The majority of people who apply for disability have a history of working physically strenuous jobs, such as construction, warehouse work, or nursing.
These are all occupations that put a lot of strain on a body over the years, so it’s very common for people from these lines of work to seek disability after they develop back or knee pain.
And in almost every case, Social Security will agree with the claimant that there is no way that they can do these jobs with the medical conditions they now have. And then many people get denied anyway.
How can that happen? Well, the Social Security Administration uses a five step process to determine disability. At step four, Social Security considers whether you could perform any job you’ve had in the past five years with your combination of impairments.
But then at step five, SSA looks if there are other jobs in the national economy that you could perform. This is actually where most denials happen.
The administration looks at a publication called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles that has thousands of jobs that are supposedly available in the national economy. I say “supposedly” because this publication is well known for being decades out of date, and it’s not uncommon for people to be told they aren’t disabled and can perform jobs that don’t really exist anymore.
The good news is that this can often be addressed at a hearing with an administrative law judge, but because there are so many nuances to Social Security law that aren’t well known, it’s always a good idea to consult with a disability attorney beforehand.