For Social Security Disability and SSI, What Does It Mean When A person Can Only Do Sedentary Work?

How to prove you are disabled
and win disability benefits

Social Security defines sedentary work as: being able to sit for up to 6 hours in an 8 hour day, and lift up to 10 pounds occasionally. If an individual’s residual functional capacity (what they are able to with regard to normal daily activities) is restricted to a full range of sedentary work, they may or may not be approved for disability benefits.

The older an individual is, the better the chance they can be approved for disability if they are limited to a full range of sedentary work. The only way an individual under the age of fifty with a sedentary residual functional capacity can be approved for disability is A) if they are illiterate or unable to communicate in English and B) have performed no work, or have only done unskilled work.

Once an individual is between the ages of fifty and fifty-four, their chances of being approved for disability improve somewhat. Individuals with a high school diploma or more who do not have direct entry into skilled work, who are skilled or semi skilled, but their skills are not transferable to other work, can be found disabled with a residual functional capacity that is limited to sedentary work. Or, a high school graduate or more with no direct entry to skilled work, whose work is unskilled, or they have had no work, may be found disabled if their residual functional capacity is sedentary.

Individuals who are fifty to fifty-four with limited or less education that have worked unskilled jobs, or skilled or semi-skilled jobs whose skills are not transferable, or have not worked at all, may also be approved with a residual functional capacity of sedentary.

Generally, individual who are fifty-five years or older who have a residual functional capacity of sedentary can be found disabled unless they performed skilled or semi-skilled work with transferable skills. This includes individuals who are high school graduates or individuals with limited or less education.

Note: If an individual has job skills that can be transferred to another job, they may be denied disability benefits even if they have a sedentary residual functional capacity. This is because the social security administration does not award disability benefits for SSI or SSD to individuals who have the ability to find other employment if they cannot do their former work.

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SSD and SSI are Federal Programs

The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here:

Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state

Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials