Social Security Updates Occupations Used To Evaluate Disability Claims

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has updated its list of occupations used in disability evaluations to ensure relevance to the current job market. When deciding if someone isn’t eligible for benefits, the agency must show proof that the person can do work that exists in significant numbers across the country. They rely on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and the Selected Characteristics of Occupations Defined in the Revised DOT as reliable sources of job information.

However, the SSA has recently identified 114 occupations that are now rare or non-existent in all U.S. Census divisions and will no longer use them to deny disability claims. The excluded occupations include:

Additionally, 13 occupations have been flagged for increased evidence requirements due to federal court concerns:

These changes are intended to make disability determinations more accurate and fairer, and the SSA continues to review the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Requirements Survey to inform future updates. For more details, you can read the full announcement here.