Friday, December 31, 2021

Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Lens Block Gauger; Table Worker; Touch-Up Screener

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.  

9.  Lens Block Gauger 
10.  Table Worker
11.  Touch-Up Screener

Lens block gauger, table worker, and touch-up screener belongs to the occupational group Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers (SOC 51-9061) (inspectors).  Inspectors represent about 550,000 jobs in the national economy.  Inspectors contains 782 DOT codes, 14 sedentary and unskilled.  This group contains 135 light unskilled DOT codes.  The significant segment of the unskilled occupational base for sedentary and light work are right here.    

The O*NET Resource Center describes the three component of SVP: on-the-job training, related work experience, and required level of education separately.  

On-the-Job Training
DurationValue
None or short demonstration0%
Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month22.61%

Related Work Experience
DurationValue
None43.9%
Up to and including 1 month0%

Required Level of Education
Education LevelValue
Less than a High School Diploma0%
High School Diploma or the equivalent69.81%

Using the O*NET Resource Center, incumbent data suggests that 23% of the jobs are unskilled.

The ORS data corresponds with the OTJ information from the O*NET Resource Center, about 18% of inspector jobs represent unskilled work.  The OccuCollect calculator uses the Occupational Outlook Handbook numbers, about 100,980 unskilled inspector jobs at all exertion levels.  

The next step in estimating the number of unskilled sedentary inspector jobs is to tease that conclusion from the data.  We start again with the O*NET OnLine:

Exertional%Response

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

0

Continually or almost continually

14

More than half the time

25

About half the time

44

Less than half the time

17

Never


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

41

Continually or almost continually

7

More than half the time

44

About half the time

8

Less than half the time

0

Never


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

35

Continually or almost continually

18

More than half the time

12

About half the time

35

Less than half the time

1

Never


The O*NET suggests that there are no sedentary inspector jobs in the national economy.  We check that conclusion against the ORS:

Sitting is Required 

% Of Day

Percentile

<= 39.2%

Mean

<= -%

10th

<= 15%

25th

<= 25%

50th

<= 75%

75th

<= 90%

90th


Strength 

Strength Type

Value

Sedentary

10.4%

Light Work

48.6%

Medium Work

30%


The sitting alone would allow an inference of 25% or more sedentary inspector jobs.  The specific statement reduces that percentage to 10%.  This means that there are 15% or more of inspector jobs that are sit down and light or greater in exertion.  

Treating skill and exertion as independent variables, about 10,100 inspector jobs could qualify as unskilled sedentary work in 14 different DOT codes.  The jobs most likely to qualify as sedentary require sitting 90% of the workday.  It is unlikely that any of these jobs permit sitting not more than six hours in an eight-hour day based on that measure.  

The ORS reports that inspectors have a choice of sitting or standing during the workday in 36% of jobs.  The ORS reports that 55% of inspectors have the ability to pause work.    Over 96% of inspectors work at either a fast pace or a varying work pace.  Whether any of these occupations would represent a sedentary work environment with a sit-stand option as opposed to sitting down during light and medium work would require a formal job analysis of a statistically relevant sample of those jobs.  

Without that statistical analysis, the best informed inference would treat the presence of sedentary and the choice of sitting or standing as independent variables.  That would put an estimate of around 4,000 jobs in 14 DOT codes.  There is no basis for dividing the choice of when to perform duties that require standing/walking from a true unaccommodated choice of sitting or standing at the workstation.  Estimating the number of jobs with a workstation sit-stand option is a probably pulled out of a hat.  


___________________________

Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Lens Block Gauger; Table Worker; Touch-Up Screener, California Social Security Attorney (December 31, 2021)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com   


Thursday, December 23, 2021

Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Egg Processor; Final Assembler

 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 TypeValueJobsCalculation
Medium Work85.1%203,600173,264

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 DayPercentileJobsCalculation
<= 96%Mean203,600Not Applicable
<= 90%10th203,60020,360
<= 100%25th203,60050,900
<= 100%50th203,600101,800
<= 100%75th203,600152,700
<= 100%90th203,600183,240

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.  

___________________________

Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Egg Processor; Final Assembler, California Social Security Attorney (December 23, 2021)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com




Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Cutter-and-Paster, Press Clippings; Document Preparer, Microfilming

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.  

