20 C.F.R. §§ 416.945–416.969

§416.945. Your residual functional capacity.

20 C.F.R. § 416.945

(a)

General—

(1)

Residual functional capacity assessment. Your impairment(s), and any related symptoms, such as pain, may cause physical and mental limitations that affect what you can do in a work setting. Your residual functional capacity is the most you can still do despite your limitations. We will assess your residual functional capacity based on all the relevant evidence in your case record. (See § 416.946.)

(2)

If you have more than one impairment. We will consider all of your medically determinable impairments of which we are aware, including your medically determinable impairments that are not “severe,” as explained in §§ 416.920(c), 416.921, and 416.923, when we assess your residual functional capacity. (See paragraph (e) of this section.)

(3)

Evidence we use to assess your residual functional capacity. We will assess your residual functional capacity based on all of the relevant medical and other evidence. In general, you are responsible for providing the evidence we will use to make a finding about your residual functional capacity. (See § 416.912(c).) However, before we make a determination that you are not disabled, we are responsible for developing your complete medical history, including arranging for a consultative examination(s) if necessary, and making every reasonable effort to help you get medical reports from your own medical sources. (See §§ 416.912(d) through (e).) We will consider any statements about what you can still do that have been provided by medical sources, whether or not they are based on formal medical examinations. (See § 416.913.) We will also consider descriptions and observations of your limitations from your impairment(s), including limitations that result from your symptoms, such as pain, provided by you, your family, neighbors, friends, or other persons. (See paragraph (e) of this section and § 416.929.)

(4)

What we will consider in assessing residual functional capacity. When we assess your residual functional capacity, we will consider your ability to meet the physical, mental, sensory, and other requirements of work, as described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

(5)

How we will use our residual functional capacity assessment.

(i)

We will first use our residual functional capacity assessment at step four of the sequential evaluation process to decide if you can do your past relevant work. (See §§ 416.920(f) and 416.960(b).)

(ii)

If we find that you cannot do your past relevant work, you do not have any past relevant work, or if we use the procedures in § 416.920(h) and § 416.962 does not apply, we will use the same assessment of your residual functional capacity at step five of the sequential evaluation process to decide if you can adjust to any other work that exists in the national economy. (See §§ 416.920(g) and 416.966.) At this step, we will not use our assessment of your residual functional capacity alone to decide if you are disabled. We will use the guidelines in §§ 416.960 through 416.969a, and consider our residual functional capacity assessment together with the information about your vocational background to make our disability determination or decision. For our rules on residual functional capacity assessment in deciding whether your disability continues or ends, see § 416.994.

(b)

Physical abilities. When we assess your physical abilities, we first assess the nature and extent of your physical limitations and then determine your residual functional capacity for work activity on a regular and continuing basis. A limited ability to perform certain physical demands of work activity, such as sitting, standing, walking, lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, or other physical functions (including manipulative or postural functions, such as reaching, handling, stooping or crouching), may reduce your ability to do past work and other work.

(c)

Mental abilities. When we assess your mental abilities, we first assess the nature and extent of your mental limitations and restrictions and then determine your residual functional capacity for work activity on a regular and continuing basis. A limited ability to carry out certain mental activities, such as limitations in understanding, remembering, and carrying out instructions, and in responding appropriately to supervision, coworkers, and work pressures in a work setting, may reduce your ability to do past work and other work.

(d)

Other abilities affected by impairment(s). Some medically determinable impairment(s), such as skin impairment(s), epilepsy, impairment(s) of vision, hearing or other senses, and impairment(s) which impose environmental restrictions, may cause limitations and restrictions which affect other work-related abilities. If you have this type of impairment(s), we consider any resulting limitations and restrictions which may reduce your ability to do past work and other work in deciding your residual functional capacity.

