The pandemic-related rise in telework has been a boon for workers with disabilities who’ve seen their employment rates rise, but it’s made it harder for them to convince private disability insurers that their condition makes them unable to work.
Insurers weighing disability claims have pointed to the increased availability of telework to argue that workers who claim to be disabled in fact have the capacity to work. Lawyers representing disability claimants say this has come up more frequently in the claims process, where insurers have queried doctors about claimants’ capacity for telework and used the possibility of telework as a reason for denying benefits.
These disputes can wind up turning on the opinions of outside experts called vocational consultants, who can opine on whether a particular job is done remotely or in person throughout the national economy.
Covid has “opened up the door for new reasons to deny benefits,” Mala M. Rafik, a partner with Rosenfeld & Rafik PC in Boston, said.
Rafik, who represents workers seeking disability benefits, said she noticed an increase in disability insurers reaching out to doctors to ask whether a particular patient would be able to work remotely.
“We see letters to doctors saying, ‘well, could your client work from home on their own schedule? Would that accommodation be something you would...
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