6. Cutter-and-Paster, Press Clippings
7. Document Preparer, Microfilming

Cutter-and-paster, press clippings and document preparer, microfilming belong to the same occupational group, Office Clerks, General (SOC 43-9061).  General office clerks represent about 2.9 million jobs in the national economy.  General office clerks contains 74 DOT codes, 11 of which are unskilled.  We have long railed against and rejected the use of equal distribution.  The skill level required is the first challenge.  

The O*NET Resource Center describes the three component of SVP: on-the-job training, related work experience, and required level of education separately.  

On-the-Job Training
DurationValue
None or short demonstration4.85%
Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month27.91%

Related Work Experience
DurationValue
None7.72%
Up to and including 1 month1.14%

Required Level of Education
Education LevelValue
Less than a High School Diploma1.5%
High School Diploma or the equivalent40.59%

If OTJ were the end all and be all of SVP, we would think that 32% of general office clerks are unskilled.  But work experience counts.  Related work experience of one month or less applies in 9% of jobs.  Using the O*NET Resource Center, incumbent data suggests that 9% of the jobs are unskilled.  

The Occupational Requirements Survey rolls the data into a composite.  

SVP Calculations
SVPValueJobsCalculation
SVP 12.7%2,933,90079,215
SVP 228.4%2,933,900833,228

The ORS data corresponds with the OTJ information from the O*NET Resource Center, about 31% of the jobs represent unskilled work.  The O*NET Resource Center reports that the information for general office clerks comes form incumbent surveys.  The OccuCollect calculator uses the Occupational Outlook Handbook numbers, about 900,000 unskilled general office clerk jobs at all exertion levels.  

The next step in estimating the number of unskilled sedentary general office clerk jobs is to tease that conclusion from the data.  We start again with the O*NET OnLine:

Exertional%Response

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

60

Continually or almost continually

25

More than half the time

7

About half the time

8

Less than half the time


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

1

Continually or almost continually

7

More than half the time

12

About half the time

72

Less than half the time

9

Never


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

4

Continually or almost continually

14

More than half the time

14

About half the time

32

Less than half the time

36

Never


Because the definition of sedentary includes a standing/walking duration element, we can confidently state that the O*NET permits the inference that at least 60% of the jobs require sedentary exertion.  We compare that incumbent-based conclusion to the employer-based data from the ORS.  BLS reports exertion categories for some occupations and provides that data here:

Strength Calculations
Strength TypeValueJobsCalculation
Sedentary79.4%2,933,9002,329,517
Light Work17.1%2,933,900501,697
Medium Work3.1%2,933,90090,951

Using the ORS classification, the number of unskilled sedentary jobs is around 720,000.  

We must also exclude part-time work from the calculation.  The O*NET provides that answer:

Duration of Typical Work Week Calculations
HoursValueJobsCalculation
Less Than 40 Hours25.6%2,933,900751,078
40 Hours59.1%2,933,9001,733,935
More Than 40 Hours15.1%2,933,900443,019

A quarter of the jobs do not qualify at step five of the sequential evaluation process, the existence of other work.  The results in the estimate of 540,000 full-time unskilled sedentary jobs as a general office clerk.  

We now turn to sitting less than or equal to six hours in an eight-hour day.  The O*NET does not provide the granular data to make that assessment.  We use the ORS.  

Sitting is Required Calculations
% Of DayPercentileJobsCalculation
<= 86.3%Mean2,933,900Not Applicable
<= 70%10th2,933,900293,390
<= 80%25th2,933,900733,475
<= 90%50th2,933,9001,466,950
<= 95%75th2,933,9002,200,425
<= 100%90th2,933,9002,640,510

The 10th percentile would violate a two-hour limit on standing and walking even though it does not violate the definition of sedentary work (up to a third of the workday, 33.3%).  The 25th percentile requires more sitting than a six-hour limit would permit (75% of an eight-hour day).  None of the jobs would permit a strict six hours sitting, two hours standing work environment.  We must examine worker choice.  

Sitting/Standing Calculations
Sitting/Standing At WillValueJobsCalculation
choice of sitting or standing is allowed91.1%2,933,9002,672,783
choice of sitting or standing is not allowed8.9%2,933,900261,117

The ORS does report a choice of sitting or standing is allowed in 91.1% of jobs.  The 2020 Collections Manual describes the choice:
This element captures jobs that have the ability to choose or control how and when they respond to external factors. When collecting for this element, consult the job’s documented task list to determine whether any of the critical tasks assigned would prevent the ability to sit/stand at will. 

