The Social Security Administration recently announced that the agency was reducing the requirement for disability claimants to document Past Relevant Work in making disability determinations.

Beginning June 22, 2024, Past Relevant Work will consist of the past five years of employment compared to the current rule that requires the agency to consider the last 15 years of work history to be considered Past Relevant Work.

The rule change should make applying for disability easier and reduce the requirement for claimants to gather information about a job they may have had many years ago. In a summary of the new rule, Social Security indicated the rule change will also better reflect current evidence about a worker’s skill level and job responsibilities when making disability determination.

“These changes will reduce the burden on individuals applying for disability by allowing them to focus on the most current and relevant information about their past work,” Social Security wrote.

The move is also expected to reduce processing times for disability claims and improve customer service, the agency said.

Currently there are steps in the disability determination process that evaluate a disability claimant’s ability to perform their Past Relevant Work and whether a claimant has acquired job skills from past relevant work that would transfer to other jobs. This new rule will now limit past relevant work to five years instead of 15 and no longer requires a claimant to detail job skills that were obtained over a decade ago, making it more beneficial to the claimant.