Step Five: Can you Perform Other Work

At the last step of the five step test for Social Security Disability SSA will decide if there is other work you can perform.  This is explained by CFR Section 404.1560 “Other work. (1) If we find that your residual functional capacity is not enough to enable you to do any of your past relevant work, we will use the same residual functional capacity assessment we used to decide if you could do your past relevant work when we decide if you can adjust to any other work. We will look at your ability to adjust to other work by considering your residual functional capacity and your vocational factors of age, education, and work experience. Any other work (jobs) that you can adjust to must exist in significant numbers in the national economy (either in the region where you live or in several regions in the country).” 404.1560 continues and states “(2) In order to support a finding that you are not disabled at this fifth step of the sequential evaluation process, we are responsible for providing evidence that demonstrates that other work exists in significant numbers in the national economy that you can do, given your residual functional capacity and vocational factors. We are not responsible for providing additional evidence about your residual functional capacity because we will use the same residual functional capacity assessment that we used to determine if you can do your past relevant work.”

If you get to the fifth and final step of the sequential evaluation process Social Security will determine whether or not there is other work you could perform. To do this they use your residual functional capacity finding that they used at step four and use it when deciding your case with the medical vocational guidelines more commonly referred to as the grid rules. The grid rules work best when you only have physical limitations and the person fits neatly into all of the necessary categories and the grids direct a finding of disabled or not disabled. The reality of it is that most people do not fit neatly into the grid rules, and if this is the case, then the medical vocational guidelines are used as a framework to make the decision.  The Social Security Administration will use the RFC that they decided you have and look at your age, education and work experience and make a determination if there is any other work you could do given all these facts and looking at the GRID rules for guidance if relevant.  CFR Section 404.1520 explains:  “At the fifth and last step, we consider our assessment of your residual functional capacity and your age, education, and work experience to see if you can make an adjustment to other work. If you can make an adjustment to other work, we will find that you are not disabled. If you cannot make an adjustment to other work, we will find that you are disabled.”

Social Security Disability Test and Grid Rules

To fully understand the grid rules in a detailed way see my page devoted to this subject and also see my other website’s page on the Grid Rules as well. This step in the process cannot be fully understood without understanding the grid rules and how they work. That being said, I am going to discuss very generally how most cases are decided at this step. Generally, if you are 50 years or older and your past relevant work (work you did the last 15 years) is light or heavier then you will probably only have to show you are limited to sedentary work (Social Security decided your RFC was sedentary) to be found disabled in most cases. If you are younger than 50 years old or you are 50 years old or older and performed past relevant work that was sedentary then you would probably have to show you are limited to less than sedentary work (Social Security decided your RFC showed limitations that would prevent even sedentary work) which means you are unable to even perform a significant number of sedentary jobs. Now I'll be the first to tell you this is an oversimplification of the fifth step of the process and the grid rules for that matter.  This is why you must read my page on the grid rules so you can apply it to your particular case.

Social Security Sequential Evaluation Process and RFC

You must also understand what your residual functional capacity is (see my page on this linked), and how Social Security determines what your particular residual functional capacity is in your SSDI case. What is important to know for now is that all limitations from your medical conditions are important in determining your residual functional capacity. This will include exertional and non-exertional limitations. For example, physical limitations such as lifting and standing would be examples of exertional limitations and mental limitations such as the ability to remember things and concentrate would be non-exertional limitations. The grid rules are only to be strictly followed if the claimant has only exertional limitations and fits neatly into one of the Rules on the charts. If a claim involves non-exertional limitations only or in combination with exertional limitations then the grid rules cannot in many cases direct a finding of disabled or not disabled but rather must only be used as a reference in determining whether or not there is other work a claimant could perform. When the grid rules do not strictly apply to a case is when you will frequently see the use of what is called a vocational expert. I will get into vocational experts in more detail another time, but their job at steps four and five of the disability test for SSD or SSI are to take the residual functional capacity given to them and give their opinion as to whether an individual with those limitations would be able to perform their past relevant work and if someone with your residual functional capacity could perform any other significant amount of work in the local and national economy.