Social Security Board v. Nierotko

Summary

The Court, through Justice Reed, held that back pay awarded under the National Labor Relations Act constitutes wages under the Social Security Act and must be allocated to the periods in which the wages ordinarily would have been paid. Employment encompasses the compensated employer-employee relationship, not merely productive work. Although administrative interpretations deserve great weight, the Social Security Board exceeded permissible statutory interpretation by excluding back pay. Justice Frankfurter concurred separately, without any stated joinder, reasoning that enforced idleness does not end service to an employer and that the Board could not exclude payments that legally constitute wages. Justice Jackson did not participate.