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Your residual functional capacity (RFC) is the SSA’s measure of the kind of work you can still do, if any, despite the limitations caused by your condition. The SSA won’t just use your diagnosis to determine your RFC. Instead, it will look closely at how your condition affects your day-to-day ability to function in a work environment.
The SSA uses RFC assessments at Steps 4 and 5 of its five-step disability evaluation process. These steps come after Social Security has already determined that your condition is severe but doesn’t automatically qualify under its list of disabling impairments. At these later steps, the SSA uses your RFC to determine whether you can still do any work you’ve done in the past or adjust to other available work.
How the SSA Evaluates Your Functional Limitations
The SSA takes a comprehensive look at your functional abilities when it assesses your RFC. On the physical side, it examines your capacity for activities like sitting, standing, walking, lifting, and carrying, as well as postural functions such as crouching. Then, it evaluates your mental abilities, including your capacity to understand and follow instructions, maintain concentration, and respond appropriately to coworkers and workplace changes. The agency also accounts for other restrictions, such as sensory limitations and environmental intolerances related to things like noise or extreme temperatures. The SSA factors in all of your impairments, even those it doesn’t consider severe on their own, when it determines your RFC.
What Evidence Goes into an RFC Determination?
The SSA draws on a wide range of evidence to assess RFC, which may include:
- Clinical documentation, such as medical records, treatment notes, and doctors’ opinions
- Formal RFC assessment forms that your doctors complete on your behalf
- Personal statements about the ways in which your condition limits your daily activities
- Observations from people in your life who witness your limitations firsthand
You are primarily responsible for providing this evidence, and gaps in your record could give the SSA grounds to undervalue your limitations or deny your claim altogether.
How RFC Shapes the SSA’s Disability Decisions
The SSA uses RFC assessments at two critical points in its evaluation process. At Step 4, it compares your RFC to the demands of your past relevant work to determine whether you can still perform that work. If your RFC rules out that kind of work, the SSA will move on to Step 5. At this stage, the SSA compares your RFC against your age, education, and work experience to decide whether you can adjust to any other work that’s available in the national economy.
If your RFC determination doesn’t fully capture the extent of your limitations, the SSA may find that you’re able to work, even when you’re not. That’s why the accuracy of your RFC documentation matters so much.
Let Grech Law Firm Handle the Medical Evidence for You
The burden of gathering and submitting exhaustive medical evidence shouldn’t fall on someone who is already struggling with a disabling condition. I’m Justen Grech of Grech Law Firm, and I’m here to take that burden off your shoulders entirely.
When you come to me for help, I work directly with your doctors to collect the records, medical opinions, and RFC forms that give your claim the evidentiary foundation it needs. Every document I gather goes to the SSA through my office, so you don’t have to coordinate with medical providers or figure out what the agency requires.
For 25 years, I’ve helped individuals throughout Michigan put together well-documented disability claims, and I’m ready to do the same for you.
Talk to a Michigan Disability Attorney Today
An RFC determination can shape the outcome of your disability claim, so you deserve to have an attorney in your corner who knows how to document your case effectively. That’s where I come in. I’ve helped people like you prepare strong disability claims by working directly with their doctors and managing every step of the documentation process for decades. Reach out to Grech Law Firm today to learn more about how I can help you in a free consultation.