20 C.F.R. § 220.100 Evaluation of disability for any regular employment.
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
(a) General. The Board uses a set evaluation process, explained in paragraph (b) of this section, to determine whether a claimant is disabled for any regular employment. This evaluation process applies to employees, widow(er)s, and children who have applied for annuities under the Railroad Retirement Act based on disability for any regular employment. Regular employment means substantial gainful activity as that term is defined in §220.141. (b) Steps in evaluating disability. A set order is followed to determine whether disability exists. The duration requirement, as described in §220.28, must be met for a claimant to be found disabled. The Board reviews any current work activity, the severity of the claimant's impairment(s), the claimant's residual functional capacity, and the claimant's age, education, and work experience. If the Board finds that the claimant is disabled or is not disabled at any step in the process, the Board does not review further. (See §220.105 if the claimant is not currently disabled but was previously disabled for a specified period of time in the past.) The steps are as follows: (1) Claimant is working. If the claimant is working, and the work is substantial gainful activity, the Board will find that he or she is not disabled regardless of his or her impairments, age, education, or work experience. If the claimant is not performing substantial gainful activity, the Board will follow paragraph (2) of this section. (2) Impairment(s) not severe. If the claimant does not have an impairment or combination of impairments which significantly limit his or her physical or mental ability to do basic work activities, the Board will find that the claimant is not disabled without consideration of age, education, or work experience. If the claimant has an impairment or combination of impairments which significantly limit his or her ability to do basic work activities, the Board will follow paragraph (3) of this section. (See §220.102(b) for a definition of basic work activities.) (3) Impairment(s) meets or equals one in the Listing of Impairments. If the claimant has an impairment or combination of impairments which meets the duration requirement and such impairment is listed or is medically equal to one which is listed in the Listing of Impairments, the Board will find the claimant disabled without considering his or her age, education or work experience. (The Listing of Impairments is contained in appendix 1 of this part.) If the claimant's impairment or combination of impairments is not listed or is not medically equal to one which is listed in the Listing of Impairments, the Board will follow paragraph (4) of this section. (Medical equivalence is discussed in §220.111). (4) Impairment(s) must prevent past relevant work. If the claimant's impairment or combination of impairments is not listed or is not medically equal to one which is listed in the Listing of Impairments, the Board will then review the claimant's residual functional capacity (see §220.120) and the physical and mental demands of past relevant work (see §220.130). If the Board determines that the claimant is still able to do his or her past relevant work, the Board will find that he or she is not disabled. If the claimant is unable to do his or her past relevant work, the Board will follow paragraph (5) of this section. (5) Impairment(s) must prevent any other work. (i) If the claimant is unable to do his or her past relevant work because of his or her impairment or combination of impairments, the Board will review the claimant's residual functional capacity and his or her age, education and work experience to determine if the claimant is able to do any other work. If the claimant cannot do other work, the Board will find him or her disabled. If the claimant can do other work, the Board will find the claimant not disabled. (ii) If the claimant has only a marginal education (see §220.129) and long work experience (i.e., 35 years or more) in which he or she only did arduous unskilled physical labor, and the claimant can no longer do this kind of work, the Board will use a different rule (see §220.127) to determine disability. (c) Once a claimant has been found eligible to receive a disability annuity, the Board follows a somewhat different order of evaluation to determine whether the claimant's eligibility continues as explained in §220.180.
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 220—DETERMINING DISABILITY
Subpart H—Evaluation of Disability
§ 220.100 Evaluation of disability for any regular employment.
