The Fifth Step in Social Security’s 5-Step Disability Analysis – Perform Other Work
Social Security reviews cases using a five-step sequential evaluation process to decide when an individual a person is disabled under the agency’s rules. Previously we looked at these five steps in brief and at the First, Second, Third and Fourth Steps (Substantial Gainful Activity, Severe Impairments and the Listing of Impairments, and Past Relevant Work respectively) more deeply. Here is a longer look at the Fifth Step in the 5 questions that make up the sequential evaluation process: The Ability to Perform Other Work
Even if you are unable to perform any of your past relevant work (see: Past Relevant Work), you may be denied if Social Security determines there are other jobs you can still perform and these jobs exist in significant numbers in the national economy.
This is a very complicated area, with many subtleties and nuances, where many claims are won or lost. Social Security’s rules at this step of the analysis change depending on your age group (18-49, 50-54, 55-60, and 60 + years old) – the over-simplified rule is that the older one is the less difficult it is to show that there are no jobs one can perform. Social Security relies on an outdated database of more than 13,000 occupations, known as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Withing the DOT, occupations are classified in many ways, with two of the basic methods being skill level and exertional level. Required occupational skill sets are classified as unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled. Exertional levels are divided as sedentary, light, medium or heavy.
If you are under 50, the rule of thumb is that you have to prove that there is no work in the national economy that you can still perform, regardless of the wage range, your local unemployment rate, or other hiring factors. The analysis relies on your ability to perform other work, not whether employers in your area are hiring. Many of these claims for younger workers come down to the relatively small slice of 135 unskilled and sedentary occupations out of the 13,000+ occupations in the DOT.
If you are over 50 years old (age 50 – 54, you are considered closely approaching advanced age), the rules get a bit easier, but you still have to eliminate most kinds of jobs to win your case.
Once you reach age 55, the rules are relaxed a bit more. And at age 60, the rules are made even easier.
This is just a quick rundown of the fifth step in the five-step sequential evaluation process – your ability to perform other work. There are exceptions and layers of complexity to all of this but we wanted to provide a brief overview of this step (and the other steps in our previous posts) that Social Security relies upon in evaluating a Social Security Disability (SSD) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability claim.
The attorneys of Cascadia Disability Law help people just like YOU! We fight to get you the benefits you deserve at the earliest stage possible in the claim process. Call or email us anytime – 503-891-8376 / 800-891-0867, Help@CascadiaDisabilityLaw.com
–> Contact us BEFORE you apply, and apply right the first time!