In 2012, after years of complaints from the disability community and consistent concerns raised by both Congress and the courts, the Social Security Administration (SSA) started a project to update outdated occupational listings used in making disability determinations. The current version in use, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), was published by the Department of Labor in 1977 and partially revised in 1991. For the most part, the DOT reflects work patterns from the 1970s, before the personal computer and the boom in world trade. Back then, work tended to be more physical in nature (auto and other factory workers, for example). The rules also focused on a general view that older workers could not adjust to new work. We live in a much different era now. Most workers are higher educated, work in service industries, and are better able to adjust to new work if the need arises. Americans are much more likely to work in an office than on a factory floor.
Fourteen years and $300 million dollars later, SSA has successfully built an updated dataset to reflect the modern work world, called the Occupational Information System (OIS). SSA worked with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to create the Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) to collect the data needed to set up the OIS. The first wave of ORS data was published in 2019. Two waves of ORS data collection have since been completed, and BLS is well into collecting a new set of data, at an annual cost of over $30 million. ORS collects significantly more useful information than the old DOT, including the mental and cognitive requirements of occupations and alternative ways to perform core work activities for each occupation. Despite never actually using this completed dataset, SSA has continued to work with BLS to regularly update the data.
SSA had originally planned to start using the data, which was created using modern statistical standards and rigorous testing, in 2020. However, implementation of the new data has been delayed for six years, and through three separate presidential administrations. There seems to be fears on both the left and the right that the updated titles may lower or increase disability awards. However, nobody really knows what will happen to award levels or rates if—or when—the completed dataset is implemented by SSA.
Continuing to use the outdated DOT, described as “junk data” by leading policy experts, is unfair for applicants and creates risks to SSA. By not using updated information with more information on modern occupations, disability applicants with more education may be disadvantaged in the process, while immigrants with low levels of education may overly benefit from the current dated titles. While SSA eliminated 114 of the most outdated titles from the old system, many other outdated titles—including “nut sorter,” “almond brancher,” and “microfilm processor”—remain in the system. Using outdated data can cause benefit denials based on occupations that no longer exist. And simply deleting a few outdated titles without fixing the whole system may create opportunities for good disability attorneys to increase their win rate against this set of junk data.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported last year that SSA does not have a plan or a timeline for implementation of the new fully usable dataset. The Trump Administration had planned to finally implement the OIS, but recently scrapped the plan after an uproar from disability advocates. The outdated DOT has been on GAO’s annual “high risk list” for some time now. Congress has asked for annual implementation updates on the project, but SSA has not submitted a report since 2022. As the DOT dataset continues to age, it has started to be viewed by vocational experts as being unprofessional or even unethical to use. Courts have viewed its continued use more negatively, possibly causing further increases in administrative expenses and more delays in disability case processing.
Rather than focusing on whether implementing the updated dataset will help or hurt certain people, SSA should simply do the right thing and officially accept this data from BLS and begin to use it. If the agency continues to refrain from implementing it, Congress should make SSA do it. Recent legislation called the “Improving Employment Options for DI Beneficiaries Act” from Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) would do the trick. It would be in SSA’s interest to implement the OIS, simply to show to Congress and the American people that it can be trusted with taxpayer funds. After spending $300 million to create this modern and robust dataset, it is time to turn the OIS switch on.