A huge sigh of relief usually follows the notification that a claimant’s Social Security disability hearing is scheduled. Finally, it gives a claimant a chance to have their “day in court” to prove they deserve either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
Sometimes that relief is soon replaced with trepidation about the hearing process when informed that a Vocational Expert (VE) will testify at the hearing.
The first question many people have is “what is a vocational expert?” The question that soon follows is “what are they going to testify about?”
The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will appoint an independent VE in all cases where non-exertion limitations are claimed. Non-exertion limitations are all limitations that are NOT exertion limitations such as the ability to sit, stand, walk, lift, push and pull.
To learn more about how Social Security classifies exertion limitations and non-exertion limitations click here.
Vocational Experts are appointed to appear either in person or by phone in over 90 percent of ALJ hearings. These VEs are supposed to be independent sources of information without any stake in the outcome of a disability hearing.
The VE will be asked to give his or her opinion about what jobs a claimant can perform and what sort of limitations a claimant may be faced within performing the duties of those jobs. An ALJ will ask the VE if a claimant can perform his or her past jobs, and if not, whether the claimant can do other work. If the VE believes a claimant can do other work more detail will be provided on what types of jobs the claimant can perform and the VE will give an overview of the current job market for those jobs in the claimant’s community.
Fortunately, the claimant or the claimant’s representative, who can include an attorney, is permitted to question the VE to try and exclude any jobs the VE indicated were viable options based on the claimant’s disabilities. The VE’s testimony, along with medical evidence, can be a deciding factor in the outcome of a disability hearing.
For more information about VE testimony and how it may impact a Social Security disability hearing click here.
