How Social Security Uses Medical-Vocational Grid Rules to Decide Disability

If you're 50 years old or older when applying for Social Security disability, it may be easier for you to get approved for disability benefits than it is for a younger person. This is because the Social Security Administration (SSA) believes it's harder for an older person to learn a new job skill or make the transition to a new workplace. The SSA refers to this as making a "vocational adjustment" (basically, a career change).

To account for the difficulty older applicants may have making late-stage career changes, the SSA has something called the "grid rules" it uses to decide some disability claims. The grid rules are one way you can get approved for disability benefits through a medical-vocational allowance. Social Security uses the grid rules only after it's determined that you can't do the jobs you've done in the recent past.

Grid Rule Factors That Determine Disability

These grid rules (commonly referred to as the "grids") use the following factors to determine whether an applicant is disabled:

• applicant's age
• applicant's residual functional capacity (RFC)
• the skill level of the applicant's past work
• whether the applicant learned any skills that can be used in a different job, and
• applicant's education level.

Let's take a look at each of these factors and see why, and how, they may affect your disability claim.

Your Age

For the purposes of the grids, the SSA divides claimants (applicants) into the following age groups:

• younger individuals (18 through 49)
• closely approaching advanced age (50 to 54)
• advanced age (55 and over), and
• closely approaching retirement age (60 and over).

The older the applicant is, the easier it is to get approved using the grids. (For specific grid rules for applicants age 60 and older, see our article on disability for those approaching retirement age.)

Your Education Level

The lower your education level, the more likely you are to get approved under the grids. This is because the SSA knows it is harder for people with little education to find jobs they are qualified to do. Here is how the SSA divides education levels:

• high school graduate or more, plus recent training for skilled work
• high school graduate or more, without recent training for skilled work
• limited education (generally 11^th grade and below), and

• unable to read and write.

If you graduated high school and recently completed a post-secondary training program, your education level is a high school graduate or more with training for skilled work. For example, in one case, a 55-year-old woman with a high school diploma was certified as a nail technician shortly before she injured her back. The SSA denied her disability benefits because the grids say that anyone with recent training that would provide entry for skilled work is not disabled.

Your Past Work Experience

Social Security looks at the work you've done over the past five years—any jobs you held for at least 30 days in the last five years are called your "past relevant work." If you don't have any past relevant work, Social Security could find you disabled under the grids, depending on your RFC.

Social Security will also look at your past relevant work to determine whether you have job skills. For the grids, the SSA classifies jobs as unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled. Applicants with a history of only unskilled work are more likely to be found disabled under the grids.

The SSA will classify your past jobs based on how you describe them and how the Department of Labor (DOL) classifies them. An unskilled job, for example, might be a sorter at a factory. An example of a semi-skilled job is a waitress. An example of a skilled job is a paralegal. To determine a job's skill level, the DOL considers factors such how long it takes to learn a job and whether the job requires specialized education.

Whether You Have Skills That Can Transfer to a New Job

If your past work was skilled or semi-skilled, the SSA will consider whether you learned any skills that could be used in another position (called transferable skills). The more transferable skills you have, the more likely it is that the SSA will say there is other work you can do, and the harder it is to win your disability claim.

Note that even though a job may be classified as skilled, the skills learned in that job may be so specific that you can't use them in another position (for example, seamstress work). The SSA won't classify skills like these as transferable.

Your Residual Functional Capacity

Your residual functional capacity (RFC) is your remaining ability to do work on a regular and sustained basis (full-time). The SSA will use the objective medical evidence you or your doctor has submitted to do a detailed assessment of your ability to do certain job-related activities like standing, walking, lifting, carrying, and pushing. The SSA will give you an RFC for:

• sedentary work
• light work
• medium work,
• heavy work, or
• very heavy work.

Generally, the higher (heavier) your RFC, the more difficult it will be to get approved under the grids.

How to Use the Grids to Find If You're Disabled

To see how the SSA would apply the grids to your case, first find the table that addresses your RFC level, then find the row that describes your age group, educational level, and your past work experience. The final column shows how the SSA will decide your claim based on these factors. (20 C.F.R. Section 404, Appendix 2 to Subpart P.)

Grid Rules for Age 50 and Over

Here are two excerpts from the grids for applicants aged 50 to 54, for sedentary work and light work, followed by two examples of how Social Security applies these grid rules.

RFC for SEDENTARY WORK for Claimant Approaching Advanced Age (Ages 50 to 54)

RFC for LIGHT WORK for Claimant Approaching Advanced Age (Ages 50 to 54)

Here are two examples of how the SSA would apply the above sets of grid rules.

• The claimant was a 52-year-old woman who filed for disability based on type-2 diabetes and heart disease. She had a high school education. Her past work was as a sorter in a factory, which the SSA concluded was unskilled work. Despite her condition, the SSA decided she had an RFC for sedentary work. The SSA used the sets of grid rules for sedentary work, approaching advanced age. Because she had only unskilled work experience and no recent job training, the SSA found her disabled.
• The claimant was a 50-year-old male with a high school education who filed for disability based on a back injury. His past work was as a CDL truck driver, which the SSA classified as semi-skilled work. The SSA determined that he had acquired job skills he could use in another position (transferable skills). The SSA used the set of grid rules for light work, approaching advanced age. The SSA concluded that, despite his condition, the claimant still had the ability to do light work, since he had job skills that could be transferred to less physically demanding work.

Grid Rules for Age 55 and Over

At age 55, the sedentary work grid remains the same as for claimants aged 50 to 54, but the light work grid rules change quite a bit. For applicants age 55 and over who have an RFC for light work, the following are true, regardless of the level of education:

• An applicant aged 55 to 59 with a history of unskilled work is disabled.
• An applicant aged 55 to 59 without any past relevant work in the last five years is disabled.
• An applicant aged 55 to 59 with a history of skilled or semi-skilled work, but no transferable job skills, is disabled.

That said, if an applicant has had recent vocational training that could lead straight to skilled or semi-skilled work, that person wouldn't be disabled under the grid rules.

Here are two excerpts from the grids, for sedentary work and light work, for applicants aged 55 to 59.

RFC for SEDENTARY WORK for Claimant of Advanced Age (Ages 55 and Older)

RFC for LIGHT WORK for Claimant of Advanced Age (Ages 55 and Older)

RFC for Heavy or Very Heavy Work

If you have an RFC for heavy or very heavy work, the SSA won't use the grid rules. If you can do heavy or very heavy work, you can also do medium, light, and sedentary jobs, which means that there is a wide range of work you can do. Even if you have an RFC for sedentary work, and the grid says you're not disabled, you may have a hard time showing Social Security that you can't do sedentary work.

Ways to Get Approved for Disability Benefits Without the Grid

If you have impairments that aren't related to your physical capacity, such as mental health issues or trouble using your hands and fingers (non-exertional limitations), you may be able to get approved even though the grid rules say someone in your situation is not disabled. In these cases, Social Security will use your RFC to decide whether you have mental or nonexertional limitations that prevent you from doing a full range of sedentary or light work.

You may also be able to be more likely to be approved for benefits if you have more than one medical condition. Unfortunately, many applicants in the above situations get denied and need to appeal to win benefits. For more information, see our section on appealing common reasons for disability denial.