VEs can provide vocational evidence via testimony
and written responses to interrogatories. When providing
evidence, VEs may consider any reliable source of
occupational information that is commonly used by vocational
professionals and is relevant under agency rules, along with their
professional knowledge, training, and experience (SSR 24-3p).
VEs are responsible for providing vocational evidence that is
tailored to the specific facts of the case based on their professional
knowledge, training, and experience, and the vocational data available
to them.
In providing this evidence, VEs should address the following,
as applicable:
1. Identify the Data Source(s)
VEs will use their experience and expertise to determine
the most appropriate source(s) of data to support the evidence they
offer. The VE must identify the data source(s) they rely on in providing
evidence.
2. Explain the General Approach to Estimating Job Numbers
When citing occupations at step five of the sequential evaluation
process, VEs may offer estimates of the numbers of jobs in these
occupations in the national economy. The VE must explain their general
approach to estimating job numbers. The Social Security Administration
does not dictate any specific approach to estimating job numbers and
treats any numbers provided only as general estimates.
A VE may cite occupations listed in
the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) but derive estimates of job
numbers from an occupational source that uses the Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC) system, such as the U.S. Bureau of Law Statistics'
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Because
the DOT uses a different classification taxonomy, the VE must explain
their general approach to how they derived information about the DOT
occupation(s) from the SOC-based data source. If the VE relies on
sources that use the same classification taxonomies, such as the Occupational
Requirements Survey (ORS) and OEWS, then an explanation on
classification taxonomies is not necessary.
3. Use Definitions from Agency Policy, and Account for Differences
in Exertion, Education, and Skill Level
Exertion, education, and skill level are
defined in agency regulations and policy, and these
definitions are controlling for adjudicators. SSR 24-3p.
If the VE uses a data source that defines the exertion, education,
or skill level differently than agency regulations or policy, the VE,
as the qualified professional, must acknowledge the general difference
and explain whether or how this difference has been accounted for in
the evidence the VE provided. For areas other than exertion, education,
and skill level, the VE is not required to identify or account for
differences between agency definitions and the definitions used by the
data source.
The regulatory definitions of skill
levels are controlling. Supporting these regulatory definitions, the
agency uses the specific vocational preparation (SVP) level to determine
how long it would take a claimant to achieve average performance
in a job (POMS
DI 25001.001.77 and SSR
24-3p). For instance, as defined in 20
CFR 404.1568 and 416.968,
unskilled work is work that needs little or no judgment to do simple
duties that can be learned on the job in a short period of time. Unskilled
work corresponds to an SVP of 1 or 2, meaning that an individual can
typically learn the job in 30 days or less (POMS DI 25001.001). If a VE classifies
an occupation as unskilled but uses a data source that defines unskilled
work as work that takes four months to learn, the VE must explain how
their estimates accounted for any jobs that would require more than
30 days to learn, as those jobs are not consistent with our regulatory
definition of unskilled work.
Agency regulations and
policy state that exertion is defined by sitting, standing,
walking, lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling abilities. For
instance, agency regulations indicate that light work involves
lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or
carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds (see 20
CFR 404.1567(b) and 416.967(b)).
ORS's definition of light work contemplates carrying 1 to 10 pounds
frequently and carrying 11 to 25 pounds occasionally or seldom. An
ALJ may ask the VE to provide testimony regarding the work available
for a hypothetical individual with a lifting capacity consistent
with “light work” as defined in 20
CFR 404.1567 and 416.967.
If the VE's response relies on ORS data, the VE must explain that
ORS defines lifting requirements for light work differently from our
regulations. The VE must also explain how they accounted for any jobs
that would require lifting 21-25 pounds occasionally, as those additional
lifting requirements are not consistent with our regulatory definition
of light work. Additionally, VEs should provide the basis for their
testimony, such as their experience, their observation of the occupations,
surveys they conducted, studies they reviewed, etc.
4. Identify When Occupations Are Performed Differently, with More
Modern Materials and Processes than Described in the Data Source
Generally, data sources SSA accepts
as reliable sources of vocational information
are presumed to be current and accurate (20
CFR 404.1566, 416.966,
and SSR 24-3p). Emergency
Message (EM)-24027 REV, however, specifically identifies occupations
within the DOT that may refer to job materials or processes that have
been replaced by more modern materials or processes. If one of these
occupations is cited, the VE must explain how, as the occupation is
currently performed, its requirements are consistent with the RFC
limitations. The VE must also provide evidence that allows the ALJ to
determine whether the occupation exists in the national economy in numbers
that alone, or in combination with work in other cited occupations,
are significant.
Document preparer is
an occupation listed in the DOT that may be performed
with more modern materials and processes than those
identified in this data source per EM-24027 REV.
If, in response to a hypothetical question, the VE relies on the DOT
as their source of data to cite the document preparer position as a
representative occupation, the VE must explain how that occupation is
currently performed based on their professional knowledge, training,
and experience, and provide evidence that allows the ALJ to determine
whether the jobs within that occupation exist in significant numbers in
the national economy.
5. Explain How They Accounted for Different Classifications
VEs may cite to sources of occupational data that do not precisely
correspond to each other. In some instances, it may be necessary for the
VE to explain how they accounted for the different classifications. For
example, some SOC codes may correspond to a large number of DOT occupation
codes.