[JoeS21]

When social security disability contacts the past employers of a person applying for, or applying to renew (via continuing disability review) their social security disability eligibility, who finds out about the applicant's medical conditions? Do coworkers find out? Does your boss find out?

I am asking because privacy can be important for many reasons including references and letters of recommendation. I believe that some key people might lose faith in the ability of an employee who they found to be on disability with significant medical problems even if that employee did good work.

Do they actually contact past employers? I didn't think that they did. I thought that the information you provide about the job you did was for use in determining what job skills you have and also to help them understand how you had a problem doing your past jobs.

There are some people on these forums who are extremely knowledgeable about Soc. Sec. disability application procedures, so I imagine you'll get a better answer from someone else.

(I should know - I applied enough times for disability. I've always thought that they did not contact previous employers, but I am not 100% sure about that.)

[Rose76]

I, too, would be surprised to find that the Social Security Administration contacts past employers. What would they need to contact them for?

Well - I just looked it up and it seems the disability examiners for the SSA do sonetimes contact past employers. Here's a link:

DOES SOCIAL SECURITY CONTACT YOUR FORMER WORK EMPLOYERS WHEN YOU FILE FOR DISABILITY?

"Therefore, despite the fact that disability examiners generally rely on the information provided by a claimant in a work history report or work activity questionaire, there are occasions in which an examiner will contact a claimant's former employer.

As a disability examiner, I myself did this to learn more about what a claimant's work duties were for a particular job and to learn also what difficulties the claimant had in performing these duties."

Yikes, I didn't know that. Thanks, Rose. I'm assuming that would only be anywhere that you worked after the "date of onset" of the disability?

[Rose76]

That's what I would think too, jo. And they don't usually even do that, which I think the link I posted above also says.