Functional capacity evaluation in Carmel, Indiana

An FCE is usually requested by someone who needs an objective answer about your physical work ability: a treating physician, a workers’ compensation case manager, an employer, a disability insurer or an attorney. The typical question is whether you can return to your old job, return with restrictions, or need a different kind of work.

FCEs are common near the end of a work injury claim, once treatment has gone as far as it reasonably can, and the report helps set permanent restrictions. They are also used before a return to physically demanding work after a long absence, such as a warehouse or trades job. If you are still early in recovery, regular work injury physical therapy usually comes first, and the FCE happens later.

Many FCE reports classify your lifting ability using the five strength levels defined by the US Department of Labor in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Each level combines how much you can lift and how often: occasionally means up to one third of the workday, frequently means one third to two thirds, and constantly means two thirds or more.

Your report compares the level you demonstrated with the level your job requires. A job rated medium with a tested light capacity, for example, points toward restrictions or further conditioning, which some people address through a structured strengthening program afterward.

• Sedentary: up to 10 pounds occasionally, mostly sitting
• Light: up to 20 pounds occasionally and up to 10 pounds frequently
• Medium: 20 to 50 pounds occasionally and 10 to 25 pounds frequently
• Heavy: 50 to 100 pounds occasionally and 25 to 50 pounds frequently
• Very heavy: over 100 pounds occasionally and over 50 pounds frequently

Once testing is complete, the evaluator writes a report that summarizes the strength level you demonstrated, how long you tolerated sitting, standing and walking, which positions were limited, and how consistent your effort was across repeated tests. It usually ends with recommendations, such as returning to full duty, returning with specific restrictions, or further conditioning first.

The report goes to whoever requested it, and decisions are then made by your physician, employer, case manager or insurer rather than by the evaluator. If the recommendation is more conditioning, some people move into a structured, job-focused strengthening program that rebuilds lifting and endurance step by step.

If you disagree with the findings, talk first with your treating physician, and in a claim with your case manager or attorney. Keep your own copy of the report and a note of anything on the day, such as a flare of pain, that you think affected the results.