THE VOCATIONAL 'EXPERT' AT YOUR DISABILITY HEARING
Why Vocational 'Experts' at Your Disability Hearing Are a Farce.
When you walk into a Social Security disability hearing, there is nearly always a vocational witness called by Social Security to give testimony. These vocational 'experts' are supposed to be neutral, even though they are paid by Social Security. (It's a little like a die hard Auburn fan trying to be neutral at the Alabama-Auburn game. Or an undertaker pretending to be sad at a $20,000 funeral).
The judge will ask the vocational witness two types of questions: (1) to classify your past work with a skill level and an exertion level. Skill levels are unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled. Exertion levels are sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy. (Exertion levels are based primarily on how much lifting, standing and walking the job involves). (2) Are there any jobs in existence in the national, regional or local economy that the claimant can still perform? (If the answer is "Yes," it is a basis for denial of the claim).
The biggest farce about vocational testimony is that it must be based on the outdated Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which was last published in 1991. Most of the jobs described in the DOT are based on data that are 3 or 4 decades old. Imagine how modern technology has changed jobs since 1975 or 1985. There are many jobs listed in the DOT that no longer exist. Many of the jobs that do exist have moved overseas and are no longer performed in the United States.
Second,the DOT does not identify how many jobs exist in the United States. The vocational expert will testify that a certain job is listed in the DOT, then she will say that there are 271,429 of those jobs being performed in the United States. There is no known method for arriving at that estimate (or guess). It's a farce, pure and simple.
The vocational 'expert' may say that her job numbers come from the US Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or the Census. However, I have a letter from the US Department of Labor stating that it does not know of a method to identify how many jobs exist based on any particular Code.
Unfortunately, many administrative law judges will accept this bogus testimony and deny claims based upon it. There are tough questions that the claimant's representative may ask that will demonstrate just what a joke these job numbers are. What impact that has depends on the judge. I think it may have a much greater impact at higher appeal levels--but the questions must be asked.
When you walk into a Social Security disability hearing, there is nearly always a vocational witness called by Social Security to give testimony. These vocational 'experts' are supposed to be neutral, even though they are paid by Social Security. (It's a little like a die hard Auburn fan trying to be neutral at the Alabama-Auburn game. Or an undertaker pretending to be sad at a $20,000 funeral).
The judge will ask the vocational witness two types of questions: (1) to classify your past work with a skill level and an exertion level. Skill levels are unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled. Exertion levels are sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy. (Exertion levels are based primarily on how much lifting, standing and walking the job involves). (2) Are there any jobs in existence in the national, regional or local economy that the claimant can still perform? (If the answer is "Yes," it is a basis for denial of the claim).
The biggest farce about vocational testimony is that it must be based on the outdated Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which was last published in 1991. Most of the jobs described in the DOT are based on data that are 3 or 4 decades old. Imagine how modern technology has changed jobs since 1975 or 1985. There are many jobs listed in the DOT that no longer exist. Many of the jobs that do exist have moved overseas and are no longer performed in the United States.
Second,the DOT does not identify how many jobs exist in the United States. The vocational expert will testify that a certain job is listed in the DOT, then she will say that there are 271,429 of those jobs being performed in the United States. There is no known method for arriving at that estimate (or guess). It's a farce, pure and simple.
The vocational 'expert' may say that her job numbers come from the US Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or the Census. However, I have a letter from the US Department of Labor stating that it does not know of a method to identify how many jobs exist based on any particular Code.
Unfortunately, many administrative law judges will accept this bogus testimony and deny claims based upon it. There are tough questions that the claimant's representative may ask that will demonstrate just what a joke these job numbers are. What impact that has depends on the judge. I think it may have a much greater impact at higher appeal levels--but the questions must be asked.
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