(e)

Total limiting effects. When you have a severe impairment(s), but your symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings do not meet or equal those of a listed impairment in appendix 1 of subpart P of part 404 of this chapter, we will consider the limiting effects of all your impairment(s), even those that are not severe, in determining your residual functional capacity. Pain or other symptoms may cause a limitation of function beyond that which can be determined on the basis of the anatomical, physiological or psychological abnormalities considered alone; e.g., someone with a low back disorder may be fully capable of the physical demands consistent with those of sustained medium work activity, but another person with the same disorder, because of pain, may not be capable of more than the physical demands consistent with those of light work activity on a sustained basis. In assessing the total limiting effects of your impairment(s) and any related symptoms, we will consider all of the medical and nonmedical evidence, including the information described in § 416.929(c).

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[56 FR 57947, Nov. 14, 1991, as amended at 68 FR 51165, Aug. 26, 2003; 77 FR 10657, Feb. 23, 2012; 77 FR 43495, July 25, 2012]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[56 FR 57947, Nov. 14, 1991, as amended at 68 FR 51165, Aug. 26, 2003; 77 FR 10657, Feb. 23, 2012; 77 FR 43495, July 25, 2012]

§416.946. Responsibility for assessing your residual functional capacity.

20 C.F.R. § 416.946

(a)

Responsibility for assessing residual functional capacity at the State agency. When a State agency medical or psychological consultant and a State agency disability examiner make the disability determination as provided in § 416.1015(c)(1) of this part, a State agency medical or psychological consultant(s) is responsible for assessing your residual functional capacity. When a State agency disability examiner makes a disability determination alone as provided in § 416.1015(c)(3), the disability examiner is responsible for assessing your residual functional capacity.

(b)

Responsibility for assessing residual functional capacity in the disability hearings process. If your case involves a disability hearing under § 416.1414, a disability hearing officer is responsible for assessing your residual functional capacity. However, if the disability hearing officer's reconsidered determination is changed under § 416.1418, the Associate Commissioner for the Office of Disability Determinations or his or her delegate is responsible for assessing your residual functional capacity.

(c)

Responsibility for assessing residual functional capacity at the administrative law judge hearing or Appeals Council level. If your case is at the administrative law judge hearing level or at the Appeals Council review level, the administrative law judge or the administrative appeals judge at the Appeals Council (when the Appeals Council makes a decision) is responsible for assessing your residual functional capacity.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[68 FR 51165, Aug. 26, 2003, as amended at 71 FR 16461, Mar. 31, 2006; 75 FR 62683, Oct. 13, 2010; 76 FR 24812, May 3, 2011]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[68 FR 51165, Aug. 26, 2003, as amended at 71 FR 16461, Mar. 31, 2006; 75 FR 62683, Oct. 13, 2010; 76 FR 24812, May 3, 2011]

§416.960. When we will consider your vocational background.

20 C.F.R. § 416.960

(a)

General. If you are age 18 or older and applying for supplemental security income benefits based on disability, and we cannot decide whether you are disabled at one of the first three steps of the sequential evaluation process (see § 416.920), we will consider your residual functional capacity together with your vocational background, as discussed in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.

(b)

Past relevant work. We will first compare our assessment of your residual functional capacity with the physical and mental demands of your past relevant work. See § 416.920(h) for an exception to this rule.

(1)

Definition of past relevant work—

(i)

What is past relevant work. Past relevant work is work that you have done within the past five years that was substantial gainful activity and that lasted long enough for you to learn to do it (see § 416.965(a)). We will not consider work to be past relevant work if you started and stopped it in fewer than 30 calendar days (see paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section).

(ii)

30 calendar days. When we consider past relevant work and work experience (see § 416.965), 30 calendar days means a period of 30 consecutive days, including weekends, starting from the first day of work. When we consider whether work lasted 30 calendar days, we generally do not consider the total number of hours or days worked during that period, or whether the work was full-time or part-time. The 30 calendar days requirement is separate from the consideration of substantial gainful activity or whether you worked long enough to learn how to do the work, although the work performed during the 30 calendar days may count toward the time needed for you to learn to do the work. The 30 calendar days requirement also applies if you were self-employed or an independent contractor; we will consider whether you were engaged in the same type of work for 30 calendar days, even if individual work assignments or contracts each lasted fewer than 30 calendar days.

