Medical-Vocational Guidelines and Your Social Security Case

An Ocala Social Security disability lawyer may discuss the medical-vocational guidelines and how they can affect your case. Having a better understanding of this process can help you with your case.

Need for Guidelines

These guidelines are set up to establish two things. First, an Ocala Social Security disability lawyer can explain that this process helps to determine whether there are jobs that exist in significant numbers for particular mixes of age, work experience, educational level and residual functional capacity. Additionally, an Ocala Social Security disability attorney can explain that the guidelines also help to establish the parameters that assess how age, work experience and educational level impact the case.

Role of the Vocational Expert

An Ocala Social Security disability lawyer may also explain the role of the vocational expert. This individual usually has the duty to determine the quantity of jobs that you are able to perform based on your residual functional capacity. This task is undertaken if the claimant is under age 50 or if he or she is illiterate or incapable of communicating in English. If you can perform a significant number of jobs, you will be found to be not disabled. The decision-maker chooses what a significant number constitutes. This determination is made without factoring in age, educational level or experience.

Evaluating under the Guidelines

These guidelines state that an applicant who has the same age, work experience and educational level will be found to be disabled if he or she can only perform sedentary work. However, if this person can perform a range of light duty work, he or she will be found to be not disabled. An administrative law judge might need to consult with a vocational expert when it is not clear how the applicant’s occupational base is eroded and the applicant’s capacity for exertion is between two rules in the guidelines.

If you would like more information about the medical-vocational guidelines and their impact on your Social Security Disability case, contact an Ocala Social Security disability attorney from the CJ Henry Law Firm, PLLC. Call 352.304.5300 to schedule a consultation to discuss your Social Security Disability case.