Selected Characteristics of Occupations - The Social Security Administration's Interest in The SCO

The Social Security Administration's Interest in The SCO

In 1960, Kerner v. Flemming, 283 F.2d 916, 921 (2d Cir. 1960) held that there must be a “rational decision” regarding the vocational issues. In response to Kerner and the underling demand for rationality inherent in District Court review, the SSA undertook a search for vocational evidence to support its disability determinations.

Prior to the publication of the Fourth Edition of the DOT, the Social Security Administration requested estimates of worker traits from the Bureau of Employment Security.

"There was also widespread interest among vocational consultants in an abstract of worker traits and physical requirements for occupations such as the Estimates of Worker Trait Requirements for 4,000 jobs, which had been published with the second edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Basic information about the physical capacities, working conditions, general educational development and specific vocational preparation requirements for the individual jobs could be ascertained by referral to this work. However, such information was needed in more accessible form for vocational assessment, therefore, the Bureau of Disability Insurance entered into an arrangement whereby the Bureau of Employment Security compiled and published a Supplement to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Microfilmed data about occupations furnished by the Labor Department was punched into IBM cards by the Social Security Administration's Division of Accounting Operations. Thus, it was possible to abstract selected data about occupations that would be useful for vocational evaluation. This Supplement, entitled Selected Characteristics of Occupations, was published in 1966 and proved to be a valuable tool in supplementing information provided by a disability claimant regarding his past work and in identifying jobs for which he could qualify."

As a result of this work, Social Security Administration's Ruling SSR 00-4p and prior Regulations explain: "In making disability determinations, we rely primarily on the DOT (including its companion publication, the SCO) for information about the requirements of work in the national economy. We use these publications at steps 4 and 5 of the sequential evaluation process."