(2)

Determining whether you can do your past relevant work. We will ask you for information about work you have done in the past. We may also ask other people who know about your work. (See § 416.965(b).) We may use the services of vocational experts or vocational specialists, or other resources, such as the “Dictionary of Occupational Titles” and its companion volumes and supplements, published by the Department of Labor, to obtain evidence we need to help us determine whether you can do your past relevant work, given your residual functional capacity. A vocational expert or specialist may offer relevant evidence within his or her expertise or knowledge concerning the physical and mental demands of a claimant's past relevant work, either as the claimant actually performed it or as generally performed in the national economy. Such evidence may be helpful in supplementing or evaluating the accuracy of the claimant's description of his past work. In addition, a vocational expert or specialist may offer expert opinion testimony in response to a hypothetical question about whether a person with the physical and mental limitations imposed by the claimant's medical impairment(s) can meet the demands of the claimant's previous work, either as the claimant actually performed it or as generally performed in the national economy.

(3)

If you can do your past relevant work. If we find that you have the residual functional capacity to do your past relevant work, we will determine that you can still do your past work and are not disabled. We will not consider your vocational factors of age, education, and work experience or whether your past relevant work exists in significant numbers in the national economy.

(c)

Other work.

(1)

If we find that your residual functional capacity does not enable you to do any of your past relevant work or if we use the procedures in § 416.920(h), we will use the same residual functional capacity assessment 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 the vocational factors of age, education, and work experience, as appropriate in your case. (See § 416.920(h) for an exception to this rule.) 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).

(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.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[68 FR 51166, Aug. 26, 2003, as amended at 77 FR 43495, July 25, 2012; 89 FR 27667, Apr. 18, 2024]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[68 FR 51166, Aug. 26, 2003, as amended at 77 FR 43495, July 25, 2012; 89 FR 27667, Apr. 18, 2024]

§416.962. Medical-vocational profiles showing an inability to make an adjustment to other work.

20 C.F.R. § 416.962

(a)

If you have done only arduous unskilled physical labor. If you have no more than a marginal education (see § 416.964) and work experience of 35 years or more during which you did only arduous unskilled physical labor, and you are not working and are no longer able to do this kind of work because of a severe impairment(s) (see §§ 416.920(c), 416.921, and 416.923), we will consider you unable to do lighter work, and therefore, disabled.

(b)

If you are at least 55 years old, have no more than a limited education, and have no past relevant work experience. If you have a severe, medically determinable impairment(s) (see §§ 416.920(c), 416.921, and 416.923), are of advanced age (age 55 or older, see § 416.963), have a limited education or less (see § 416.964), and have no past relevant work experience (see § 416.965), we will find you disabled. If the evidence shows that you meet this profile, we will not need to assess your residual functional capacity or consider the rules in appendix 2 to subpart P of part 404 of this chapter.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[68 FR 51166, Aug. 26, 2003]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[68 FR 51166, Aug. 26, 2003]

§416.963. Your age as a vocational factor.

20 C.F.R. § 416.963

(a)

General. “Age” means your chronological age. When we decide whether you are disabled under § 416.920(g)(1), we will consider your chronological age in combination with your residual functional capacity, education, and work experience. We will not consider your ability to adjust to other work on the basis of your age alone. In determining the extent to which age affects a person's ability to adjust to other work, we consider advancing age to be an increasingly limiting factor in the person's ability to make such an adjustment, as we explain in paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section. If you are unemployed but you still have the ability to adjust to other work, we will find that you are not disabled. In paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section and in appendix 2 of subpart P of part 404 of this chapter, we explain in more detail how we consider your age as a vocational factor.

