When applying for Social Security Disability many areas are considered. Age, education, and work history are foundational to your case; along with medical records proving your disabling condition.
In this week’s blog, we are discussing TRANSFERABLE SKILLS. Social Security uses your previous work history to determine whether you have transferable skills that can be applied in a new line of work. Transferability is applying work skills which a person has demonstrated in vocationally relevant past jobs to meet the requirements of other skilled or semiskilled jobs.
For skills to be “transferable”, an individual must be able to apply knowledge or techniques learned in past jobs to other skilled or semiskilled work. You cannot get transferable skills from an unskilled job, and you cannot transfer skills to an unskilled job.
When Social Security sends you the “Work History Form”, it is important to detail how you did your job. How much did you lift, carry, push, pull, walk, stand, bend and stoop? You will want to talk about how much you used your hands and also explain what the mental aspects of your job were. We at Mission Possible Employment Services can provide guidance and assistance in completing your application and paperwork from Social Security.
Unskilled Job Determination
Unskilled occupations are the least complex types of work. Jobs are unskilled when persons can typically learn to do them in 30 days or less. The majority of unskilled jobs are identified in the Department of Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). It could be obvious that restaurant dishwashers are unskilled. However, it may not be self-evident that other jobs like a sparkplug assembler, school-crossing guard, and carpenter’s or baker’s helper (laborers), can be learned in 30 days or less. In these cases, occupational reference materials or specialists should be consulted.
Semiskilled Job Determination
Semiskilled occupations are more complex than unskilled work and distinctly simpler than the more highly skilled types of jobs. With semiskilled jobs the determination includes whether skills are transferable to other jobs. They contain more variables and require more judgment than do unskilled occupations. Even though semiskilled occupations require more than 30 days to learn, the content of work activities in some semiskilled jobs may be little more than unskilled. Therefore, close attention must be paid to the actual complexities of the job in dealing with data, people, or objects and to the judgments required to do the work. Some examples of semiskilled jobs are carpenter, nurse’s aide, and administrative assistant.
General Transferability Determined
Where transferability is at issue, it is most probable and meaningful among jobs in which: (1) the same or a lesser degree of skill is required, because people are not expected to do more complex jobs than they have actually performed (i.e, from a skilled to a semiskilled or another skilled job, or from one semiskilled to another semiskilled job); (2) the same or similar tools and machines are used; and (3) the same or similar raw materials, products, processes or services are involved. A complete similarity of all these factors is not necessary. There are degrees of transferability ranging from very close similarities to remote and incidental similarities among jobs.
Generally, the greater the degree of acquired work skills, the less difficulty an individual will experience in transferring skills to other jobs except when the skills are such that they are not readily usable in other industries, jobs and work settings. Reduced residual functional capacity (RFC) and advancing age are important factors associated with transferability because reduced RFC limits the number of jobs within an individual’s physical or mental capacity to perform, and advancing age decreases the possibility of making a successful vocational adjustment.
State agencies may use vocational consultants, specialists, or vocational evaluation workshops to assist in resolving complex vocational issues; and vocational experts may be consulted for this purpose at the hearing and appeals levels.
Information from this blog and additional information can be found at https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings/di/02/SSR82-41-di-02.html for SSR 82.14. Mission Possible is here to help, please reach out to us, https://mpes.net/contact/.
~ Patty
Recent Comments