Do job titles like “motion picture projectionist”, "paperhanger”, “almond blancher” and "canary breeder” sound hopelessly antiquated? If so, the Social Security Administration agrees with you, and this will have a major impact for Social Security disability applicants making it a bit easier for them to qualify for benefits.
To be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits you must prove that you are incapable of sustaining substantial gainful activity (SGA) by performing any work in the national economy due to your health problems. (For 2024 SGA is defined as grossing more than $1,550 per month.) “Any work” are key words in this requirement.
When you apply for disability benefits and tell Social Security you cannot work, the agency will compare your claim to a list of jobs that exist in substantial numbers in the economy to see if you could reasonably perform any of them considering your age, education, and past work experience. The agency uses the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and its companion publication, the Selected Characteristics of Occupations Defined in the Revised Dictionary of Occupational Titles, as sources of information about such work.
The problem has been that this list was out of date and included jobs like “motion picture projectionist”, "paperhanger”, “almond blancher” and "canary breeder”. Outdated job descriptions which do not accurately match the current job market and the demands of modern occupations often means that Americans with disabilities are unfairly denied the benefits they have rightfully earned.
Now, the SSA has agreed that many jobs on the list are obsolete or nearly so and has modernized the list. In all the agency says it “has identified 114 DOT occupations with jobs that exist in very limited numbers, if at all, in each of the nine U.S. Census divisions of the country. Based on this finding, the agency will not use these occupations to support a ‘not disabled’ finding at the last step in the evaluation process for disability determinations”.
"It makes sense to identify occupations that now exist in very limited numbers in the national economy," said Martin O'Malley, Commissioner of Social Security in a press release. "By making this update, our decision makers will no longer cite these jobs when denying a disability application." O’Malley says the SSA will only consider the most relevant occupations when determining if someone applying for disability benefits could perform other types of work.
If you have a disabling injury or illness and your condition has made it impossible for you to hold a job, contact us at Cuddigan Law for a free evaluation of your situation. We can help you navigate through the complex Social Security disability claims process and guide you on the best path forward.
