SYMPTOMS THAT PROVE YOU CANNOT WORK

Under SSR 96-8p(1), Social Security defines work as "working on a regular and continuous basis, 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, or an equivalent schedule."  Thus, anyone who cannot work on a regular and continuous basis may be considered disabled.

Here are examples of things that would demonstrate an inability to do "regular and continuous" work:

• The need to take extra breaks during an 8-hour workday. This could be due to pain, fatigue or the need to use the restroom frequently due to Chrone's Disease or ulcerative colitis, etc.

•  Being off task an excessive amount of time because of pain, fatigue or mental disorders like depression or anxiety, for example.

•   Missing an excessive number of days at work due to a medical condition.  Most vocational experts consider absences greater than 1 day per month, on average, to be excessive, precluding employment.

 

• Requiring extra time to perform tasks; the inability to complete tasks in a timely manner.

•  The inability to maintain concentration, persistence and pace for at least 2 hours at a time and to complete an 8-hour workday.  (If a person becomes so fatigued or in so much pain that he can't complete an 8-hour shift regularly, he is disabled).

 

The uninformed public can be misled by observing individuals who don't look like they are disabled.  Your neighbor may be seen mowing his lawn, for example.  You may know someone who is able to do her own housework--and you conclude that she is not disabled.  However, individuals don't have to be invalids or confined to bed to meet the legal definition of disability.

Your neighbor may cut grass for 1 hour, then have to rest 2 hours before he can continue.  If he overdoes it one day, he may not be able to work anymore for 3 or 4 days. Perhaps there are 2 or 3 days out of the week he would not be able to cut the grass. The lady who does her own cooking and housework may take a break every 45 minutes, or even lie down 2 or 3 times during the day.  She works at her own pace, working only when she feels like it.  This would not be permitted, of course, at any competitive, remunerative job.  An individual might be able to perform some tasks that make them look like they can work.  What you don't know is that they may work very slowly, are off task much of the time, and require much longer to complete a task than they would be allowed on a job.  Thus, they could not hold a job where work was required on a "regular and continuous basis:  8 hours a day, 5 days a week."

So, the question Social Security must answer is this:  Is the claimant able to work on a regular and continuous basis, according to Social Security Rule 96-8p(1)?