.
If you receive benefits from a non-covered pension but also held jobs where Social Security taxes were withheld from your paycheck and you have not yet received a notice about the WEP repeal from the Social Security Administration or seen your monthly benefit adjusted, contact your local Social Security Administration office to request an appointment to discuss Fairness Act–related matters. The same applies if you receive benefits from a non-covered pension but your spouse, late spouse or former spouse had Social Security taxes withheld from his/her paychecks and you haven’t received a notice about the GPO or seen your benefit adjusted.
Helpful: Retirees most likely to have been overlooked by the Social Security Fairness Act benefits are those who never applied for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits even though they have or had a spouse who paid Social Security taxes. Prior to the GPO’s repeal, there sometimes was no upside for someone who had a large non-covered pension to file such an application.
