If you have filed an application to receive Social Security disability benefits, the Social Security Administration will want to know about your past work experience. For their purposes, they include any work that you performed within the last 15 years that provided you with gainful income and that you performed with a level of proficiency. The professionals at our Jacksonville disability law firm can help prepare you to answer questions from the administrative law judge on six different work-related areas.

Background Information on Employment

The ALJ will want basic information on the applicable job, including where you worked, when you worked there, your job title, your work hours, the length of employment and your job duties. They will also want to know if you attained at least an average level of competency on the job. They will ask about your income and why you left the job, especially if this was related to your impairment.

Level of Exertion

They will want to know the type of exertion on the job, including the amount, type and frequency of any weights you lifted. They will ask specific details about how often you lifted weights, what type of objects you carried and how far you carried them. They will also ask about how much sitting, standing and walking you did during the day, and if you needed additional flexibility in movement, such as climbing, bending, crawling or balancing. Our Jacksonville disability lawyer can review how this information applies to your case before your hearing.

Environmental Factors and Stress Level

The SSA will want to know everything about your work environment, especially any hazardous conditions you faced. They will also ask if the job was stressful and what specifically made the work stressful for you.

Skill Level and Burden of Proof

The ALJ will ask about the necessary skills to perform your job, including the type of equipment you used, your technical knowledge, any writing you did and judgment skills you needed. If you supervised others, they will want specific details on your responsibilities. Finally, they will want to know why you can no longer perform this job.

If you are uncertain how your past work experience or ability to exert yourself will affect your case, contact a seasoned disability lawyer for further information. John Fagan at his Jacksonville disability law firm can answer your questions. You can reach him at 904-278-1000.