By Tim Moore on May 3, 2010 9:47 PM
Social Security vocational guidelines define work activity as medium, light, or sedentary. This is how these work activity levels are defined.
- Sedentary work means that you are able to sit for up to 6 hours in an 8 hour day and lift up to 10 lbs. occasionally during a day
- Light work means that you can stand and walk for up to 6 hours in an 8 hour day and lift 10 lbs. frequently and 20 lbs. occasionally
- Medium work means that you can stand and walk for up to 6 hours in an 8 hour day and lift 25 lbs. frequently and 50 lbs. occasionally.
Social Security medical consultants assign an applicant a residual functional capacity (RFC) level of sedentary, light, or medium work, and then disability claims examiners use the RFC to see if the applicant can be expected to work, given his or her age and history.
The SSA publishes a vocational grid that can be used only to evaluate disability claims that involve physical impairments. (This does not mean that an individual’s mental impairments are not considered, if an individual has both mental and physical conditions that limit their ability to work. If mental impairments limit an applicant's potential to unskilled work, this can reduce the amount of jobs the applicant can do when combined with a physical RFC. See below)
The following information is just a sample of the sedentary vocational grid rules:
- Age:55+
- Education:Limited or less
- Work Skills:Unskilled or none
- Age:55+
- Education:Limited or less
- Work Skills:Skilled or semi-skilled, Skills not transferable
- Age:55+
- Education:Limited or less
- Work Skills:Skilled or semi-skilled, Skills transferable
- Age:55+
- Education:HS grad or more
- Work Skills:Unskilled or none
Rule 201.01
-----------Equals finding of: Disabled
Rule 201.02
-----------Equals finding of: Disabled
Rule 201.03
-----------Equals finding of: Not Disabled
Rule 201.04
-----------Equals finding of: Disabled
As you can see, an individual's age, education, work skills, and the transferability of work skills are important to determining when an individual is disabled through a medical-vocational allowance (for those applicants whose condition doesn't meet or equal an impairment listing).
Disability claims examiners have to prove that a claimant is unable to perform their least exertional work from their past work history. If an applicant's least exertional work was sedentary or light work, it can be difficult to receive a medical-vocational allowance, especially for those individuals who have completed high school or more, and have worked in skilled jobs that have transferable skills.
It's difficult for an individual who is capable of a full range of sedentary or light work to be found disabled if they are under the age of 55 or even older, especially if they performed a sedentary or light job in their past work.
So how can an individual with an education of high school or above, with a history of light or sedentary job requirements and work skills that could be considered transferable, be approved for disability benefits? There are factors that might negate the transferability of job skills for an individual. For instance, even with a history of skilled work, having some degree of mental limitation can get you out of your past work, basically rendering your job skills non-transferable to other work activity.
If you suffer from depression, anxiety, or some other mental condition that causes you to be unable to concentrate or come to work on a regular basis, or causes memory problems that make it difficult for you to complete tasks, it could get you approved for disability if the Social Security Administration has given you a sedentary or light residual functional capacity (RFC) rating for your physical condition.