(b)

How we apply the age categories. When we make a finding about your ability to do other work under § 416.920(f)(1), we will use the age categories in paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section. We will use each of the age categories that applies to you during the period for which we must determine if you are disabled. We will not apply the age categories mechanically in a borderline situation. If you are within a few days to a few months of reaching an older age category, and using the older age category would result in a determination or decision that you are disabled, we will consider whether to use the older age category after evaluating the overall impact of all the factors of your case.

(c)

Younger person. If you are a younger person (under age 50), we generally do not consider that your age will seriously affect your ability to adjust to other work. However, in some circumstances, we consider that persons age 45-49 are more limited in their ability to adjust to other work than persons who have not attained age 45. See Rule 201.17 in appendix 2 of subpart P of part 404 of this chapter.

(d)

Person closely approaching advanced age. If you are closely approaching advanced age (age 50-54), we will consider that your age along with a severe impairment(s) and limited work experience may seriously affect your ability to adjust to other work.

(e)

Person of advanced age. We consider that at advanced age (age 55 or older), age significantly affects a person's ability to adjust to other work. We have special rules for persons of advanced age and for persons in this category who are closely approaching retirement age (age 60 or older). See § 416.968(d)(4).

(f)

Information about your age. We will usually not ask you to prove your age. However, if we need to know your exact age to determine whether you get disability benefits, we will ask you for evidence of your age.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 65 FR 18001, Apr. 6, 2000; 68 FR 51166, Aug. 26, 2003; 73 FR 64197, Oct. 29, 2008]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 65 FR 18001, Apr. 6, 2000; 68 FR 51166, Aug. 26, 2003; 73 FR 64197, Oct. 29, 2008]

§416.964. Your education as a vocational factor.

20 C.F.R. § 416.964

(a)

General. Education— is primarily used to mean formal schooling or other training which contributes to your ability to meet vocational requirements, for example, reasoning ability, communication skills, and arithmetical ability. However, if you do not have formal schooling, this does not necessarily mean that you are uneducated or lack these abilities. Past work experience and the kinds of responsibilities you had when you were working may show that you have intellectual abilities, although you may have little formal education. Your daily activities, hobbies, or the results of testing may also show that you have significant intellectual ability that can be used to work.

(b)

How we evaluate your education. The importance of your educational background may depend upon how much time has passed between the completion of your formal education and the beginning of your physical or mental impairment(s) and by what you have done with your education in a work or other setting. Formal education that you completed many years before your impairment began, or unused skills and knowledge that were a part of your formal education, may no longer be useful or meaningful in terms of your ability to work. Therefore, the numerical grade level that you completed in school may not represent your actual educational abilities. These may be higher or lower. However, if there is no other evidence to contradict it, we will use your numerical grade level to determine your educational abilities. In evaluating your educational level, we use the following categories:

(1)

Illiteracy. Illiteracy means the inability to read or write. We consider someone illiterate if the person cannot read or write a simple message such as instructions or inventory lists even though the person can sign his or her name. Generally, an illiterate person has had little or no formal schooling.

(2)

Marginal education. Marginal education means ability in reasoning, arithmetic, and language skills which are needed to do simple, unskilled types of jobs. We generally consider that formal schooling at a 6th grade level or less is a marginal education.

(3)

Limited education. Limited education means ability in reasoning, arithmetic, and language skills, but not enough to allow a person with these educational qualifications to do most of the more complex job duties needed in semi-skilled or skilled jobs. We generally consider that a 7th grade through the 11th grade level of formal education is a limited education.

(4)

High school education and above. High school education and above means abilities in reasoning, arithmetic, and language skills acquired through formal schooling at a 12th grade level or above. We generally consider that someone with these educational abilities can do semi-skilled through skilled work.

(c)

Information about your education. We will ask you how long you attended school, and whether you are able to understand, read, and write, and do at least simple arithmetic calculations. We will also consider other information about how much formal or informal education you may have had through your previous work, community projects, hobbies, and any other activities which might help you to work.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 85 FR 10603, Feb. 25, 2020]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 85 FR 10603, Feb. 25, 2020]

§416.965. Your work experience as a vocational factor.

