Do not consider past work at step four unless it is relevant. Past work is relevant if it meets all four relevancy requirements listed below.

The work must have:

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  been performed within the relevant period (recency);

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  not started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days (30 calendar days);

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  lasted long enough for the claimant to learn to do it (long enough to learn); and

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  been substantial gainful activity (SGA).

See DI 25001.001A.65 of the “Medical-Vocational Quick Reference Guide” for additional information about the relevant work period.

Generally, to be relevant, the claimant’s past work must have been performed within the five years prior to the date of adjudication (the date of the determination or decision at any level of review). However, for some Title II claims, the relevant period may end prior to the date of adjudication. See DI 25001.001A.65 for instructions on how to determine the relevant period for different types of claims.

NOTE: When determining the relevant period for a concurrent Title II or Title II and Title XVI claim, the relevant periods and the step four determinations for each claim may differ if the Title II relevant period ended prior to adjudication.

When determining whether work is within the relevant period, consider the relevant period to begin five years prior to its ending date (e.g., if the relevant period ended 12/20/2024, it began on 12/21/2019).

IMPORTANT: When establishing onset of disability, do not consider the date on which work was no longer relevant.

EXAMPLE: A 60-year-old claimant with a high school education filed a DIB claim alleging onset on 1/1/2020. The claimant performed an SGA-level, unskilled job from 12/1/2013 to 10/30/2018. The physical and mental requirements of this work are within the claimant’s RFC. All of their other work required greater lifting and carrying than their RFC allowed. The date of adjudication is 7/10/2024 and the claimant has a future DLI of 12/31/2025. The claimant has a prior denial dated 7/7/2021 for ability to perform the past relevant work (PRW) they performed 12/1/2013 to 10/30/2018.

Summary of case facts:

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  Potential onset date (POD): 1/1/2020

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  Date Last Insured (DLI): 12/31/2025

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  Prior finding: Able to perform PRW performed from 12/1/2013 to 10/30/2018

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  Current claim adjudication date: 7/10/2024

Based on an adjudication date of 7/10/2024 and future DLI of 12/31/2025, the relevant period in the current claim is 7/10/2019 to 7/9/2024, the five years prior to the date of adjudication. The job that is within the claimant’s RFC would not be within the relevant period because the work ended 10/30/2018, more than five years prior to the 7/10/2024 date of adjudication. Therefore, the claimant had no PRW within their RFC at the time of adjudication.

The adjudicator proceeded to step five of sequential evaluation. An allowance was appropriate based on the medical-vocational rules. The claimant met the disability requirements as of the claimant’s POD; however, it was not possible to reopen the prior denial determination of 7/7/2021 because the DDS appropriately denied the claim based on an ability to perform PRW. The adjudicator awarded an established onset date as of 1/1/2020, setting onset in the prior period under the change of position (CoP) policy provisions. When we establish onset, we do not consider the date past work was no longer relevant. Although the prior denial could not be reopened under the one-year rule, it is appropriate to establish onset in the prior period (see DI 27505.020).

IMPORTANT: If any portion of the period when the claimant performed past work extends into the relevant five-year period, the work is in the relevant period. If it meets the other criteria for PRW, consider it at step four of the sequential evaluation.

EXAMPLE: The claimant worked as a cashier from 1/20/2006 to 12/10/2020. If the DDS adjudicates the case on 1/20/2025 and the claimant has a future DLI, the claimant’s cashier work is within the relevant period because a portion of the period of performance is within the five-year period prior to the 1/20/2025 adjudication date.

When we consider PRW and work experience, “30 calendar days” means a period of 30 consecutive days, including weekends, starting from the first day of work. When we consider whether work lasted 30 calendar days, we do not consider the total number of hours or days worked during that period, or whether the work was full-time or part-time. The 30-day-minimum requirement is separate from the consideration of SGA or whether the claimant worked long enough to learn how to do the work, although the 30 calendar days may count toward the time needed for the claimant to learn to do the work. If the claimant was self-employed or an independent contractor, we will consider whether the claimant was engaged in the same type of work for 30 calendar days, even if individual work assignments or contracts each lasted fewer than 30 calendar days.

EXAMPLE: On 3/1/2023, the claimant began working a job that requires only a brief demonstration to learn. The claimant’s last day of work was 3/30/2023. The claimant worked at the job for 30 days because they started work on March 1, 2023, and their last day of work was on March 30, 2023. In this situation, the job would qualify as PRW if it was performed at the SGA level and during the five-year relevant work period.

