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Disability NEW Alternate Sitting and Standing Questions for the VE Attacking the Vocational Expert’s Testimony on the Number of Jobs Classifying a Claimant’s Previous Work Experience as Past Relevant Work Cross-Examination on U.S. Publishing Data Cross-Examination of Vocational Expert on Census Data Dealing with Drug Addiction or Alcoholism in Social Security Disability Claims Framework of the Medical-Vocational Guidelines Hearing Questions on Physical Residual Functional Capacity Information Required to Perform a Step-Four Analysis
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Cross-Examination of Vocational Expert Dictionary of Occupation Titles (DOT) is not referenced by U.S. Census codes. by David F. Traver Excerpted from Social Security Disability Advocate’s Handbook
Some purveyors of reports allegedly addressing the
numbers of jobs that might exist in the economy use “Census codes”
instead of Dictionary of Occupational Titles “numbers.” The
Department of Labor does not obtain information about the existence of
jobs based upon “DOT numbers” and instead uses “Census Codes.” Some VE’s still testify that Census codes allegedly
contain data about groups of DOT definitions (see Chapter 14 for a
discussion of DOT data). Surprisingly to some, Census codes currently do not
happen to relate to such information. There no longer is a link between Census
Codes and the DOT that is used by the Census Bureau. The The SOC was revised because it had not been updated since
1980. The revision was long overdue because of changes in the labor force and in
the way economists view the labor force. Once the revision process was started,
the SOC Revision Policy Committee quickly determined that, due to the extent of
the changes being proposed, it was necessary to redesign the entire SOC. Source
— Department of Labor.2 The 2000 Census Bureau’s job codes3 are
different than the codes used in 1990.4 Which census data is the
vocational expert using in your case? Look at a few of the important differences in the codes
and compare to the codes on the report the VE brought to the hearing. Ask the
following questions:
How does your VE explain this inconsistency and how does
your VE know which DOT codes are associated with the 2000 Census Codes? See
SSR 00-4p. (“When vocational evidence provided by a VE or VS is not consistent
with information in the DOT, the adjudicator must resolve this conflict before
relying on the VE or VS evidence to support a determination or decision that the
individual is or is not disabled. The adjudicator will explain in the
determination or decision how he or she resolved the conflict. The adjudicator
must explain the resolution of the conflict irrespective of how the conflict was
identified.”)5 §1505.2 Examples of
Changes in Census Codes From 1990 to 2000 This chart gives a few examples of how the coding system
has changed:
§1505.3 Census
Occupational Data Limitations Only the long form census questionnaire asks about
occupation (one in six households get the long form). See Appendix for
sample form. Two questions are asked. The first identifies the business
or industry. The second question asks for the person’s occupation and what are
the most important duties/activities. The U.S. Census then has employees review the answers and
assign a “census code” to the occupation, as shown above. There are currently about 500 separate census codes. This
system is revised and updated every 10 years. There are no exertional
demands identified. There are no skill levels identified The Census Codes do not reference the Dictionary
of Occupational Titles. Other parties have assigned Dictionary of
Occupational Titles to various 2000 census codes. But these are private
undertakings and are not based upon any empirical review of the work done by the
U.S. Census employees. An example of one of these undertakings is The
Specific Occupation Selector Manual, 4th Ed. (2003), U.S. Publishing, §1505.4 Sample
Cross-Examination of a VE — Census Data Attorney: You testified that there are
45,237 light assembly positions in VE:
True. Attorney: Did you personally go out and count
these jobs? VE:
I did not. Attorney: What is your source of information? VE:
I relied upon Census data. Attorney: Do you know how the Census obtained
those data? VE:
I suppose though the 2000 Census. Attorney: I am handing you the 2000 Census long
form. [See Appendix] Could you please look at this form and tell me where
it contains the type of information that would allow you to provide your answer? VE:
It’s not there. Attorney: Do you have any other information
from the Census Bureau that you could produce here today to that would support
your testimony? VE:
I do not. Attorney: If the ALJ gave you 30 days to
produce such evidence, could you? VE:
I could not. Endnotes 1
www.census.gov/hhes/www/ioindex/faqs.html#Q9. 2
www.census.gov/hhes/www/ioindex/faqs.html#Q9. 3
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/ioindex/occ2000t.pdf. 4
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/cicdoc/cen90app/occup.htm. 5
http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings/di/02/SSR2000-04-di-02.html.
David F. Traver has represented hundreds of claimants at SSA and over 200 claimants in U.S. District Courts. He has bachelor and master degrees in vocational rehabilitation, and is the author of Social Security Disability Advocate’s Handbook, from which this article is excerpted. |
Updated 11/10/09