The ORS instructs:

The ability to alternate between Sitting/Standing at Will is present when the following conditions exist:
• Workers typically have the flexibility to choose between sitting and standing throughout the day and
• There is no assigned time during the day to sit or stand and
• No external factors determine whether an employee must sit or stand.

Through the 75th percentile, general office clerks stand/walk some of the day.  A worker that has flexibility to choose when to engage in the activities has a "choice of sitting or standing" during the workday.  The presence of choice or at will sitting/standing in the ORS data does not mean that the person can assume any posture they choose.  The presence of choice or at will sitting/standing allow the worker to divide up the day as they choose but does not alter the amount of sitting or standing required to perform the job.  

The ORS also codes sitting where:

Workers may choose between sitting and standing for a given task. For example, office workers can choose a standing desk.

A standing desk may represent an accommodation and therefore irrelevant for Social Security purposes.  SSR 00-1c.  The ORS instructs employers to assess the performance of critical tasks without accommodation, how most workers perform the job.  The example of a standing desk would apply if workers typically have a standing desk at the workstation without asking for one.  

The ORS excludes "incidental tasks" from the assessment of work requirements.  The fourth example provided by the ORS to code choice or at will describes an office clerk that can choose when to file and typically stands while filing invoices.  The ORS instructs employers to code that occupation as "At Will is Yes" because the organization of the worker's day is "Worker's Choice."  

How many cutter-and-paster, press clippings and document preparer, microfilming jobs exist where standing/walking does not exceed two hours and sitting does not exceed six hours?  None.  

This is a logical conclusion.  Most work environments outside of production work require flexibility.  While a worker might have to stand/walk for two hours on day one, that fact does not suggest that the worker stands/walks two hours a day, every day.  A data set of one is meaningless.  It could represent the statistical average, median, or the data point three standard deviations from the mean.  The data published by Labor in general and BLS in particular is incompatible with general office clerks standing/walking exactly two hours and sitting exactly six hours every day of every week, month after month.  

___________________________

Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Cutter-and-Paster, Press Clippings; Document Preparer, Microfilming, California Social Security Attorney (December 20, 2021)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com   





 

Friday, December 17, 2021

Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Charge-Account Clerk

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.  

4.  Charge-Account Clerk (DOT 205.367-014)

Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan (SOC 43-4111) represents about 180,000 jobs in seven DOT codes.  The ORS reports SVP 2 or less in 17.7% of jobs.  The ORS reports sitting 90% of the workday at the median but 76.2% of the workday at the mean.  The ORS does not give data for the 25th or 10th percentiles.  Less than half the jobs have a sitting requirement of 6.0 hours or less.  

The ORS does report a choice of sitting or standing is allowed in 67.1% of jobs.  The 2020 Collections Manual describes the choice:
This element captures jobs that have the ability to choose or control how and when they respond to external factors. When collecting for this element, consult the job’s documented task list to determine whether any of the critical tasks assigned would prevent the ability to sit/stand at will. 

 The ORS Collections Manual also codes sitting where:

Workers may choose between sitting and standing for a given task. For example, office workers can choose a standing desk.

A standing desk may represent an accommodation and therefore irrelevant for Social Security purposes.  SSR 00-1c.  

The O*NET OnLine provides support for the ORS data and conclusions.  

Exertional

%

Response

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

75

Continually or almost continually

8

More than half the time

16

About half the time

0

Less than half the time

0

Never

 

 

 

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

0

Continually or almost continually

0

More than half the time

4

About half the time

73

Less than half the time

23

Never

 

 

 

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

0

Continually or almost continually

0

More than half the time

10

About half the time

79

Less than half the time

11

Never

According to the O*NET, at least 11% of jobs have no weightbearing, they sit all day.  About 16% of jobs cannot be classified as sedentary because they do not sit more than frequently during the workday.  This data is consistent with the observation with the ORS that at least half of interviewers sit in excess of 6 hours in a workday.  With only 17.7% of jobs representing unskilled work representing less than 32,000 jobs, the number of unskilled sedentary interviewers is less than 15,000.  


___________________________

Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Charge-Account Clerk, California Social Security Attorney (December 17, 2021)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com