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A recent federal law has restored full Social Security payments to millions of public sector retirees in the United States. This is the Social Security Fairness Act, signed by former President Joe Biden in January 2025, which eliminates two provisions that for years reduced or eliminated benefits to certain public workers: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
The new legislation, which came into effect retroactively from January 2024, represents a significant change for approximately 2.8 million people who have already begun receiving backdated payments from February 2025. Most beneficiaries noticed an increase in their monthly deposits from April this year, corresponding to March payments.
Who benefits?
This change does not apply to all retirees, but to a specific group of public sector employees who receive pensions for work not covered by Social Security. Among the main beneficiaries are:
- State and local teachers in certain states
- Firefighters and police
- Federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)
- People with pensions from foreign social security systems
The Social Security istration (SSA) estimates that nearly 72% of state and local employees are already covered by Social Security and will not be directly affected by this law.
What were WEP and GPO?
The WEP and GPO provisions reduced Social Security benefits for workers who also received a public pension for employment where they did not pay into Social Security. In some cases, these cuts significantly reduced or eliminated payments altogether, which many considered unfair.
With the Social Security Fairness Act, these rules have been removed, allowing retirees to receive the full benefits that would have accrued from their Social Security covered work history