STEP FOUR: WHAT KIND OF WORK CAN YOU DO?

UNDERSTANDING THE FOURTH STEP IN THE DISABILITY REVIEW PROCESS

Understanding step four of the SSA review process is crucial to winning your benefits. If you are filing an application for SSDI benefits or SSI benefits, then you are aware of how complex the process can be. If you need to start the application process, then begin your application online on Social Security’s website. While you are filling out the answers to the questions on the application, remember the steps that help you prove you deserve benefits.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a five step process to evaluate your SSD claim. Each step of the review process is critical to whether you qualify for benefits. We have articles for you about each step of the review process. However, this article is about step four. We break down step four of the SSA review process to help understand how to you win your SSD benefits.

If you understand step four, then you are in a better position to present your case to the SSA. If you need help filing your application for benefits, then contact us. Likewise, if you have questions about step four of the review process, reach out to our law firm for help.

WHAT IS STEP FOUR?

Step four has two parts. First, step four focuses on your residual functional capacity.  Your RFC is an assessment of what you can still do despite your medical conditions. Second, the SSA reviews your past relevant work. They are trying to determine if you can still perform your past jobs, despite your medical condition. Step four is crucial because if the SSA finds you can perform any of your past jobs, they will deny your claim.

At step four, the SSA reviews your medical records and your statements on the forms they sent you. They then make a determination about what you can do physically and mentally during an eight hour day. For example, you may have neck pain from a cervical condition. Because of your neck pain, you may not be able to lift more than 10 pounds. Your ability to lift is part of your RFC. The amount of weight you can lift on the job also defines the type of work you can do. If you can lift 10 pounds, then it is likely you can only perform seated jobs.

The SSA defines your RFC and then compares it to the physical and mental demands of your past relevant work in the last 5 years. For example, if your past job was that of office assistant and you can’t lift more than ten pounds, then you can still do that job. Because lifting more than 10 pounds is not a requirement of that job.

TO PROVE YOUR RFC YOU NEED MEDICAL EVIDENCE

You cannot prove your RFC or win SSDI and SSI benefits using step four without medical records. Therefore, if you do not have health insurance, then you need to apply for Medicaid benefits. However, if you cannot get Medicaid benefits or you cannot afford medical care, then you still have options. We have a list of free and low cost health clinics for you. Choose your state and call the free clinic to get medical care:

• CALIFORNIA FREE AND LOW COST CLINICS
• COLORADO FREE AND LOW COST CLINICS
• IDAHO FREE AND LOW COST CLINICS
• NEVADA FREE AND LOW COST HEALTH CLINICS 
• UTAH FREE AND LOW COST HEALTH CLINICS 

When you file for SSD benefits, the SSA will ask your doctor to submit your medical records. As long as your doctor supports your application for SSD benefits, you should be able to prove to the SSA that due to your RFC you cannot sustain a full time job. Medical records contain your limits. For example, they discuss how long you can sit, lift, stand or walk. Mental health records show your ability to concentrate, use your memory, and follow tasks. Therefore, medical records prove your RFC. As such, they are the key to winning SSDI and SSI benefits under step four.

WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE PROVES YOUR RFC?

Beyond medical evidence, there are other ways to prove how your medical condition limits your ability to work. Under step four, the SSA can review any evidence you submit. You can submit evidence from your doctor, your past employer, or even a statement from your mother. But obviously, medical evidence is the best way to prove your problems. Submit the following at step four:

• Medical Records: You must submit all of your medical records to the SSA. Even though the SSA collects your medical records, it is still your burden to submit the records. The SSA will only collect records after your alleged onset date of disability. Even if your condition has gone on for longer, they may not collect everything that is important for your disability claim. Therefore, you must provide the medical records that document your condition, the symptoms, and your treatment history.
• Consistent Treatment: Ongoing treatment proves the chronic nature of your condition. Even if the doctor cannot halt the progress of your disease, you can still go to pain management. Do not stop going to the doctor and claim they cannot do anything for you. If you do that, then you will have no records to prove your claim.
• Doctor Statements: Your lawyer should get a statement from your doctors that talks about your ability to perform daily activities and sustain full time work. Under step four, your doctor can discuss how your condition limits your ability to lift, sit, stand and walk.
• Statements From Family: You can also submit statements from family members and friends about your medical symptoms. Your family would need to write about how your symptoms interfere with your daily life and ability to work. A statement where a family member writes what a good person you are and how you really need benefits is not helpful to your case. Instead, the statements need to be about your physical or mental symptoms.

