Residual Functional Capacity (RFC)

When a disability claimant’s impairments do not meet or equal a listing at step 3 of the sequential evaluation process, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is required to evaluate his or her residual functional capacity. SSA defines RFC as “what you can still do despite your limitations.” A Social Security Ruling (SSR) defines it as an assessment of an individual’s ability to do sustained work related physical and mental activities in a work setting eight hours per day, five days a week, or an equivalent schedule.

A claimant’s impairments and related symptoms affect ability to work. SSA evaluates all evidence of record to determine the “most you can do despite your limitations.” Typically, a claimant has completed certain forms which SSA has on file, describing his or her activities of daily living (ADLs). These forms ask questions about how a claimant spends an average day. Abilities: to cook, clean, do yard work, laundry, drive, mow the lawn, take trips, shop, watch movies, work on the computer; all give some indication as to whether those activities can be transferred to a work-like setting. So, for example, if a person states “I do nothing but sit and watch TV for 8 hours per day,” that is some indication, absent further explanation, that the person can sit and hold their head in a steady position for a full workday.

A claimant’s RFC comes into play at step 4 and, if necessary, at step 5 of the sequential evaluation process. At step 4, the question is whether the claimant can return to their past relevant work (PRW). Typically, a vocational expert is asked whether the claimant has the residual functional capacity to return to the type of work they have done in the past. If it is determined they do, the process stops, and a determination of “not disabled” is entered.

In making this determination, the adjudicator looks at the PRW as performed by the claimant, and as performed in the national economy. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) is consulted for a definition of, among other things, the type of work performed, and exertional, and skill levels involved in performing the work. If it is determined that a person no longer retains the RFC to return to PRW, the evaluation is used again at step 5, to determine whether there are any jobs in the national economy the person can still do. If there are, the claimant is found “not disabled.”

Given the relative unlikelihood of meeting a listing at step 3, all claimants and their representatives should be prepared for this RFC assessment, in anticipation of steps 4 and 5 of the evaluation process. The importance of development of this aspect of a claimant’s case cannot be overestimated. A claimant should make every effort to obtain questionnaires tailored to their specific physical and mental impairments, and have them completed by their treating physicians. Claimants are often sent to consultative examiners (CEs) by SSA, for the purposes of obtaining just such a report. The CEs usually perform only cursory examinations, and generally determine that, with respect to ability to perform the 7 exertional functions (lifting, carrying, standing, walking, sitting, pushing, and pulling) a person is capable of at least sedentary, if not light work.
SSA has determined there are 1600 separate unskilled sedentary and light occupations in the national economy, most of which can be learned with a short demonstration in less than 30 days, and each of which represents hundreds of thousands of jobs across the nation. This represents a significant job base. It is therefore very important that a claimant be able to provide evidence from their treating physician to counter the RFC findings of the CEs.

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