20 C.F.R. § 416.965

(a)

General. Work experience means skills and abilities you have acquired through work you have done which show the type of work you may be expected to do. Work you have already been able to do shows the kind of work that you may be expected to do. We consider that your work experience applies when it was done within the last five years, lasted long enough for you to learn to do it, and was substantial gainful activity. We do not usually consider that work you did more than five years before the time we are deciding whether you are disabled applies. A gradual change occurs in most jobs so that after five years it is no longer realistic to expect that skills and abilities acquired in a job done then continue to apply. If you have no work experience or you did work that started and stopped in a period of fewer than 30 calendar days (see § 416.960(b)(1)(ii)) during the five-year period, we generally consider that these do not apply. If you have acquired skills through your past work, we consider you to have these work skills unless you cannot use them in other skilled or semi-skilled work that you can now do. If you cannot use your skills in other skilled or semi-skilled work, we will consider your work background the same as unskilled. However, even if you have no work experience, we may consider that you are able to do unskilled work because it requires little or no judgment and can be learned in a short period of time.

(b)

Information about your work. Under certain circumstances, we will ask you about the work you have done in the past. If you cannot give us all of the information we need, we may try, with your permission, to get it from your employer or other person who knows about your work, such as a member of your family or a co-worker. When we need to consider your work experience to decide whether you are able to do work that is different from what you have done in the past, we will ask you to tell us about all of the jobs you have had in the last five years. You must tell us the dates you worked, all of the duties you did, and any tools, machinery, and equipment you used. We will need to know about the amount of walking, standing, sitting, lifting and carrying you did during the workday, as well as any other physical or mental duties of your job. If all of your work in the past five years has been arduous and unskilled, and you have very little education, we will ask you to tell us about all of your work from the time you first began working. This information could help you to get disability benefits.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[89 FR 27667, Apr. 18, 2024]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[89 FR 27667, Apr. 18, 2024]

§416.966. Work which exists in the national economy.

20 C.F.R. § 416.966

(a)

General. We consider that work exists in the national economy when it exists in significant numbers either in the region where you live or in several other regions of the country. It does not matter whether—

(1)

Work exists in the immediate area in which you live;

(2)

A specific job vacancy exists for you; or

(3)

You would be hired if you applied for work.

(b)

How we determine the existence of work. Work exists in the national economy when there is a significant number of jobs (in one or more occupations) having requirements which you are able to meet with your physical or mental abilities and vocational qualifications. Isolated jobs that exist only in very limited numbers in relatively few locations outside of the region where you live are not considered work which exists in the national economy. We will not deny you disability benefits on the basis of the existence of these kinds of jobs. If work that you can do does not exist in the national economy, we will determine that you are disabled. However, if work that you can do does exist in the national economy, we will determine that you are not disabled.

(c)

Inability to obtain work. We will determine that you are not disabled if your residual functional capacity and vocational abilities make it possible for you to do work which exists in the national economy, but you remain unemployed because of—

(1)

Your inability to get work;

(2)

Lack of work in your local area;

(3)

The hiring practices of employers;

(4)

Technological changes in the industry in which you have worked;

(5)

Cyclical economic conditions;

(6)

No job openings for you;

(7)

You would not actually be hired to do work you could otherwise do, or;

(8)

You do not wish to do a particular type of work.

(d)

Administrative notice of job data. When we determine that unskilled, sedentary, light, and medium jobs exist in the national economy (in significant numbers either in the region where you live or in several regions of the country), we will take administrative notice of reliable job information available from various governmental and other publications. For example, we will take notice of—

(1)

Dictionary of Occupational Titles,— published by the Department of Labor;

(2)

County Business Patterns,— published by the Bureau of the Census;

(3)

Census Reports,— also published by the Bureau of the Census;

(4)

Occupational Analyses— prepared for the Social Security Administration by various State employment agencies; and

(5)

Occupational Outlook Handbook,— published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(e)

Use of vocational experts and other specialists. If the issue in determining whether you are disabled is whether your work skills can be used in other work and the specific occupations in which they can be used, or there is a similarly complex issue, we may use the services of a vocational expert or other specialist. We will decide whether to use a vocational expert or other specialist.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

§416.967. Physical exertion requirements.