HOW THE SSA EVALUATES PAST RELEVANT WORK

Once again, past relevant work are the jobs you have done in the last 5 years. You must have also done the job long enough to learn the job. The SSA uses two main resources to determine whether you can still perform your past jobs: your work history report and the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

1. Fill out Your Work History Report (Form SSA-3369):  You’ll need to fill out this form as part of your application. This form includes the name and duties of your past jobs in the last five years. Do not write down the jobs you did prior to five years ago. Additionally, do not claim you were a supervisor or manager on the job, unless you really were in charge. Many people think that this form is like a resume. It is not. You should fill out the form in a simple way.  Try to explain your past job in one sentence.
2. Job Descriptions: The SSA relies on the details you provide about your job duties. Writing clear, simple descriptions helps the SSA make a decision. Don’t go into too much detail about your past jobs. Keep it short and simple.
3. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT):  The DOT is a government publication the SSA uses to classify jobs. The SSA uses the DOT to compare your RFC to the requirements of your past jobs. The SSA obtains jobs requirements from the DOT and your description of your jobs on the Work History Form. Then, the SSA compares your past jobs to those in the DOT and decides if you can still perform your past work.

THE KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT PAST WORK UNDER STEP FOUR

To understand whether you can still do your past work, the SSA will ask:

1. What were your job duties? The SSA will need to know the details of your previous jobs. For example, they will need to know what job tasks you did. They will also need to know the physical and mental demands of the work and the skills you need to do the job. Did you lift heavy objects, stand for long periods, or sit most of the day? Likewise, mental requirements are also important. Did you make decisions, interact with others, and concentrate for long periods?
2. What were the job conditions? The SSA will assess things like how much lifting, walking, or sitting you did on the job. Did your job involve a lot of standing or handling of heavy objects? Or did you sit all day at a desk and lift very little? These details matter because they compare your current abilities with against the requirements of the job.
3. Has your medical condition impacted your ability to work? The SSA will review your medical records and any other evidence that shows how your condition limits you. If your medical condition prevents you from performing your past relevant work, then the SSA will move to the next step in the review process.
4. Don’t list a job that was under 30 days. The SSA no longer considers past work that started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days. Don’t list those jobs.

CAN YOU PERFORM YOUR PAST WORK?

Social Security will look at the jobs you’ve done over the last 5 years and make a determination about whether or not you can do your past work.

• If the SSA decides you can still do your past work as you actually did it, then they will find you are not disabled, or
• If the SSA decides you can do your past work as it is generally performed in the national economy, then they will find you are not disabled, or
• If the SSA decides you are not physically and mentally able to do any of your past relevant work, either as you did it or as it is generally done in the national economy, then the SSA will move to step 5 of the review process. Step five is the final step of the review process.

You may wonder how the SSA proves what kind of jobs are available to you. They do this by hiring a vocational expert and having them testify at your SSA hearing. The VE answers questions about the type and number of jobs that are available to a person with your medical conditions. If the VE testifies that you can return to your past relevant work, then you have lost your case at step four of the review process.

THE SSA DOESN’T CONSIDER WHETHER YOU CAN FIND A JOB

Unfortunately, the SSA doesn’t consider whether or not you can actually find a job. Instead, all they have to consider is whether you can do the job. If they find that you can perform your past work, then they will not pay you SSDI or SSI benefits.

