20 C.F.R. § 404.1565

Your work experience as a vocational factor

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(a) General. Work experience means skills and abilities you have acquired through work you have done which show the type of work you may be expected to do. Work you have already been able to do shows the kind of work that you may be expected to do. We consider that your work experience applies when it was done within the last five years, lasted long enough for you to learn to do it, and was substantial gainful activity. We do not usually consider that work you did more than five years before the time we are deciding whether you are disabled (or when the disability insured status requirement was last met, if earlier) applies. A gradual change occurs in most jobs so that after five years it is no longer realistic to expect that skills and abilities acquired in a job done then continue to apply. If you have no work experience or you did work that started and stopped in a period of fewer than 30 calendar days (see § 404.1560(b)(1)(ii)) during the five-year period, we generally consider that these do not apply. If you have acquired skills through your past work, we consider you to have these work skills unless you cannot use them in other skilled or semi-skilled work that you can now do. If you cannot use your skills in other skilled or semi-skilled work, we will consider your work background the same as unskilled. However, even if you have no work experience, we may consider that you are able to do unskilled work because it requires little or no judgment and can be learned in a short period of time.

(b) Information about your work. Under certain circumstances, we will ask you about the work you have done in the past. If you cannot give us all of the information we need, we may try, with your permission, to get it from your employer or other person who knows about your work, such as a member of your family or a co-worker. When we need to consider your work experience to decide whether you are able to do work that is different from what you have done in the past, we will ask you to tell us about all of the jobs you have had in the last five years. You must tell us the dates you worked, all of the duties you did, and any tools, machinery, and equipment you used. We will need to know about the amount of walking, standing, sitting, lifting and carrying you did during the workday, as well as any other physical or mental duties of your job. If all of your work in the past five years has been arduous and unskilled, and you have very little education, we will ask you to tell us about all of your work from the time you first began working. This information could help you to get disability benefits.

[89 FR 27667, Apr. 18, 2024]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2,286 cases (1,416 in the last 5 years), 1981–2026 · leading case: Maxine BARNES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., Defendant-Appellee, 932 F.2d 1356 (11th Cir. 1991).

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Maxine BARNES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., Defendant-Appellee, 932 F.2d 1356 (11th Cir. 1991). · cites it 5× “After exhausting her remedies, she appealed to the district court, claiming that the Administrative Law Judge improperly determined her previous work experience as a sewing machine operator to constitute “past relevant work,” as defined in 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 (1990). Because we…”

Billie J. KNIGHT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Comm'r of Soc. Sec., Defendant-Appellee, 55 F.3d 309 (7th Cir. 1995). · cites it 3× “Knight next submits that, because computers have replaced keypunch machines in the workplace, she is unable to perform her past work as a keypunch operator and thus may bypass step four pursuant to 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1565 (a) and 416.965(a).”

Velma R. SMITH, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Sec'y OF HEALTH & HUMAN Servs., Defendant-Appellee, 893 F.2d 106 (6th Cir. 1989). · cites it 3× “Smith objects, on the grounds of 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 , that work done fifteen years before her insured status expired (on October 1, 1984) cannot be considered past relevant work.”

Verna B. TERRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, M.D., Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., Defendant-Appellee, 903 F.2d 1273 (9th Cir. 1990). · cites it 2× “Thus, while the Secretary can find younger claimants not disabled so long as they can perform unskilled work, see 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 (a), the same is not true of claimants of advanced age (fifty-five or over).”

Villano v. Astrue, 556 F.3d 558 (7th Cir. 2009). “82^41 and 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 (a) is a particular learned abili *564 ty, and “judgment” is too vague to constitute such a skill.”

Shirley J. Vertigan v. William A. Halter, Acting Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 260 F.3d 1044 (9th Cir. 2001). “See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 (a). The burden is on the claimant to prove that she cannot perform past relevant work.”

Kich v. Colvin, 218 F. Supp. 3d 342 (M.D. Penn. 2016). · cites it 2× “Based on all impairments, including the substance use disorder, the claimant is unable to perform past relevant work (20 CFR 404.1565 and 416.965). 7. The claimant was born on June 18, 1958 and was 51 years old, which is defined as an individual closely approaching advanced age,…”

Maryanne Reynolds v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 424 F. App'x 411 (6th Cir. 2011). “See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1565 (a), 416.965(a). Reynolds’ job as a donut froster was unskilled work, and clearly the skills needed to perform that job have not changed — therefore, the “skills and abilities” she acquired there would still be useful upon return.”

Carolyn S. Longworth v. Comm'r Soc. Sec. Admin., 402 F.3d 591 (6th Cir. 2005). “In this case, the administrative law judge determined that Longworth carried her burden of proof through the first four steps and demonstrated that she was “unable to perform any of her past relevant work” pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 . At step five, to prevail, the…”

Terri Anderson v. Michael J. Astrue, 696 F.3d 790 (8th Cir. 2012). “1567; (5) Anderson is capable of performing past relevant work, see 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 ; and (6) Anderson is not “disabled,” for purposes of receiving social security benefits, see 20 C.”

Jones v. Berryhill, 392 F. Supp. 3d 831 (M.D. Tenn. 2019). “The claimant is unable to perform any past relevant work ( 20 CFR 404.1565 ). 7. The claimant was born on August 29, 1977, and was 39 years old, which is defined as a younger individual age 18-49, on the alleged disability onset date ( 20 CFR 404.”

Wilson v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 280 F. App'x 456 (6th Cir. 2008). · cites it 2× “” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565 (a). Wilson argues that her time as a hotel clerk—two months and three weeks—fell seven days short of the three to six months the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (“DOT”) states it takes the average worker to reach average performance as a hotel clerk.”

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— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565(a) — 8 cases

Martel v. SSA, 2013 DNH 157 (D.N.H. 2013).

Granieri v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. (D.N.J. 2021).

Rupp v. Soc. Sec. Admin., Comm'r of (D. Kan. 2021).

Smith v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. (D.N.J. 2024).

Fearon-ceraso v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. (D.N.J. 2022).

— 20 C.F.R. § 404.1565(b) — 1 case

Sanchez v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 270 F. Supp. 2d 218 (D.P.R. 2003).

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