Work mostly performed while seated is defined as “Sedentary Work” by the Social Security Administration (“SSA”). This category of work entails lifting at most 10 pounds at any given time. It may occasionally require lifting or transporting objects like docket files, small tools, and ledgers. Even though a sedentary profession requires a lot of sitting, many jobs still require some standing and walking to fulfill their obligations.
You must demonstrate your whole disability during the Social Security Disability claims process. You must demonstrate that you are unable to engage in any kind of employment, even sedentary labor, which is the lightest work available, to qualify for disability benefits under the Social Security Administration’s rules.
Keep reading below for more information.
What Is Sedentary Work?
You have likely encountered the term “sedentary” before. And typically, in a bad way.
For instance, medical professionals caution that leading a sedentary lifestyle—one in which people spend too much time sitting or sleeping and too little time moving around or engaging in physical activity—increases your risk of disease.
But when judges, doctors, and lawyers discuss sedentary labor in disability and workers’ compensation claims, they use the phrase to describe a job category instead.
How does Social Security define Sedentary Employment?
Sedentary work is defined by the SSA as jobs that involve:
● Lifting a maximum of ten pounds at a time
● Sometimes (up to one-third of the time), carrying or holding compact objects like ledgers, docket files, and hand tools
● Sitting a great deal of time (about six hours total in an eight-hour workday)
● Sometimes standing and walking while performing job obligations (but not more than two hours total in an eight-hour workday)
● No noticeable bending
● No continual lifting or carrying of more than one pound
● No frequent moving or carrying of more than one pound
What Does It Mean If Social Security Determines I Am Capable of Doing Sedentary Jobs?
Social Security will examine whether any of your prior work experience held throughout the previous fifteen years that involved substantial gainful activity (SGA) was done at a sedentary level.
After examining whether you can do your past work with a sedentary capacity, SSA will determine whether you can do other jobs in the national labor market with a sedentary capacity.
*Note: it is possible to be precluded from sedentary work through non-exertional limitations. Common non-exertional conditions would be anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, or chronic fatigue.
If you are under the age of 50, the Social Security Administration will not find you disabled if you can do any sedentary work; regardless of whether you have done this type of work before.
If you are above age 50, the Medical-Vocational Guidelines (also known as the “Grid Rules“) are used by Social Security to assess whether you are disabled due to an exertional limitation. The Grid Rules exist to capture the idea that it is more difficult to change careers the older you get.
Three charts in The Grid Rules determine if you are disabled based on various factors, including age, education, work experience, literacy, and residual physical capacity despite the medical impairments.
Nonetheless, the match between your profile and a specific regulation must be accurate. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will question a vocational expert to determine if you are unable to perform the full spectrum of sedentary employment on any basis, including non-exertional limits.
How Can I Show That I Am Incapable of Sedentary Work?
In many cases, to obtain or maintain disability, you must demonstrate that you cannot complete the full spectrum of sedentary employment. It seems impossible to demonstrate that you cannot perform a sit-down job. But it isn’t.
We advise collecting and providing evidence in one or more of the sections below covering exertional and non-exertional work demands to demonstrate that you cannot perform the entire range of sedentary employment.
You can increase your chances of succeeding in your claim by proving you can’t do sedentary work with the answers to these questions.
- Are there restrictions on how much time you can spend sitting during an eight-hour workday? Several courts have ruled that the capacity to perform a sedentary activity that entails sitting for most of the workday is lost if one cannot sit for more than half of the workday. Also, if you can only stand, sit, and walk for less than eight hours a day, you should be considered disabled and unable to work full-time.
- Are you able to turn your head? Your ability to turn your head up or down may be compromised by a neck/cervical spinal fracture or a degenerative disc condition (stenosis, herniation, spondylolysis), which would rule out sedentary employment involving computer usage.
- Have you ever experienced a concussion (including post-concussive syndrome) or another type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that affects your capacity to focus, pay attention, socialize, or follow directions? Many sedentary occupations involve organizational abilities and interaction with co-workers, managers, and the public (in person, by phone, or by email).
- Do you have vision problems or eye injuries that make it difficult for you to perform typing or reading-related tasks?
- Do you frequently need to take unplanned breaks because of symptoms?
- Do you have a medical condition requiring switching between standing and sitting periodically throughout the workday? According to Social Security, the occupational basis for unskilled sedentary labor erodes if you must switch positions more frequently than is permitted during regular breaks and lunch.
- Is it difficult for you to hold, handle, or finger with one or both hands? The hands and fingers must be used often or continuously while performing many unskilled, sedentary jobs.
- Do you require the assistance of a cane or walker to get up and down from a sitting position? Do you also require a balance aid at work? If it is determined that you need a walking aid, you may be limited to one-arm work.
- Should your legs be elevated to lessen swelling? The majority of occupational experts will attest that if you must elevate your legs above your waist while working, you cannot keep a job.
- Do you have persistent fatigue and the need to lie down or nap for more than 45 minutes throughout the workday because of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS/RSD), fibromyalgia, or another medical condition?
- Do you have two or more days per month where you can’t go to work, have to arrive late, or have to leave early because of your medical conditions? If so, it is unlikely that you would meet the attendance requirements of any employment that involves sitting down all day.
- Have your cardiovascular (heart) or respiratory systems been identified as being affected by a work-related illness or a common disease of life? If so, you could be able to do away with your capacity for sedentary work in environments with fumes, dust, noise, humidity, extremely high or low temperatures, or dangerous machinery.
Conclusion
You should speak with your doctor or a Social Security Disability attorney if you are unclear whether you’ll be capable of carrying out any type of sedentary work. These experts can assist you in starting your claim and figuring out whether you are disabled and qualified for benefits.
