The term “employment” refers to an activity in which a person engages on a full-time basis for financial
gain.
In determining whether an applicant is totally disabled for employment, his work experience
or his capacity for work must be considered. The disability decision must be based
upon an evaluation of the person's capacity for employment, considering his or her
impairment.
The disability decision about a male applicant is made from the standpoint of employment
or competition in the labor market. A single or lone woman is considered from the
standpoint of employment or competition in the labor market. A married woman who lives
in her family group is considered from that standpoint only if she has recent employment
experience which indicates that she would be employed if she did not have an impairment.
A person who is working as part of a training program is not “employed.” Such work activity may be in the person's own home, in a school, a sheltered workshop,
a factory, or other training setting. The determining factor is not the location of
the activity, but the presence or absence of supervision, a training goal or objective,
and the economic value of the item produced or service provided by the person.
Employment in a sheltered workshop, such as Goodwill Industries, usually is not considered
to be “employment” in the context of this section, even though such activity is not part of a training
program. One determining factor in such situation is whether the person is capable
of competing with nondisabled persons in the labor market.
Another determining factor is whether the person's employment activity in a sheltered
workshop involves production or service of real economic value, such as work on a
contract basis for private industry.