New SSA Rule! Past Relevant Work (PRW) Cut from 15 Years to 5

Effective June 8, 2024, the Social Security Administration enacts a new final rule benefitting claimants seeking Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

The new final rule defines past relevant work as “work that you have done within the past five years that was substantial gainful activity and that lasted long enough for you to learn to do it. We will not consider work to be past relevant work if you started and stopped it in fewer than 30 calendar days.”

To summarize the new final rule and how the SSA considers past relevant work:

The new rule reduces the definition of past relevant work (PRW) from 15 to 5 years.
Also, the SSA no longer counts work that started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days as past relevant work.

These two changes in the new rule are a boon for disabled claimants. The Social Security Administration recognizes that jobs in today’s workforce can evolve significantly over the years. Skills acquired from jobs that are 15 years old can transform into entirely different skill sets and responsibilities.

Let’s consider a real-life scenario. This new rule also eliminates the possibility of a worker being denied disability because 15 years ago, the skills they used were in a different role compared to their recent occupation. A nurse who started in the hospital 13 or 14 years ago by accepting administrative work as their entry into the medical field is nothing like the work that same nurse has advanced into over the past five years in the ER, or in the oncology unit, or as a travel nurse. Under the new rule, SSA should not be able to deny a claim by alleging that vocationally they have the residual functional capacity (RFC) compatible with the performance of sedentary work from over a decade ago.

What Is Past Relevant Work?

PRW is a crucial part of the Social Security disability determination process. Before the new rule, to be “relevant,” the past work you performed must have been within 15 years before the date of adjudication.

According to SSA, past work is relevant if it meets all three relevancy requirements listed below. The work must have:

been performed within the relevant period: Under the old rule, this was 15 years; under the new final rule, this is five years;
lasted long enough for the claimant to learn to do it (duration); and
been substantial gainful activity (SGA).

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How Does This Affect Disability Claim Evaluation?

Social Security disability examiners follow a Five-Step Sequential Evaluation to determine whether you’re disabled. The new final rule does not affect how SSA evaluates the first three steps of the sequential evaluation process; it only affects how SSA evaluates disability claims at Steps Four and Five of the process.

Recall that, as a claimant, you must prove that

you are medically disabled (at Step 3), or
you must continue to Steps 4 and 5 to show that you are disabled through the combination of medical and vocational factors. Steps 4 and 5 are the two criteria affected by the new rule.

Quick Review: SSA’s Five-Step Sequential Evaluation for Disability Claims

Step 1: Are You Engaged in Substantial Gainful Activity?

If the answer is “Yes,” you cannot be considered disabled. If “No,” you move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Are Your Impairments Severe? (2-part question)

You have a severe impairment(s) rendering you unable to do basic work-related activities – and – have lasted or are expected to last at least 12 continuous months or expected to cause death. If you answer “No” to both, continue to Step 3.

Step 3: Do Your Impairments Meet or Medically Equal in Severity an Impairment Defined in the SSA Listing of Impairments?

If “Yes,” you automatically qualify according to medical factors to receive disability benefits. If “No,” you move on to Step 4.

Step 4: Can You Return to Your Past Relevant Work?

If “Yes,” the SSA will not consider you disabled. If “No,” you will move on to Step 5.

Step 5: Can You Adjust to Other Work?

If “Yes,” you will not be considered disabled. If “No,” you will be considered disabled according to vocational factors.

A Closer Look at Steps 4 and 5

The new rule is a significant and very claimant-friendly change.

Step Four considers your ability to return to doing your past relevant work (both as actually performed and as generally performed in the national economy).
If you can perform any of your past relevant work (within the past five years), SSA will find you not disabled. If you cannot perform any of your PRW, you continue to Step Five of the process.
Step Five considers whether your impairments prevent you from adjusting to other work in the national economy, or whether you gained transferable skills from past relevant work (within the past five years) that would transfer to a considerable array of other jobs, enabling you to perform other work.

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What Claims Are Included In The New PRW Rule?

The rule applies to all claims awaiting a final decision or determination and to any newly filed claims.

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The New PRW Rule Also Benefits Your Continuing Disability Review

When SSA finds you disabled and awards SSDI benefits, you may periodically be subjected to a continuing disability review (CDR) to determine whether you continue to be disabled. As of June 8, 2024, the new changes apply to CDRs: the relevant work period changes to 5 years in line with the changes made to the initial disability sequential evaluation process.

Shortening the PRW from 15 Years to 5 Years: A Simple but Important Change

SSA relies on disabled claimants’ self-reporting for information about their past work. However, job responsibilities and skills beyond 5 years can be difficult to capture and accurately report.

By changing PRW to only five years, SSA expects to reduce processing times and improve customer service in the following ways:

Allowing claimants to focus on the most current and relevant details about their past work, the PRW rule reduces the claimant’s burden of collecting job information.
This should also result in SSA receiving more complete work history forms and lessen the need for SSA staffers to follow up for further work history evidence.
The new PRW rule will help resolve the reduced relevance of job skills and changes in the work requirements of jobs that have been in place for a long time.
These outcomes are expected to increase SSA’s ability to make determinations and decisions more quickly, ultimately benefitting the public by offering better customer service for those applying for disability.

For an idea of the actual expected cost benefits over the next ten years − including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) − here is the cost-benefit analysis of SSA’s rule published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO):

The Social Security Administration (SSA) prepared a cost-benefit analysis for this final rule. SSA estimated that implementation of the rule will result in

an increase in scheduled Social Security Disability Insurance benefits of $22.2 billion,
a net reduction in scheduled Old-Age and Survivors Insurance benefits of $6.3 billion, and
an increase in federal Supplemental Security Income payments of $3.8 billion in total over fiscal years 2024 through 2033, assuming implementation for all decisions made on or after the effective date.
Also, an estimated increase in the number of disability benefits recipients attributable to the rule’s implementation would reduce Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance payroll tax revenue over the next 10 years by a total between $200 million and $300 million.

A Step in the Right Direction

While the actual effects remain to be seen, Marc Whitehead & Associates appreciates the consumer awareness and logic behind this new rule. Our entire team is looking forward to its application as it rolls out.

We welcome your call if you have questions about your claim and how this new “past relevant work” rule might affect you. As always, we will keep our clients and visitors informed of all related news and other Social Security Disability issues.