Social Security considers the age of the claimant at step 5 of the sequential evaluation. Age plays no role in steps 1 through 4.
Age is a vocational factor which dictates where you fall in the Medical-Vocational Guidelines, which are used to determine disability at step 5 for claimant’s who have physical impairments.…
I have a hearing today with one of the new judges in Manchester, New Hampshire for a claim involving work under special conditions.
Social Security’s regulations discuss work activity in 20 C.F.R. 404.1573, and work under “special conditions” is covered in 404.1573(c):
If your work is done under special conditions, we may find
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Social Security classifies the physical exertion requirements of jobs as sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1567. Social Security gives those terms the same meaning as they have in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
The light exertional level involves lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with…
At step 5 of the sequential evaluation process, Social Security considers four factors to determine whether or not you are disabled: your residual functional capacity, your age, your education, and your work experience. 20 C.F.R. 404.1520(a)(4)(v).
Social Security defines several educational levels. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1564.
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Social Security considers your Past Relevant Work (PRW) at step 4 of the sequential evaluation process. It is important to properly define your past relevant work, because it can only hurt you in a Social Security disability claim. If Social Security determines that you have the capacity to return to your PRW, your disability claim will…
A client recently retained me after receiving an inital denial of his Social Security disability claim. He over 55 years old, and can no longer do his past relevant work, partly due to knee and ankle problems resulting from an old injury.
I have reviewed the disability claim file, and he was denied disability because…
The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a numeric scale (from 0 to 100) used by doctors and mental health clinicians to rate the social, occupational and psychological functioning of adults.
The scale is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM-IV), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association, and provides the diagnostic criteria…
What is the sedentary exertional level for Social Security disability?
Social Security classifies the physical exertion requirements of jobs as sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1567. Social Security gives those terms the same meaning as they have in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
The sedentary exertional level involves lifting…
At a Social Security disability hearing, sometimes it is very clear that the claim should be granted. In such cases, a bench decision is available to the administrative law judge. A bench decision must be a fully favorable decision.
For a bench decision, the judge sets forth his reasons for granting the claim orally "from the bench"…
Social Security Rulings are policy interpretations issued by the SSA. Social Security Rulings are binding on all components of the SSA, and are to be relied upon as precedents when adjudicating other cases. See 20 CFR 402.35(b)(1).
Social Security disability lawyers refer to the Rulings regularly. The Rulings contain very useful explanations of SSA's policy, and…
