Navigation Your Past Work Experience and Social Security Disability
When someone files for Social Security Disability Benefits, they state that they are unable to perform gainful work for 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week or otherwise full-time work. This includes the work you have performed in the past as well as other work that exists in the national economy.
Social Security can deny your claim if you are able to perform work that you have done in the past and this is especially true for individuals over the age of 50 even with significant impairments. The Social Security Administration has generally looked at all the work you have performed full-time in the last 15 years. This process has been tedious at times, especially with claimants that have performed multiple jobs over the course of this time period. For example, if a 56-year-old individual ever performed a sit down (sedentary) job for even 6 months over 10 years ago, this fact could be used to deny disability based on the current rules. The evaluation of this work takes considerable time on the part of claimants to remember dates, employers, and job duties as well asfor vocational experts and adjudicators to determine the extent and relativity of those jobs.
Effective June 8, 2024, Social Security will change the way they evaluate past relevant work. Social Security will go from looking at the past 15 years of work activity to looking at only the past 5 years. Work requirements are ever changing and processes improving, so that a job performed 15 years ago may no longer be performed with the same knowledge now as it was then. This rule change will make the step 4 decision making process of one’s ability to perform past work more definitive and easier on the part of Claimants, Representatives, and the Administration.