20 C.F.R. § 416.967

To determine the physical exertion requirements of work in the national economy, we classify jobs as sedentary, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy. These terms have the same meaning as they have in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, published by the Department of Labor. In making disability determinations under this subpart, we use the following definitions:

(a)

Sedentary work. Sedentary work involves lifting no more than 10 pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying articles like docket files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary job is defined as one which involves sitting, a certain amount of walking and standing is often necessary in carrying out job duties. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required occasionally and other sedentary criteria are met.

(b)

Light work. Light work involves lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds. Even though the weight lifted may be very little, a job is in this category when it requires a good deal of walking or standing, or when it involves sitting most of the time with some pushing and pulling of arm or leg controls. To be considered capable of performing a full or wide range of light work, you must have the ability to do substantially all of these activities. If someone can do light work, we determine that he or she can also do sedentary work, unless there are additional limiting factors such as loss of fine dexterity or inability to sit for long periods of time.

(c)

Medium work. Medium work involves lifting no more than 50 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 25 pounds. If someone can do medium work, we determine that he or she can also do sedentary and light work.

(d)

Heavy work. Heavy work involves lifting no more than 100 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 50 pounds. If someone can do heavy work, we determine that he or she can also do medium, light, and sedentary work.

(e)

Very heavy work. Very heavy work involves lifting objects weighing more than 100 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing 50 pounds or more. If someone can do very heavy work, we determine that he or she can also do heavy, medium, light, and sedentary work.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

§416.968. Skill requirements.

20 C.F.R. § 416.968

In order to evaluate your skills and to help determine the existence in the national economy of work you are able to do, occupations are classified as unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled. In classifying these occupations, we use materials published by the Department of Labor. When we make disability determinations under this subpart, we use the following definitions:

(a)

Unskilled work. Unskilled work is work which needs little or no judgment to do simple duties that can be learned on the job in a short period of time. The job may or may not require considerable strength. For example, we consider jobs unskilled if the primary work duties are handling, feeding and offbearing (that is, placing or removing materials from machines which are automatic or operated by others), or machine tending, and a person can usually learn to do the job in 30 days, and little specific vocational preparation and judgment are needed. A person does not gain work skills by doing unskilled jobs.

(b)

Semi-skilled work. Semi-skilled work is work which needs some skills but does not require doing the more complex work duties. Semi-skilled jobs may require alertness and close attention to watching machine processes; or inspecting, testing or otherwise looking for irregularities; or tending or guarding equipment, property, materials, or persons against loss, damage or injury; or other types of activities which are similarly less complex than skilled work, but more complex than unskilled work. A job may be classified as semi-skilled where coordination and dexterity are necessary, as when hands or feet must be moved quickly to do repetitive tasks.

(c)

Skilled work. Skilled work requires qualifications in which a person uses judgment to determine the machine and manual operations to be performed in order to obtain the proper form, quality, or quantity of material to be produced. Skilled work may require laying out work, estimating quality, determining the suitability and needed quantities of materials, making precise measurements, reading blueprints or other specifications, or making necessary computations or mechanical adjustments to control or regulate the work. Other skilled jobs may require dealing with people, facts, or figures or abstract ideas at a high level of complexity.

(d)

Skills that can be used in other work (transferability)—

(1)

What we mean by transferable skills. We consider you to have skills that can be used in other jobs, when the skilled or semi-skilled work activities you did in past work can be used to meet the requirements of skilled or semi-skilled work activities of other jobs or kinds of work. This depends largely on the similarity of occupationally significant work activities among different jobs.

