Use of the OOH and O*NET Accepted by the Court

The district court reverse and remanded Cymande S. v. Berryhill, 2019 WL 4148351, at *3 (C.D. Cal. May 16, 2019).  The decision is not available on Google Scholar.  No freebies.

This a straight Occupational Outlook Handbook and O*NET OnLine assault on vocational expert testimony mounted at the Appeals Council.  The district court summarized the issue:

Plaintiff also argues that the ALJ could not have reasonably relied on the testimony of the VE given that the VE's figures for a single job exactly matched the OOH reported figures for a category of jobs containing 18 distinct DOT job codes in one instance and 782 distinct DOT job codes in another instance.

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers and weighers (SOC 51-9061) is the occupational group that contains 782 DOT codes.  The OccuCollect.com everything report summary for any of the 782 DOT codes (including nut sorter) states:

There are 782 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report

67 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report are Sedentary

14 are SVP 2

585 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report are Light

3 are SVP 1 132 are SVP 2

117 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report are Medium

17 are SVP 2

13 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report are Heavy

1 are SVP 1 6 are SVP 2

The unskilled occupations make up 173 DOT codes out of the 782 total codes.  The OOH currently describes the occupational group as typically requiring a high school diploma or equivalent, moderate-term on-the-job training, and representing 574,000 jobs.  The OOH glossary defines moderate-term as more than 30 days and up to one year.  The work is typically semi-skilled or skilled.  Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers and weighers are not typically unskilled.  A nut sorter (DOT 521.687-086) cannot represent 574,000 jobs.  

This is one of occupations identified in Biestek v. Berryhill.  The proposition that 120,000 jobs as a nut sorter existing in the national economy ever is laughable.  Justice Gorsuch identified that concept in dissent.  

Cashiers (SOC 41-2011) is the occupational group that contains 18 DOT codes.  The OccuCollect.com everything report summary for any of the 18 DOT codes (including toll collector) states:

There are 18 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report

5 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report are Sedentary

13 DOT title(s) in this DOT-SOC O*NET-SOC Crosswalk Report are Light

6 are SVP 2

The unskilled occupations make up 6 of the 18 total codes.  The OOH currently describes the occupational group as typically requiring no formal educational credential, short-term on-the-job training, and representing 3,648,500 jobs.  Toll collector cannot represent 3.4 million jobs.  

Cymande S. v. Berryhill represents progress is using the OOH combined with the O*NET crosswalk report to demonstrate the fallacy of job numbers.  Other data not mentioned by the court concerned the standing/walking of inspectors and cashiers, the predominant part-time nature of cashier work, as well as unskilled vs. semi-skilled or skilled work as reported by the O*NET (full-time) and ORS (other job characteristics).  Cymande S. v. Berryhill can be your next win if you present the vocational rebuttal to the ALJ or the Appeals Council (where AC evidence matters). 

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SUGGESTED CITATION:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Use of the OOH and O*NET Accepted by the Court, California Social Security Attorney (April 18, 2020)
https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com/2020/04/use-of-ooh-and-onet-accepted-by-court.html

List of DOT Codes in SOC 41-0211, Cashiers

We examined cashiers today.  This is a list of the DOT codes within SOC 41-2011:

DOTCode	DOTTitle	STRENGTH	SVP	GEDR
211.367-010	PAYMASTER OF PURSES	S	6	4
211.462-010	CASHIER II	L	2	3
211.462-014	CASHIER-CHECKER	L	3	3
211.462-018	CASHIER-WRAPPER	L	3	3
211.462-026	CHECK CASHIER	S	3	3
211.462-030	DRIVERS'-CASH CLERK	L	3	3
211.462-034	TELLER	L	3	3
211.462-038	TOLL COLLECTOR	L	2	3
211.467-010	CASHIER, COURTESY BOOTH	L	4	3
211.467-014	MONEY COUNTER	L	3	3
211.467-018	PARIMUTUEL-TICKET CASHIER	L	2	3
211.467-022	PARIMUTUEL-TICKET SELLER	L	2	3
211.467-026	SHEET WRITER	L	2	3
211.467-030	TICKET SELLER	L	2	3
211.482-010	CASHIER, TUBE ROOM	S	3	3
211.482-014	FOOD CHECKER	S	3	3
249.467-010	INFORMATION CLERK-CASHIER	L	5	3
294.567-010	AUCTION CLERK	S	3	2

Cashiers and Changes in O*NET 23.0

Two days ago, we pointed to the release of version 23.0 of the O*NET.  Of the 100 occupations updated in 23.0, just 17 of them have unskilled occupations.  Cashiers is a favorite of vocational experts, so we focus on that today.

In version 22.3, the O*NET listed cashiers as 80% part-time.  Strike that factoid.  Version 23.0 now lists cashiers duration of the work week:

38

Duration of Typical Work Week — Number of hours typically worked in one week.

24    More than 40 hours 28    40 hours 49    Less than 40 hours

Of the 3.4 million cashier jobs, most of them are now listed by the Department of Labor as full-time work.  That is an arrow out of the representative quiver.  

Cashiers are still predominantly light or medium.  Cashiers sit in the sedentary range in just 4% of jobs. 

17

Spend Time Sitting — How much does this job require sitting?

4    Continually or almost continually 0    More than half the time 19    About half the time 11    Less than half the time 65    Never

The vast majority of cashiers do not sit in the upper range of occasional; they stand continually or almost continually in two-thirds of jobs.  

79

Spend Time Standing — How much does this job require standing?

66    Continually or almost continually 2    More than half the time 13    About half the time 19    Less than half the time 0    Never

Cashiers walk to a significant degree in 81% of jobs.  

45

Spend Time Walking and Running — How much does this job require walking and running?

20    Continually or almost continually 19    More than half the time 1    About half the time 41    Less than half the time 19    Never

And cashiers must deal with people, deal with upset people, and work with a team.  

45

Spend Time Walking and Running — How much does this job require walking and running?

20    Continually or almost continually 19    More than half the time 1    About half the time 41    Less than half the time 19    Never

68

Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People — How frequently does the worker have to deal with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous individuals as part of the job requirements?

35    Every day 35    Once a week or more but not every day 7    Once a month or more but not every week 14    Once a year or more but not every month 9    Never

17

Deal With Physically Aggressive People — How frequently does this job require the worker to deal with physical aggression of violent individuals?

0    Every day 9    Once a week or more but not every day 8    Once a month or more but not every week 24    Once a year or more but not every month 59    Never

84

Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?

63    Extremely important 19    Very important 8    Important 10    Fairly important 0    Not important at all

The last piece of data that comes up frequently in hearings is the importance of being exact or accurate.  This comes up in the off-task X% of the day.  

85

Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?

62    Extremely important 17    Very important 21    Important 1    Fairly important 0    Not important at all

Look for Occu Collect to bring the 100 updates over to the three O*NET reports within the next week.