Extraschedular unemployability is an important but often misunderstood path for veterans seeking Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). While most veterans are familiar with the standard requirements for unemployability, there is a lesser-known route—extraschedular consideration—that may provide 100% compensation for veterans who are severely limited by service-connected conditions but do not meet the usual percentage thresholds.
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What is Extraschedular Unemployability?
Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) allows the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay veterans at the 100% disability rate if their service-connected conditions prevent them from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment. The standard path to TDIU requires ratings of either a single disability at 60% or more, or a combination of disabilities totaling 70% with one at least at 40%. However, extraschedular unemployability—found under 38 CFR 4.16(b)—offers an exception for those who do not meet these percentage criteria. This option exists to ensure that veterans whose service-connected disabilities are truly disabling are not left without adequate compensation, simply because their ratings do not fit the standard formulas.