Residual Functional Capacity Under Federal Disability Law
The process of evaluating whether a claimant is entitled to Social Security disability benefits involves five steps. The first step requires considering whether the claimant is engaged in substantial gainful activity, while the second step considers whether their condition is medically severe and whether it has lasted or is expected to last for 12 months or result in death. If the claimant is not engaged in substantial gainful activity and is suffering from a condition that meets the severity and duration requirements, they likely will be eligible for benefits if their condition meets or equals one of the entries in the Listing of Impairments provided by the Social Security Administration.
If not, the inquiry will continue to the fourth and fifth steps. The fourth step asks whether the claimant can do any of their past relevant work, and the fifth step asks whether they can make an adjustment to any other work. If the answer to both questions is no, they will be eligible for benefits. Evaluating the fourth and fifth steps requires a residual functional capacity assessment. This determines a claimant’s ability to perform sustained work-related physical and mental activities in a work setting on a regular and continuing basis, which means working for eight hours a day, five days a week, or the equivalent. An RFC assessment will identify a claimant’s functional limitations or restrictions and assess their work-related abilities on a function-by-function basis.
Past Relevant Work and Residual Functional Capacity
The SSA defines past relevant work as work that involved substantial gainful activity, was performed in the last 15 years, and lasted long enough for the claimant to learn how to do it. This fourth step consists of two parts. The first question is whether the claimant can still do past relevant work as they actually performed it. If they cannot, the question becomes whether they can do past relevant work as it is generally performed in the national economy. A vocational expert or specialist may offer evidence about the physical and mental demands of past relevant work. They also may offer an expert opinion regarding whether a person with the limitations of the claimant could meet the demands of their past relevant work.
The vocational factors of age, education, and work experience do not matter to this inquiry. Furthermore, past relevant work does not need to exist in significant numbers in the national economy.
Adjustment to Other Work and Residual Functional Capacity
If the SSA finds that the residual functional capacity of the claimant does not allow them to perform any of their past relevant work, it will consider their residual functional capacity and the vocational factors of age, education, and work experience to determine whether they can adjust to other work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy.
An analysis of this fifth step starts with considering the special medical-vocational profiles. These consist of three profiles that combine a severe impairment with certain factors related to age, education, and work experience:
- Arduous unskilled work: 35 or more years of arduous unskilled work, no more than 6th grade education
- No work experience: no past relevant work, age 55 or older, no more than 11th grade education
- Lifetime commitment: 30 or more years in a field of work that is unskilled (or skilled or semi-skilled but with no transferable skills), close to retirement age (60 or older), no more than 11th grade education
If a claimant fits any of these three profiles, they will be found unable to adjust to other work under the fifth step of the evaluation and will be considered disabled. If they do not, the inquiry will proceed to the medical-vocational guidelines. These are sets of rules that apply to each of certain exertional levels as determined by the RFC assessment: sedentary, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy. A claimant is generally not disabled if they still have the functional capacity to perform heavy or very heavy work.
Otherwise, three tables of rules juxtapose exertional level with age, education, and work experience to indicate whether a claimant should be found disabled. For example, a person who can perform sedentary work, is closely approaching advanced age, did not graduate from high school, and performed unskilled work will be considered disabled under Rule 201.09. On the other hand, a person who can perform light work, is closely approaching advanced age, graduated from high school, and performed unskilled work will not be considered disabled under Rule 202.13. The SSA provides specific definitions for each exertional level, age group, education level, and type of work experience.