(2)

How we determine skills that can be transferred to other jobs. Transferability is most probable and meaningful among jobs in which—

(i)

The same or a lesser degree of skill is required;

(ii)

The same or similar tools and machines are used; and

(iii)

The same or similar raw materials, products, processes, or services are involved.

(3)

Degrees of transferability. There are degrees of transferability of skills ranging from very close similarities to remote and incidental similarities among jobs. A complete similarity of all three factors is not necessary for transferability. However, when skills are so specialized or have been acquired in such an isolated vocational setting (like many jobs in mining, agriculture, or fishing) that they are not readily usable in other industries, jobs, and work settings, we consider that they are not transferable.

(4)

Transferability of skills for persons of advanced age. If you are of advanced age (age 55 or older), and you have a severe impairment(s) that limits you to sedentary or light work, we will find that you cannot make an adjustment to other work unless you have skills that you can transfer to other skilled or semiskilled work (or you have recently completed education which provides for direct entry into skilled work) that you can do despite your impairment(s). We will decide if you have transferable skills as follows. If you are of advanced age and you have a severe impairment(s) that limits you to no more than sedentary work, we will find that you have skills that are transferable to skilled or semiskilled sedentary work only if the sedentary work is so similar to your previous work that you would need to make very little, if any, vocational adjustment in terms of tools, work processes, work settings, or the industry. (See § 416.967(a) and Rule 201.00(f) of appendix 2 of subpart P of part 404 of this chapter.) If you are of advanced age but have not attained age 60, and you have a severe impairment(s) that limits you to no more than light work, we will apply the rules in paragraphs (d)(1) through (d)(3) of this section to decide if you have skills that are transferable to skilled or semiskilled light work (see § 416.967(b)). If you are closely approaching retirement age (age 60 or older) and you have a severe impairment(s) that limits you to no more than light work, we will find that you have skills that are transferable to skilled or semiskilled light work only if the light work is so similar to your previous work that you would need to make very little, if any, vocational adjustment in terms of tools, work processes, work settings, or the industry. (See § 416.967(b) and Rule 202.00(f) of appendix 2 of subpart P of part 404 of this chapter.)

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 65 FR 18001, Apr. 6, 2000; 73 FR 64197, Oct. 29, 2008]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 65 FR 18001, Apr. 6, 2000; 73 FR 64197, Oct. 29, 2008]

§416.969. Listing of Medical-Vocational Guidelines in appendix 2 of subpart P of part 404 of this chapter.

20 C.F.R. § 416.969

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles includes information about jobs (classified by their exertional and skill requirements) that exist in the national economy. Appendix 2 provides rules using this data reflecting major functional and vocational patterns. We apply these rules in cases where a person is not doing substantial gainful activity and is prevented by a severe medically determinable impairment from doing vocationally relevant past work. (See § 416.920(h) for an exception to this rule.) The rules in appendix 2 do not cover all possible variations of factors. Also, as we explain in § 200.00 of appendix 2, we do not apply these rules if one of the findings of fact about the person's vocational factors and residual functional capacity is not the same as the corresponding criterion of a rule. In these instances, we give full consideration to all relevant facts in accordance with the definitions and discussions under vocational considerations. However, if the findings of fact made about all factors are the same as the rule, we use that rule to decide whether a person is disabled.

Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[45 FR 55584, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 77 FR 43495, July 25, 2012]

Authority

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 421(m), 902(a)(5), 1382, 1382c, 1382h, 1383, and 1383b; secs. 4(c) and 5, 6(c)-(e), 14(a), and 15, Pub. L. 98-460, 98 Stat. 1794, 1801, 1802, and 1808 (42 U.S.C. 421 note, 423 note, and 1382h note).

Source

Source: 45 FR 55621, Aug. 20, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[45 FR 55584, Aug. 20, 1980, as amended at 77 FR 43495, July 25, 2012]