When an occupation occurs which is not listed in the schedule you should?

• A. Look at the fundamentals for rating permanent disability
• B. Use the dictionary of occupational titles
• C. Call the employment development department
• D. Determine the basic functions and activities and relate it to a scheduled occupation

Answer: (D)

When an occupation isn’t listed in the rating schedule, you determine the worker’s actual tasks by identifying the basic functions and activities they perform, then relate those duties to the closest scheduled occupation. This function-based mapping uses the essential job duties, skill level, and demands to find an equivalent occupation already in the schedule, and that equivalence is what the rating is built on. It keeps ratings consistent because the schedule standardizes how different jobs are evaluated. Relying on the dictionary of occupational titles or contacting the employment development department isn’t sufficient on its own for rating a missing occupation; those sources can help describe the work, but the key step is matching the core functions to a scheduled occupation to determine the rating.