Millions of retired government workers, including teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public service members, will receive increased Social Security benefits. The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset initially denied more than 2 million Americans from receiving their monthly payments, Fox News Business and Blavity reported.

In January, then-President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law, ensuring that millions of public service workers would receive the retirement benefits they spent their careers earning. At the time, Biden said these Americans “should be able to retire with economic security and dignity” and would see increased payments.

Here’s what these beneficiaries should know, including information about payment increases, retroactive payments and April disbursement dates.

How much is the benefit increase?

The Social Security Administration said payment increases would vary depending on several factors, which include the type of Social Security benefit received and the amount of the recipient’s pension. Some payments only increase by a small amount, while others could be eligible for over $1,000 more each month.

When will April’s checks go out?

Social Security payments are usually issued to recipients on Wednesdays throughout the month, according to Blavity. Those born between the 1st and the 10th should have had their funds sent out on April 9, while those born between the 11th and 20th will have their payments sent out on April 16. For birthdates between the 21st and 31st, they will have payments sent out on April 23.

“We have been able to expedite payments using automation. For the many complex cases that cannot be processed automatically, additional time is required to manually update the records and pay both retroactive benefits and the new benefits amount,” SSA wrote on its website.

“We are expediting these cases now. We are releasing retroactive benefits and sending new monthly benefits amounts as we process each case, with the expectation that all beneficiary records will be updated by early November 2025,” SSA added.

Are retroactive payments a one-time thing?

“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security said, per the SSA.

Many beneficiaries are eligible for a one-time retroactive payment now that the WEP and GPO offsets no longer apply as of January 2024. Most will receive the deposit by the end of March, SSA said on its website.

“Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a retroactive payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or retroactive payment. Most people will receive their retroactive payment two to three weeks before they receive their notice in the mail,” it added.

Beneficiaries can visit here to stay up-to-date on news about the changes announced by the federal agency.