In April 2024, Social Security finalized the proposal which officially changed the past relevant work period which will be considered. This changed the past relevant work period from work performed in the past fifteen years to work performed in the past five years. Additionally, they will not consider any past work that started and stopped within 30 calendar days. These rules will officially go into effect on June 8, 2024. These rules will apply not to any new claims but also to any claims that are still waiting for a determination or final decision.
But why are these changes important? In every case, past relevant work must be classified and considered to see if the claimant has the functional capacity to return to that past work. Prior to the change, in 2024 claims, they were looking at past work all the way back in 2009. Sometimes individuals are unable to remember certain past jobs due to the remote time frame or it may be hard to collect information from a job performed back in 2009 or 2010. Only focusing on past work done in the past 5 years (2019 and on), will help provide more accurate information. Most importantly, these new changes acknowledge that the current workplace is modern and changing quickly – i.e. jobs that you may have done in 2013 likely now require different skills and/or technology in 2024. Overall, it is predicted that these changes are expected to have a positive impact for those individuals applying for disability benefits.
