It’s no secret that the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application process can be lengthy, as there are hundreds of thousands of open claims nationwide. While we take pride in our job as your Social Security disability advocate to take as much of the work off of you as possible, it is important for you to know that your involvement with your SSDI claim does not end after you have completed your initial application with our office. To help educate you on a key part of the process, last month we published a blog post covering “What you should know about Function Reports” as part of our continuing series of posts focusing on several types of questionnaires you could receive from the SSA during the application process.

As we have touched upon in previous posts, we want to be sure you understand why you might receive questionnaires from Social Security. Once we file your claim and you have returned your signed forms to Social Security, your claim will be assigned to a disability examiner. Your disability examiner is the person who will request your medical records and work on your claim at Social Security, and to help them obtain additional information that they need to make a decision on your claim, he or she may send you questionnaires to complete.

One of the questionnaires you might receive after submitting your Social Security disability application is the Work History Report. Unlike the Function Report, which focuses on the changes you have made to your daily activities because of your conditions, the focus of the Work History Report is on what activities you used to regularly perform on all jobs you’ve held over the last fifteen years

What is the Work History Report from Social Security?

The Work History Report questionnaire is important to your claim because it allows you the opportunity to share your perspective on the duties your position required. In addition to looking at your medical conditions and the limitations they cause, the disability examiner from Social Security will consider whether, in light of your impairments, you can do work you performed in the past 15 years or any other work. Taking into consideration your age, education and training, so giving them a detailed, thoughtful picture of your previous work could have a positive impact on your claim

If you’ve held a few similar positions, the Work History Report might feel a bit repetitive—but it is very important to be as detailed and specific in completing this form as possible. Without those details, your examiner cannot accurately determine whether you are able to perform any of your previous jobs.

How Do I Fill Out the Work History Report I received from Social Security?

There is one portion of the Work History Report that can be particularly challenging to complete because it asks about how much time you spent on each activity during a typical workday. When filling out this section, it is important to ensure that the hours spent walking, standing, and sitting add up to how many hours you worked in a day.  For example, if you worked an eight hour shift, the time spent walking, standing, and sitting could not add up to more than eight hours.  Below is an example of how this form might look when completed correctly; please note how the first three categories add up to the exact number of hours worked in a typical shift. The remaining actions do not need to add up to eight hours (or however many hours your work shifts used to be) since you may have had a wide range of duties, depending on your work history.

 

 

If you’re feeling confused or overwhelmed while trying to complete your Work History Report, please give The Advocator Group a call. One of our client advocates will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. We are also able to schedule an appointment to help you complete this and any other questionnaires over the phone.

This post was written by one of our Client Advocates, Kristen

 

Nothing in this post is intended as advice or a suggestion to elect or not elect to claim benefits of any kind, including Social Security benefits, nor is it intended as financial advice in any way.  The decision to claim benefits is a personal one that is contingent upon each individual’s unique circumstances.