Vocational Expert Handbook Video Presentation -- Sedentary Work ID'd -- The O*NET and Interaction with Others

This is part 3 of the analysis of the vocational testimony. The March 2023 version of the Social Security Vocational Expert Handbook is out. Vocational Expert Handbook (SSA Mar. 2023). A video, not found on the SSA channel on YouTube.com, explains the Handbook. The mock hearing in the middle of it all provides an example of good testimony that shocks the conscience.  

HYPO: Assume a hypothetical individual with the claimant's age, education, and past work experience is able to perform sedentary work as defined in the regulations; can perform simple routine tasks; can make simple work-related decisions; and can occasionally interact with supervisors and coworkers, and never interact with the public. Could the hypothetical individual perform any work, and, if so, could you provide me with a few examples?

Document preparer: DOT code 249.587-018; sedentary, unskilled at SVP 2 with 30,000 jobs nationally.

Addresser: DOT code 209.587-010, sedentary, SVP 2, 25,000 jobs nationally.

And cutter-and-paster: DOT code 249.587-014, sedentary, SVP 2, with 10,000 jobs nationally. 

Let me see if I have this right: three clerical jobs in an office setting have no more than occasional interaction with other people, none of whom are members of the public? That cannot be right, ever. 

The O*NET OnLine gathers data from three sources: (1) incumbents; (2) analysts; and occupational experts. General office clerks (SOC 43-9061) contains 74 DOT codes, 99 alternate titles, and both document preparer and cutter-and-paster. The O*NET data last updated in 2018 comes from incumbent responses, how people performing the work view their job duties.

The category is contact with others. ALJs will say, "I said interact, not contact." The O*NET defines 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?

The parenthetical examples are not mere proximity but interactive in nature. Merriam-Webster defines contact as a relationship association, communication connection, and as a go-between. Contact is not mere proximity as the word is used in the O*NET nor as an agreed upon definition in American English. 

General office clerks have contact with others:

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?	82	Constant contact with others
	14	Contact with others most of the time
	2	Contact with others about half the time
	0	Occasional contact with others
	2	No contact with others

General office clerks engage in work with a group or team:

Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?	64	Extremely important
	24	Very important
	7	Important
	2	Fairly important
	2	Not important at all

And general office clerks deal with the public:

Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?	65	Extremely important
	14	Very important
	13	Important
	2	Fairly important
	6	Not important at all

Word processors or typists (SOC 43-9022) (the occupational group containing addresser) has similar data:

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?	69	Constant contact with others
	31	Contact with others most of the time
	0	Contact with others about half the time
	0	Occasional contact with others
	0	No contact with others

Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?	49	Extremely important
	19	Very important
	20	Important
	12	Fairly important
	0	Not important at all

Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?	64	Extremely important
	19	Very important
	17	Important
	0	Fairly important
	0	Not important at all

Very few general office clerks have occasional contact with others, do not engage in teamwork, and/oir do not deal with external customers. No word processors or typists have any of those characteristics. 

Agency policy confirms what the O*NET says as a matter of published administrative notice. POMS DI 25020.010 sec. B.3g. says:

3. Mental Abilities Critical For Performing Unskilled Work

The claimant/beneficiary must show the ability to:

g. work in coordination with or proximity to others without being (unduly) distracted by them.   

When the O*NET describes these two occupational groups as having the bona fide occupational qualification (the expected tolerances if not the essential functions) of work, the O*NET provides the date for the Commissioner's published observation. What kind of work does not require working with a group or team? More likely, but not necessarily, semi-skilled and skilled work:

4. Mental Abilities Needed to Do Semiskilled and Skilled Work

b.  Often, there is an increasing requirement for understanding and memory and for concentration and persistence, e.g.: the ability to:

• set realistic goals or make plans independently of others.

People engaged in skilled and semi-skilled work are more likely to have work duties and do not require coordination and teamwork as compared to unskilled work. 

Commonsense tells us that clerical work is not performed with occasional interactions with others. The Commissioner knows this. The O*NET confirms commonsense and POMS (administrative notice). 

Now for something extra for no extra charge. Word processors and typists are a rapidly shrinking occupational group. It is faster for me to type than to handwrite. Dictation is a lost art. The number of clerk typists has plummeted in the last 35 years. In 1997, BLS counted typists including word processors as representing 404,570 jobs. The 2021 OOH tallies up word processors and typists at a paltry 46,100 jobs. The 2022 OEWS estimates 41,990. So please humble vocational witness, explain to me how more than half of the currently existing word processors and typists simply affix labels to outgoing mail. 

Asking for a friend. 

___________________________

Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Vocational Expert Handbook Video Presentation -- Sedentary Work ID'd -- The O*NET and Interaction with Others, California Social Security Attorney (September 6, 2023) https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com

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