Effective Dates: 06/21/2024 - Present Previous | Next

TN 1 (06-24)

DI 25010.001 Medical-Vocational Profiles

A. Introduction

The medical-vocational profiles set forth in DI 25010.001B, in this section, list combinations of the vocational factors of age, education, and work experience that are so unfavorable that an individual who meets one of them will be deemed to be unable to adjust to other work and therefore will be found disabled at step 5 of the sequential evaluation process.

An individual can only be found disabled based on a medical-vocational profile if we made a finding at step four that they do not have or are unable to perform their past relevant work (PRW). At step five, an adjudicator must consider whether medical-vocational profile applies before using the medical-vocational guidelines in DI 25025.005.

B. Policy Principle

1. Arduous Unskilled Work

The arduous unskilled work profile demonstrates the inability to make an adjustment to other work for an individual who:

  • •

    is not working at SGA level, and

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    has a history of 35 years or more of arduous unskilled work, and

  • •

    can no longer perform this past arduous work because of a severe medically determinable impairment(s) (MDI), and

  • •

    has no more than a marginal education.

NOTE: We use the arduous unskilled work profile for an individual whose work experience includes very short periods of semi-skilled or skilled work, as long as the individual did not acquire any transferable skills from those periods of work. We also use this medical-vocational profile for an individual whose work experience includes longer periods of semi-skilled or skilled work if the skill(s) acquired is not readily transferable to lighter work.

(For the definition of “arduous, see DI 25001.001A.3 ” for the definition of “unskilled DI 25001.001A.86,” and for the definition of “marginal education DI 25001.001A.16.” See DI 24505.000 for a discussion of severe impairment.)

2. No Work

The no work profile demonstrates the inability to make an adjustment to other work for an individual who:

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    has a severe MDI(s), and

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    has no PRW, and

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    is age 55 or older, and

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    has no more than a limited education.

NOTE: Our adjudicators do not need to assess or consider RFC when applying the no work profile. (See DI 24510.006.)

(See DI 25001.001A.60 for the definition of “PRW” and DI 25001.001A.16 for the definition of “limited education.” See DI 24505.000 for a discussion of severe impairment.)

3. Lifetime Commitment

The lifetime commitment profile demonstrates the inability to make an adjustment to other work for an individual who:

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    is not working at SGA level, and

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    has a lifetime commitment (30 years or more) to a field of work that is unskilled, or that is skilled or semi-skilled but provided no transferable skills, and

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    can no longer perform this past work because of a severe MDI(s), and

  • •

    is closely approaching retirement age (age 60 or older), and

  • •

    has no more than a limited education.

(See DI 25001.001A.16 for the definition of “limited education” and DI 24505.000 for a discussion of severe impairment.)

NOTE: For purposes of the lifetime commitment profile, the individual’s 30 years of work do not have to have been at only one job or for only one employer. The jobs must have been in one field of work, meaning that the types of work the individual performed must have been very similar to one another. Use of this medical-vocational profile is appropriate even if the individual has work experience in a field(s) other than the one in which they have a 30-year lifetime commitment, as long as the work experience in the other field(s) is not PRW that the individual is still able to perform considering their RFC.

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0425010001
DI 25010.001 - Medical-Vocational Profiles - 06/21/2024
Batch run: 04/30/2025
Rev:06/21/2024