Election Clerk - DOT 205.367-030 - Job Browser Pro is Wrong

Every once in a while, a vocational expert will rely on Job Browser Pro to identify 200,000 election clerk jobs in the national economy.  That is what the 2018 release of JBP says.  JBP is wrong.  Let's start with the definition of the occupation from the DOT. 

205.367-030 ELECTION CLERK (government ser.) alternate titles: poll clerk; returning officer

    Performs any combination of the following duties during elections: Compiles and verifies voter lists from official registration records. Requests identification of voters at polling place. Obtains signatures and records names of voters to prevent voting of unauthorized persons. Distributes ballots to voters and answers questions concerning voting procedure. Counts valid ballots and prepares official reports of election results. 
GOE: 07.04.03 STRENGTH: S GED: R3 M2 L2 SVP: 2 DLU: 77

JBP places the occupation where it belongs in SOC group 43-9061, office clerks, general.  The occupational group contains 74 DOT codes, 41 of which are sedentary with 3 of those unskilled.  Election clerk is one of the unskilled sedentary occupations. 

As the DOT name states, election clerks work in the government service industry.  But in our system of state and federal government, the federal government does not run the elections.  Local governments do.  The correct industry is NAICS 932000 and that is the industry that JBP uses. 

JBP approximates the Occupational Employment Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and its occupation-industry matrix.  JBP lists election clerk as the only general office clerk in the group.  That is because JBP lists 12 other DOT codes as working in government at all levels, NAICS 930000.  Using the industry sector (930000) captures 13 DOT codes.  Using the industry subsector (932000) captures just one, election clerk.  This observation shows that JBP is wrong about election clerk and reflects a lack of consistent application of two, three, and four-digit NAICS codes to the industry assignment.  Blind acceptance of JBP numbers is a mistake, not reliable, and not substantial evidence.  We must prove JBP either reliable or unreliable on a case-by-case basis. 

JBP uses an industry-occupation matrix to index the number of jobs within the intersection of the SOC/OES/O*NET group and the NAICS code.  At that intersection level, JBP uses the illogical equal distribution method of determining the number of jobs attributed to each DOT code.  The Occupational Requirements Survey provides a better alternative -- breaking down the occupational group by skill and exertion. 

Education, Training, And Experience Report

43-9061.00 (office clerks, general)

Series ID: ORUV1000075800000064

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of office clerks, general; svp is short demonstration only

Requirement: Education, Training, And Experience

Occupation: office clerks, general

Estimate: svp is short demonstration only

Year	Period	Estimate
2017	Annual	5.8

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUV1000075800000064

Series ID: ORUV1000075800000065

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of office clerks, general; svp is beyond short demonstration, up to & including 1 month

Requirement: Education, Training, And Experience

Occupation: office clerks, general

Estimate: svp is beyond short demonstration, up to & including 1 month

Year	Period	Estimate
2017	Annual	29.5

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUV1000075800000065

According to the ORS, 35.3% of office clerks, general are unskilled. 

Physical Demands Report

43-9061.00 (office clerks, general)

Series ID: ORUP1000075800000661

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of office clerks, general; strength is sedentary

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: office clerks, general

Estimate: strength is sedentary

Year	Period	Estimate
2017	Annual	32.8

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000075800000661

Series ID: ORUP1000075800000662

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of office clerks, general; strength is light work

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: office clerks, general

Estimate: strength is light work

Year	Period	Estimate
2017	Annual	41

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000075800000662

Series ID: ORUP1000075800000663

Not seasonally adjusted

Series Title: % of office clerks, general; strength is medium work

Requirement: Physical Demands

Occupation: office clerks, general

Estimate: strength is medium work

Year	Period	Estimate
2017	Annual	25.1

https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view/timeseries/ORUP1000075800000663

These observations bring us back to full circle, the definition of the election clerk occupation:  " Performs any combination of the following duties during elections."    Election clerks don't engage in substantial gainful activity; they work one or two days two or three times per year in ordinary predictable circumstances. 

How many election clerks engage in substantial gainful activity?  Probably none.  If election clerks can represent sedentary unskilled work in the government sector (920000), it would be 11.6% of the intersection of office clerks, general and local government.  The BLS-OES report states:

Industry	Employment	Percent of industry employment
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	175,720	3.22

That approximates 20,384 jobs in the national economy as a sedentary office clerk, general in government services industry subsector.  It also means that sedentary unskilled office clerks represent about 344,244 jobs in the nation.  Limitations in complexity, dexterity, manipulation, or sitting more than six hours in a day would erode those job numbers.