Tuesday, June 26, 2018

No Teamwork -- A Look at Helpers - Production Workers

The claimant has a limitation to no teamwork.  The vocational expert rolls out the standard list of unskilled jobs.  Simple question:
Q.  Does the Department of Labor publish data that confirms your testimony.
Turns out that DOL does.  In the occupational group of Helpers - Production Workers, we find 12 of the unskilled sedentary occupations; 157 of the light unskilled occupations; and 172 of the medium unskilled occupations.  There are 111 heavy and very heavy unskilled occupations as well.  This is a big occupational base and balance of the 782 occupations in this huge group requires some level of skill.  

Now that we established the importance of this occupational group in the 2,400 unskilled sedentary to medium occupations, we can focus on the incumbent perception of the incidence and importance of working with a team in 341 sedentary, light, and medium unskilled occupations.  Here is what the O*NET says about this group (from OccuCollect):  

Interpersonal Relationships%Response
Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?
28
Extremely important
50
Very important
12
Important
2
Fairly important
8
Not important at all

The O*NET suggests that Helpers - Production Workers work with a team and that it is at least fairly important in 92% of jobs.  If the hypothetical question includes no teamwork or includes an occasional contact with co-workers and supervisors, the O*NET provides a basis for cross-examination.  
Q.  Is your experience less than, equal to, or greater than the survey of incumbents conducted in the collection of O*NET data?
We should check some of the other interpersonal relationship data for this occupational group:

Interpersonal Relationships%Response
Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
39
Constant contact with others
24
Contact with others most of the time
20
Contact with others about half the time
17
Occasional contact with others
0
No contact with others
Coordinate or Lead Others — How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job?
17
Extremely important
16
Very important
39
Important
8
Fairly important
21
Not important at all
Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?
4
Extremely important
15
Very important
13
Important
11
Fairly important
57
Not important at all
Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — How much responsibility is there for the health and safety of others in this job?
20
Very high responsibility
14
High responsibility
50
Moderate responsibility
16
Limited responsibility
0
No responsibility

Helpers - Production Workers not only engage in teamwork in 92% of jobs, they have moderate or greater responsibility for safety of other in 84% of jobs; deal with customers in 43% of jobs; coordinate or lead others in 79% of jobs; and most importantly have more than occasional contact with others in 83% of jobs.  

Here is the OOH report (from OccuCollect):  

Occupational Outlook Handbook Report

Quick Facts: Helpers--production workers
Typical Entry-Level Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Work experience in a related occupation
None
On the job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Number of jobs, 2016
426,000
Employment Projections

While 8% of the number of jobs is a big number, how many of them have the other characteristics contained in the hypothetical question and how do you know that?  Vocational experts are not statisticians.  

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