Is the claimant capable of performing other work? Do jobs exist in significant numbers within the claimant’s residual functional capacity given his age, education, and work experience?
This issue emerges in every case where the Medical-Vocational Guidelines do not direct a conclusion that the claimant is or is not disabled. For the Medical-Vocational Guidelines to be used, a claimant’s RFC, education and work experience must coincide with the criteria of one of the rules in the Guidelines. Where there is no close fit between a claimant’s abilities and the Medical-Vocational Guidelines, the Guidelines are still a framework used to determine how the claimant’s remaining occupational base with the other factors affecting your client’s ability to perform sustained employment for any job available in the national economy. See Section 348.
