One of the most important pieces of information that disability examiners need to know is how your disability impacts your ability to work relative to your work history. Your work history, in fact, is absolutely vital for them to determine whether or not you’re disabled. Your disability could be very severe but, if it doesn’t affect your ability to do your job, you’re not likely to be approved for benefits. When people have problems with these issues, a Mt. Prospect attorney is oftentimes the best way to get the issue resolved.
The paperwork that you submit, specifically the activity questionnaires, will help the disability examiner determine whether or not you should receive benefits based upon your work history. In some cases, however, the disability examiners may contact your former employers. The only reason they would likely do this is because they needed clarification as to what you were required to do in your former employment and what specific demand were placed upon you that might be made impossible to meet by your disability.
They may also need to determine how capable you were before you became disabled so that they can get a comparison to your level of ability at present. This goes into a formula called residual functional capacity, which is one way that disability examiners make the determination as to whether or not you should receive benefits.
There very well may be some contact with your former employers by disability examiners. If they do make such contact, however, is likely only to get additional information that they need to weigh the merits of your claim. There is a great deal riding on how your former employment relates to your disability claim. Don’t let disability examiners making contact with former employers distress you. They’re only trying to determine whether or not the work you formerly had would be impossible for you given the disability that led you to apply for benefits from the Social Security administration.