Sedentary work that does not exceed six hours of sitting in an eight-hour day represents a small window. The DOT and the regulations define sedentary work as involving standing or walking not more than occasionally, 2.3 hours. Sedentary work as depicted by a residual functional capacity question with a lower limit of 5.7 hours an upper limit of 6.0 hours constitutes a slender reed.
Understanding sedentary work rests on the difference between and and or. Light work exists (1) when it requires walking or standing to a significant degree; OR (2) when it requires sitting most of the time but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; AND/OR (3) when the job requires working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible.
Sedentary work exists when the work (1) when it does not require walking or standing to a significant degree; AND (2) when it requires sitting most of the time and does not involve pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; AND (3) when the job requires working at a production rate pace but does not entail the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible. Transgressing the standing/walking, lifting/carrying, pushing/pulling with the arms or legs, or production rate pace strips away any hope for that sedentary label.
The cadre of vocational experts rely on 16 different DOT codes in the sedentary range. Ignoring obsolescence and industry, the question is whether the occupations are unskilled, sedentary, and do not exceed 6.0 hours of sitting in a full-time workday.
7. Egg Processor
8. Final Assembler
Egg processor and final assembler belong to the same occupational group, Production Workers, All Other (SOC 51-9199). Production workers represent about 200,000 jobs in the national economy. Production workers contains 1,590 DOT codes, 52 sedentary and unskilled. This group contains 405 light unskilled DOT codes. The plurality of the unskilled occupational base for sedentary and light work are right here.
The O*NET OnLine does not address occupational groups ending in "9" except in detailed groups representing a subset of the SOC code. The ETA does not provide data useful for analyzing these sedentary unskilled occupations.
The Occupational Requirements Survey does provide useful data to analyze production workers. We first look at skill level. The 2021 ORS does not provide a Specific Vocational Preparation data field for production workers. The 2020 ORS did provide data, but BLS no longer posts that set. The 2018 ORS provided data and BLS posts that data. According to the 2018 ORS data set for production workers, 53% of jobs represent unskilled work. The number of unskilled production workers is less than 100,000.
The 2021 ORS describes production workers as engage in medium work in 85.1% of jobs. The 2018 data set describes production workers as engaged in medium work in 63.9% of jobs. The number of light and sedentary unskilled production workers is less than 45,000 and possibly less than 15,000. Here is the 2021 OccuCollect calculator:
| Strength Calculations | |||
| Strength Type | Value | Jobs | Calculation |
| Medium Work | 85.1% | 203,600 | 173,264 |
The 2021 ORS reports that production workers stand (including walk) 90% of the workday at the 10th percentile and 100% of the workday at the 25th to 90th percentiles. The 2021 data set reports 6 hours of standing at the 10th percentile reflecting that some of the jobs do not represent full-time work. The OccuCollect calculator reports:
| Standing is Required Calculations | |||
| % Of Day | Percentile | Jobs | Calculation |
| <= 96% | Mean | 203,600 | Not Applicable |
| <= 90% | 10th | 203,600 | 20,360 |
| <= 100% | 25th | 203,600 | 50,900 |
| <= 100% | 50th | 203,600 | 101,800 |
| <= 100% | 75th | 203,600 | 152,700 |
| <= 100% | 90th | 203,600 | 183,240 |
The 2018 ORS provides similar conclusions. Production workers stand/walk 87.5% of the workday at the 25 percentile, 99'% of the day at the 50th percentile, and 100% of the workday at the 75th and 90th percentiles.
How many sedentary unskilled production workers in 52 DOT codes and numerous alternate titles? Even if we assume that sedentary work is not more likely to be skilled rather than unskilled, the percentage of production workers engaged in sedentary unskilled work is less than 10%. The data sets do not provide a basis for estimating the percentages. We can confidently conclude that egg processor, final assembler, and the other 50 DOT codes in the aggregate represent fewer than 4,500 jobs and probably fewer than 1,500 jobs. To drill down and peer into the number of jobs in the specific occupation, use the NAICS codes.
There is no statistical basis for estimating the existence of sedentary unskilled work on the 2021 or 2018 ORS data sets for production workers, all other. Any statement of probability or certitude that significant numbers of jobs exist in these 52 occupations, as Justice Gorsuch said in Biestek, may have come out of a hat.
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Suggested Citation:
Lawrence Rohlfing, Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Egg Processor; Final Assembler, California Social Security Attorney (December 23, 2021) https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com
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