HOW "GRID RULES" HELP YOU

Social Security publishes Medical-vocational guidelines or "grids" that combine a claimant's medical factors (residual functional capacity) and vocational factors (age, education and work history).  By combining all these factors it is easier to see whether the claimant meets the rules for being disabled.

The grid rules are designed to allow SSA to decide thousands of claims without needing individualized vocational evidence for each claim.

Grids will not help claimants under the age of 50.  In fact, the grids will direct a finding of "not disabled" for claimants under 50, unless they are at least 45 years old and unable to communicate in English.

When the claimant is limited to sedentary exertional level, however, the grids will direct a finding of disabled if the claimant:

• is age 50 or over
• has no education that allows direct entry  into skilled work, and
• has no transferable skills

Social Security assumes that transition to unskilled sedentary work is too difficult for these claimants.

At age 55, these same claimants will grid "disabled" if they are restricted to the light exertion level.

So, the factors which play a big role in meeting a grid rule are:  age (at least 50 for sedentary work or 55 for light work), education, and whether there are transferable skills.

I admit the grid rules confused me the first time I looked at them (years ago).  As I used them, however, they became very easy to work with and helped me quickly sum up a disability case and estimate what the odds were of getting it approved.

That's why I ask folks early on:  What is you age, what is you education, and what are you still able to do in terms of standing, walking, lifting and carrying...?  If the person is 50 or over, I am looking for a grid rule that will direct a finding of disability.

What about claimants under the age of 50?  The grid rules do not help.  These individuals must prove that their impairments are so bad that they can't perform any work available in the national economy--even unskilled, sedentary work.  This is a much higher burden of proof and it's why claimants under 50 have a much harder time getting a disability benefit.  So, an individual under age 50 who can perform even a sedentary (sit down) job probably can't get disability benefits.

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The Forsythe Firm
Social Security Disability Representatives
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Huntsville, AL 35806
CALL US (256) 799-0297

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However, the grids are a two-edged sword. Once you reach the age of 50 (and have no transferable skills nor education that allows direct entry into skilled work), the grids direct a finding of "disabled" at the sedentary exertional level. The SSA presumes that the transition to unskilled sedentary work is too difficult for these claimants. At age 55, that same claimant grids "disabled" at the light exertional level.