PROPERLY EXPLAIN ALL PAST RELEVANT WORK

I have had two recent hearings where approval was based on properly classifying the claimant's past relevant work.  Past relevant work (PRW) is defined as all work performed at a full time or substantial gainful activity level during the 15 years prior to the application.

Here is why PRW may be critical:  At Step 4 of the decision process, the administrative law judge must determine if the claimant is able to perform any of his/her past relevant work. If the answer is yes, the law requires the judge to find that the claimant is not disabled.  An exception would be made for persons in certain older age categories who meet medical-vocational guidelines.

In both of my cases, the claimants were persons of advanced age (over age 55), had only high school educations and had held unskilled jobs.  Medical-vocational guidelines would direct a finding of disabled unless they were able to return to past relevant work.  So, it was critical to show that they were not capable to performing any of the work they had performed during the past 15 year period.

Here is where PRW must be carefully described so it is classified correctly by the vocational expert who will be providing testimony.  The claimant's representative must carefully determine how much standing, walking and lifting were required in each of the past jobs.  Past job duties must be described in detail so that only only the exertion level is properly classified but the skill level is also properly classified.  In other words, if the past relevant work gets classified as semi-skilled but it was really unskilled work, it can affect the outcome of the case.

I find that claimants often breeze through the disability application forms--often not giving any real effort or thought to proper completion.  They may not take time to fill in the Work History Report.  This can lead to an improper classification of their past relevant work, which in turn can cause a denial.

My advice is to always complete all the forms completely and carefully.  There is a reason for each form (and there are many forms).  The Work History Report can become a nightmare if it is completed improperly or incompletely.  If it has been improperly completed, that must be straightened out during the hearing.