Claim Raven explanation
What this means
VA considers the actual circumstances of employment when deciding unemployability. Work that was occasional, unsuccessful, or specially accommodated may tell a different story from steady work the veteran could sustain.
The rule discusses static injuries, the history of inability to work, and employment that ended because of disability. It does not treat a past job title or a brief attempt at work as a complete answer about current ability to work.
How this helps your claim
This helps you organize a factual work history for a TDIU review. Explain what happened at work and why it ended, using relevant records rather than broad statements that you simply could not work.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Record job dates, unsuccessful work attempts, and documented reasons employment ended.
- Locate evidence of special consideration or adjustments made because of disability.
- Compare the work history with the medical evidence of service-connected limitations.
Explain what a work attempt involved
A short work attempt may show different facts from sustained employment. Identify the duties, hours, attendance, assistance and reason the attempt ended. Those details help distinguish a disability-related inability to continue from another reason for leaving.
Keep employer statements and medical records tied to the same period. A previous ability to perform a job does not automatically establish current ability, and a failed attempt does not automatically settle every unemployability requirement. The circumstances and the service-connected limitations need to be considered together.
Does any brief period of work disprove unemployability?
Not automatically. The nature and sustainability of the work matter under the applicable provisions. Describe the real arrangement, including accommodations and earnings where relevant, without hiding successful activity or assuming every unsuccessful attempt proves entitlement. The complete history provides the necessary context.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 4.18
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 4.18 Unemployability.
A veteran may be considered as unemployable upon termination of employment which was provided on account of disability, or in which special consideration was given on account of the same, when it is satisfactorily shown that he or she is unable to secure further employment. With amputations, sequelae of fractures and other residuals of traumatism shown to be of static character, a showing of continuous unemployability from date of incurrence, or the date the condition reached the stabilized level, is a general requirement in order to establish the fact that present unemployability is the result of the disability. However, consideration is to be given to the circumstances of employment in individual claims, and, if the employment was only occasional, intermittent, tryout or unsuccessful, or eventually terminated on account of the disability, present unemployability may be attributed to the static disability. Where unemployability for pension previously has been established on the basis of combined service-connected and nonservice-connected disabilities and the service-connected disability or disabilities have increased in severity, § 4.16 is for consideration.
[40 FR 42536, Sept. 15, 1975, as amended at 43 FR 45349, Oct. 2, 1978]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 4.16: TDIU: VA individual unemployability rules
- 38 CFR § 4.1: What a VA disability rating measures
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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