drafting your work history report

I believe this is one of the most important things done in your social security case. If you make your past work to easy, it is possible social security will use it against you to beat you. I believe that you must have this reviewed by a lawyer prior to you turning it in. 

DDS uses the Work History Report (SSA-3369) when additional information is needed to determine if the applicant is able to perform past relevant work or other work. This detailed report supplements information provided in the Adult Disability Report (SSA-3368) about the applicant’s past five jobs, and helps DDS see what types of work skills the applicant may possess.

The Work History Report is important to your claim because it gives you the opportunity to provide a thorough description of your past work.  It is critical that the Social Security Administration (SSA) knows your work record. And, what kind of work you did in the past.

Social Security considers all work activity you performed in the fifteen years prior to filing for disability. This fifteen year period is known as the relevant period.

However, a job can only be relevant to your disability determination if you performed the job three months or more, had time to learn the job, and your earnings were at least what is considered substantial gainful activity (SGA).

To be considered SGA, you simply needed to have made a certain amount or more (the social security earnings limit) each month for the time that you held the job. Disability examiners will use your relevant work history to make their disability determination, meaning that they will compare what you did in your past jobs to the residual functional capacity that you currently possess to determine if you have the ability to go back to one of those jobs.

If the applicant does not remember all the details of his or her past work, enter “I don’t know” or “unknown” and explain any difficulties with memory in the Remarks section. It is important to not leave questions unanswered.

You should describe the job as you performed it. Do not describe how you could perform it now that you’re suffering from disabling impairments. As an example, many retail workers forget to include that they stocked shelves with heavy merchandise. Or, restaurant workers may fail to mention that they pulled heavy boxes from subzero freezers. Or, worked around gas burners or cooking fumes. These activities could be work preclusive (a fancy term for impossible to perform) for someone with degenerative disc disease or COPD.

The Work History Report contains a question about your heaviest weight lifted. Some claimants answer “I didn’t lift anything.” But, this is typically a big mistake as lifting requirements are key in SSA disability determinations. All jobs require some lifting. As an example, if you occasionally lifted more than 20lbs but only lifted 5 pounds every day, answer “20lbs”! It is common to see denials because claimants fail to accurately list the amount of weight they lift. Don’t make this mistake!

Disability lawyers help their clients complete Work History Reports correctly. If you’re applying for Social Security Disability benefits alone you should have a lawyer review your work history report before you file it with SSA.

If you need helping applying for Social Security Disability or SSI, please contact me at joshben99@gmail.com. I have over 20 years experience with Social Security Disability cases.