EXAMPLE: On 2/1/2023, a claimant began working a job that requires only a brief demonstration to learn. The claimant’s last day of work was 2/28/2023. Although the claimant held the job long enough to learn to do it, the work started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days. In this situation, the job would not qualify as PRW, even if it was performed at the SGA level and during the five-year relevant work period.

EXAMPLE: If a claimant completed 20 different shopping trips for a grocery delivery service in a 30 calendar day period, we would still require the claimant to report that work experience as a single “gig” delivery job, because the claimant did the same job for the 30 calendar days. This is true even though each individual shopping trip started and stopped within the 30 calendar days period.

Find that work lasted long enough for the claimant to learn the job if they learned the techniques, acquired information, and developed the facility needed for average performance of the job. The length of time this would take depends on the nature and complexity of the work.

Consider the history the claimant provides when determining whether they did the work long enough to learn the job.

Use specific vocational preparation (SVP) information only as a guideline to help determine how long it would generally take to learn a particular job. SVP may not accurately reflect the requirements of the job as the claimant performed it. If the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) indicates a high SVP level for a particular job, consider the length of time the claimant did the job and the claimant’s education when determining whether the work lasted long enough to be relevant. See DI 25001.001A.77 for additional information on evaluating SVP levels.

If the claimant performed work that had a continuity of skills, knowledge, and work processes with another job, consider that work when determining whether the claimant did the work long enough to learn it, even if the work was outside the relevant period.

EXAMPLE: The claimant worked from 1/2/2008 to 12/20/2019 as a machinist. Beginning 12/21/2019, they became a lead machinist. They did this job until 2/1/2021. The adjudication date for the claim was 1/1/2025, at which time the claimant’s machinist job was no longer relevant. However, their lead machinist job was still in the relevant period. Although a little over one year may not have been long enough to learn the job of lead machinist, there was a continuity of skills from the claimant’s previous work such that they may have done their lead machinist work long enough to have learned the job.

Although primary responsibility for development of work activity that affects the potential onset date (POD) lies with the field office (FO), the Disability Determination Services (DDS) will need to determine whether work before onset was SGA to determine whether past work is relevant. In most cases, the DDS can determine whether past work performed as an employee was SGA without contacting the FO and can document that determination with a brief statement in the rationale. In other cases involving complex SGA issues, such as subsidies or self-employment work material to the disability determination, the DDS must contact the FO for assistance (though in many cases, using the Expedited Vocational Assessment at steps four and five will make it unnecessary to determine whether work performed before the POD qualifies as PRW).

For more information about the expedited vocational assessment, see DI 25005.005; and for SGA issues involving subsidies or self-employment, see DI 25005.015E.2.a., in this section

For more information about special development situations in the FO, see DI 10501.020; for SGA criteria in self-employment, see DI 10510.010.

NOTE: The instructions in DI 24001.005A Work Activity Development Responsibilities and DI 10505.003B.1.b Evaluating and Developing Earnings that Clearly Are or Are Not Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) apply to developing work activity that might affect the POD. Those instructions do NOT apply to determining whether past work met the SGA requirement for relevancy purposes. Again, the DDS has primary responsibility for making such determinations.

Do not consider the following types of work relevant:

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  Volunteer work (meaning the claimant did not receive any pay or in-kind support for the work),

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  Work that meets the requirements for an unsuccessful work attempt (see DI 24005.001 Unsuccessful Work Attempt (UWA));

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  Illegal work (work that was criminal activity), even if it resulted in SGA-level earnings;

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  When adjudicating a continuing disability review (CDR) case, work in the current period of disability (see DI 28005.015 CDR Evaluation Process—Step-by-Step Discussion); or

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  Work in a previous period of disability, if the claimant is applying for expedited reinstatement (see DI 28057.015 Medical Determination Criteria).

NOTE: Work performed during a previous period of disability, even work performed under TWP, EPE, or 1619 provisions could be relevant work for a new application, but would not be relevant in an expedited reinstatement determination.

Decide whether any of the following types of work are relevant by determining whether the work was in the relevant period, whether the work was at SGA level, whether the work started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days, and whether the claimant did it long enough to learn it:

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  Part-time work,

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  Seasonal work,

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  Work performed in a foreign country, or

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  Work in a previous period of disability, unless the claimant is applying for expedited reinstatement.

NOTE: If the claimant is filing a new claim and applying for expedited reinstatement, the work in the previous period of disability may be relevant for the new claim but will not be relevant for the expedited reinstatement claim.