A vocational expert on disability claims is a person with the task of identifying what jobs are available for disabled employees. One can acquire a disability as a result of a motor vehicle accident, personal injury, or natural cause. A vocational expert, therefore, has a duty to act on behalf of the victims in pursuit of justice for their client in the workplace. In my visit to the U.S Social Security Administration, I spent time with Ben Williams, a vocational expert in disability claims. He shared with me his professionalism and the factors surrounding his field.
The mission of this call is to ensure that the claimant is given justice in the court of law. According to Ben, one must be able to understand the plight of the disabled in order to execute his/her duties as an expert. He/she has to understand clearly the industrial law and the rules governing the employers and the employees in respect to the companies in concern. While representing a client, an expert has to identify the level of disability of his client and other available jobs in the company.
This then gives him a platform for evaluating a substitute job position for his client. As an expert, one has to psychologically prepare his/her client by proper counseling. Most victims of disability might suffer from trauma. The trauma makes them hopeless and may lose the courage to face their employer in the request for a favor. They have to be ensured of their rights as employees who have lost some ability. However, they can still perform well in other areas of the firm.
The social security administration chamber is concerned with the hearing of the workers’ disability cases. The vocational expert represents his client in front of an administrative judge who listens and makes the judgment on the matter. The expert uses his experience and knowledge of the field while testifying. The administrative judge will be required to ask a number of questions regarding the claimant’s state. The claimant’s law expert will then be required to answer the questions on his/her behalf.
Being a vocational expert in disability comes with many advantages. At the personal level, one gets to understand the law of the land. The judiciary as well recognizes him/her as part of the judicial system. The workforce involved is that of social welfare and the fight for the rights of the disadvantaged.
People get to appreciate the effort one makes and render power for promotion into other careers. As an expert, you also get to empower individuals to value people with various disabilities since you get to understand the fact that disability is not inability. Earning a living by this career is so interesting. One is not bored since he/she encounters different cases and meets different people, unlike a person who just works on a machine every day.
While working as a disability expert, several challenges become part of the job. It is sometimes difficult to analyze the state of your client and the right defense for him/her. Doing extensive research on what the law provides and avoiding misinterpretation is quite a great challenge. Problems of misinterpretation of the law by other people might be detrimental as ideas are subject to interpretation from different angles.
Mr. Ben Williams is a vocational expert in disability claims in U.S Social Security Administration and holds a master’s degree in industrial law with ten years of experience in his practice. His level of education and experience caught my attention and made me believe that he was very sure of every statement he uttered. I admit to learning a lot from the little he shared.