Clarification on Residual Functional Capacity

 Posted on October 18, 2009 in Social Security Disability

In my last blog post, "What is the Five Step Social Security Disability Evaluation Process?," I had mentioned that the SSA tries to determine whether an individual can do his previous work in step four of the evaluation process. In order to determine if you can do your previous work, the SSA evaluates what your Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) is. RFC is the most work that you can do despite any of your limitations.

A few minutes after I had made the post, Ryan from Boston, Massachusetts asked me whether the SSA distinguishes the type of work that can be done. Ryan asks a very good question and there are actually four different categories of work that SSA recognizes: heavy work, medium work, light work, and sedentary work. It is worth noting that there is sometimes a fifth category that is recognized for very heavy work, however, this category is scarcely used and is not something I will be going over.

If you can work at a job where the work is classified as heavy, it will be extremely difficult for you to be adjudicated as disabled. Heavy work is defined as lifting "no more than 100 pounds with frequent lifting or carrying of weights up to 50 pounds." Heavy work involves lots of movement, heavy lifting, and very little sitting.

Medium work is defined as "lifting no more that 50 pounds with frequent lifting or carrying of weights up to 25 pounds." Someone who is performing a job that involves medium work does a lot of walking, lifting, and moving around. The tasks can be difficult and involve a significant amount of lifting. An example of medium lifting could include moving medium sized boxes in a retail store.

Light work is defined as "lifting no more than 20 pounds with frequent lifting or carrying of weights up to 10 pounds." Light work could involve standing and walking and usually involves a lot of hand and arm movement. Shuffling lightweight retail items would be an example of light work activity.

Sedentary work is defined as "lifting no more than 10 pounds no prolonged standing and walking." Sedentary work typically involves mostly sitting and although it could involve standing, it would be only occasionally. Lifting in this category might include filing, lifting small objects like staplers or folders, or any other basic very light objects.

When a claimant is at a hearing, once the court gets to the fourth step of the five step evaluation process, you can count on being evaluated based on where you fit in these four work categories. When you hear a Judge asking you questions like "how much you can carry?" or "how long can you stand?" you can be sure that you are being evaluated on the fourth step of the evaluation process. The lower on the work level you are classified, the better the chances the Judge will find you disabled.