Even if you argue that you cannot find a job where you live or that no one will hire you, it doesn’t matter in five step review process. You will still not win benefits, because the SSA states you can work. Additionally, the SSA does not consider whether a job pays enough money for you to make a living. They also do not consider the following:

• whether an employer will hire you,
• whether a job opening exists,
• whether you would need to move,
• whether you want to do or have an interest in this work,
• whether you still have a certificate or license to do your past work

EXAMPLES OF ARGUMENTS THAT WILL NOT CHANGE THE SSA’S STEP FOUR DECISION

There are many factors that the SSA will not consider to be a valid argument against your ability to work.

1. NO LICENSE.

For example, let’s look at the job of truck driver. For that job you need a commercial driver’s license. If doesn’t matter to the SSA if you no longer have a valid commercial  license. If they find you can mentally and physically to the job, they will state you are not eligible for benefits. In their opinion, you can always renew a license.

2. NO JOBS IN YOUR LOCAL AREA.

Next, let’s look at the job of surveillance systems monitor. This is a job that requires sitting in front of a computer screen to watch people shop. Or, the person could be watching people in a casino on the screens. If they see illegal activity, they report it to a security guard by phone. The SSA often claims that this job is one that most people could perform, if they can sit. But, this job doesn’t exist in very high numbers in the national economy. There may, however, be a high number of job openings in Las Vegas casinos. Therefore, the SSA can find you could do this job because it is available to you in the national economy. They don’t care that you might need to move to Las Vegas to get the job.

3. THE JOB DOESN’T PAY ENOUGH MONEY.

One more argument that people make is to state that the jobs the SSA says they can do don’t pay enough money. Obviously, the amount of money you make at a job is a big consideration because you need to pay your bills. But, the rate of pay is not part of SSA’s analysis. In short, it doesn’t matter to the SSA what amount of money any job pays. They don’t care that a job doesn’t pay you enough to cover your bills. For the step four analysis, it only matters that you can do the job.

IS IT WORTH THE FEE TO HIRE AN SSD LAWYER?

It isn’t easy to get Social Security benefits. The application and review process is frustrating for most people. But, having an attorney during the five step SSA review process can relieve stress. In our experience, when you have an SSD law firm handling your case, the SSA follows their own procedures.

Additionally, when you have an attorney with legal experience, they will have access to Social Security’s decisions throughout the process. They can also submit medical evidence that may be missing from your case at step four.

Hiring a legal expert to help you triples your chances of winning SSD benefits. It is also smart to hire an attorney to represent you at your hearing. After all, you are the star witness at your hearing. If you hire an attorney with experience, then they can prepare you to testify at your hearing. Find out how to prepare for your hearing. Your lawyer can help you prepare your testimony and also deal with the SSA’s expert witnesses. Furthermore, since there is no attorney fee unless you win benefits, it is worth it to hire an SSD lawyer.

HIRE OUR LEGAL TEAM TO PROVE DISABILITY UNDER STEP FOUR

SSA’s step four examines whether your medical conditions prevent you from doing the work you’ve done in the past five years. If the SSA finds you’re unable to perform your past work, then they will move your case to step five. This will increase your chances of approval for SSD benefits. Ensuring that you provide a work history and supportive medical evidence is key to proving step four.

Hire Cannon Disability Law to give you legal advice and walk you through the application and review process. In the past 30 years, we have won millions of dollars in future and past due SSD benefits.

If you need SSD benefits, then hire an attorney with the legal experience to win. If you don’t win, then you don’t pay an attorney fee. Hiring our law firm triples your chances of winning SSD benefits. For help, contact us.

If you want to learn more about our lawyers and staff, then review information About Us. For example, you can learn about Andria Summers. She has spent 23 years working at our law firm. She can help you with your Medicare advantage plan.

Additionally, Dianna Cannon has been helping clients win benefits for over thirty years. Ms. Cannon has years of Federal Court experience. She has also taught law school and written a book on SSDI benefits. Brett Bunkall also has years of legal experience helping people win their SSI and SSDI benefits. We are Social Security law experts.

We are here to help you every step of the way. If you need assistance proving step four of your claim, then contact us. We offer a a free review of your case and there is no attorney fee unless you win benefits.