by T.J. Wolfe

Created on: April 16, 2009   Last Updated: April 17, 2009

The Department of Veteran's Affairs has a disability benefit called Individual Unemployability. The Individual Unemployability benefit addresses the Department of Veteran's Affairs policy to rate all veterans as 100% disable if they are unable to obtain gainful employment due to service connected injuries. The following information explains the Individual Unemployability benefit.

Because Individual Unemployability is based on a scheduler rating, applying for Individual Unemployability will happen some time after completing the process for VA disability compensation.

The VA disability compensation benefit is the standard disability compensation package offered to all veterans who received service related injuries. The veteran must complete the VA disability compensation process to obtain any disability compensation from the Department of Veteran Affairs. The process can take more than a year. The end result of the VA disability compensation process is a scheduler rating.

The scheduler rating is the percentage disability assigned by the VA. The Department of Veteran's Affairs has guidelines to rate injuries received during service. The scheduler rating, sometimes called combined rating, identifies the veteran's total percent disability assigned by the VA. Monthly compensation is based on the scheduler rating.

Over time, the severity of injuries received during service can increase. The severity can increase to the point where the veteran is no longer able to obtain gainful employment in their trained field. In addition, the veteran's scheduler rating is less than 100%.

As the policy states, the Department of Veteran's Affairs will rate all veterans at 100% disabled and pay at the 100% scheduler rate if the veteran is unable to obtain gainful employment.

The Department of Veteran's Affairs implemented their policy through the Individual Unemployability benefit. A veteran can apply for Individual Unemployability if they meet one of the following three qualifications:

1. The veteran has a scheduler rating of 60% or higher for one service connected disability.
2. The veteran can have two or more disabilities. One disability must have a 40% or higher scheduler rating. The combined total scheduler rating must be 70% or higher.
3. There is the "Extra-Scheduler" condition for those veterans who are unable to meet either of the percentages listed above and are unable to work due to a service related disability.

The Individual Unemployability benefit is not the same as a 100% Scheduler

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