Time for a New DOT?

July 1, 2009

Author: Catherine M. Callery (Kate)| Louise M. Tarantino

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (D.O.T.) published by the Department of Labor and relied upon by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for vocational determinations is unquestionably out of date.  Jobs such as cell phone repair technician or tanning bed attendants, for example, did not even exist when the DOT was last updated in 1991, and can thus not be included in the compendium of fascinating jobs offered up by vocational experts at disability hearings.

The Department of Labor has replaced the DOT with the O*NET and will not be updating the DOT.  The O*NET differs from the DOT in an number of ways, not the least of which is that is describes just under 1,000 jobs, far fewer than the thousands listed in the DOT.  Although the O*NET meets the Department of Labor’s needs, it has not proven to be an adequate replacement for the DOT. SSA has determined to develop and maintain occupational information itself to meet its needs.

On December 9, 2008, SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue established the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel (OIDAP) under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.  The mission of the Panel is to provide independent advice and recommendations on plans and activities to replace the DOT.  The Panel’s web address is http://www.ssa.gov/oidap/.

The Panel is currently seeking input from the public on the type of information that SSA should include in whatever new “DOT” is created so that it can ensure proper residual functional assessment, as well as proper assessments of transferrable skills, and other evidence including work histories.  Any input must be received by July 31, 2009, in order to be taken into consideration by the Panel in making its recommendations to SSA.

Nancy Shor, Executive Director of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) has been appointed to the Panel.  In her capacity as NOSSCR director, she has asked for input and ideas to present to the Panel by the July 31st deadline.  According to Nancy, the Panel is considering doing more than simply eliminating obsolete jobs from the current DOT and adding new ones.  The Panel is wrestling with questions such as:

• Should job descriptions include the mental and cognitive demands of work?
• Are there better ways to measure mental and cognitive limitations of claimants?
• Does unskilled work exist?
• Can transferable skills analysis be better performed by software?
• How can collecting and presenting data about individual claimants (their limitations, duties of past employment, etc.) be improved?
• Should a new occupational information system take job accommodations into account?
• How can we know that a particular job exists in significant numbers in the national economy?
• What Daubert considerations are pertinent to a new occupational information system?

See the “key questions” presented in the document entitled “SSA Plans and Methods for Developing a Content Model,” which is available at the Empire Justice Center’s on-line resource center as DAP #518.

Nancy is asking that advocates review this material, and think about how problems presented by an aging DOT should be addressed.  How should the questions listed above be answered?  As Nancy notes, input by advocates with the real-world knowledge about the individuals who apply for disability benefits and about the disability determination process is critical to this the process.

The Empire Justice Center will collecting advocates’ comments and forwarding them to Nancy prior to July 31st. Please send your thoughts, suggestions, admonitions, etc., to kcallery@empirejustice.org.  Or you can communicate with the Panel directly at OIDAP@ssa.gov by July 31, 2009.