When you apply for Social Security disability benefits, the SSA-3369 Work History Report will ask whether you supervised other people at your past jobs.
That may sound like an easy question. But be careful before you answer ‘yes!’
But, I did supervise other people!
Maybe you trained new employees. Maybe coworkers came to you when they had questions. Maybe you were the most experienced person on your shift and sometimes told others what needed to be done.
That does not necessarily mean you were a supervisor. Social Security has to define a job by its requirements, skills, and duties.
Look at the duties you actually performed at work. For example, did you:
- Hire or fire employees?
- Evaluate their work?
- Make employee schedules?
- Keep track of employees’ time?
- Recommend that an employee be hired, fired, promoted, or disciplined?
- Plan and organize the work of other employees?
- Have any real authority over other workers?
Those are much different duties than simply giving advice to coworkers or training new employees.
Be Careful of Title Inflation
It is now a common practice in the U.S. for employers to promote their employees by giving them a better or more senior job title rather than a raise in pay. It is so common that it even has a name: Title Inflation. It is a low-cost way to reward and retain staff. Giving a title like ‘Senior,’ ‘Team Lead,’ or ‘Manager’ costs the company nothing while making employees feel recognized and boosting morale.
But, this trend is causing problems for disability benefits.
Why Does It Matter?
Your employer may have changed your title, even though your work day and work responsibilities have not changed at all. If Social Security sees a title like ‘Supervisor’ or ‘Manager’ on your Work History Report, it could be assumed that you have higher technical skills or management experience. And these abilities can be labeled “transferable skills.”
With transferable skills, you are more likely to be denied for disability, you may be able to use those skills in a different, easier job. In other words, an inflated title can sometimes help cause a denial if it gives Social Security the wrong impression of your actual job.
Social Security needs to know what you actually did at work and not just what your employer called you.
Small Answers Can Have Big Consequences
This is another reason the SSA-3369 is a much more important form than it looks. A job title or a simple answer to one question can affect how Social Security views your past work and the skills you gained from it.
At Disability Advocates, we complete the SSA-3369 with our clients. Our experienced team knows the questions to ask so our clients understand what Social Security really wants to know about their work experience.
We help make sure their answers describe what they actually did, rather than accidentally making their past jobs sound more skilled than they really were.
When Social Security asks whether you supervised other people, don’t answer based on your job title or what you think “supervised” means.
The question is: What did you actually do?