The Job Title

The Job Title: Showing How an Injury Affects Actual Work

Tom assumes an office manager only sits at a desk. The episode's missing facts are the lifting and deliveries the job requires. A job title alone does not establish what the employee could safely do or what income was lost.

Describe the work in concrete terms

List regular duties, their frequency, and the physical demands involved. Explain relevant lifting, driving, standing, computer work, or travel instead of relying on the title. Ask the employer to confirm the usual schedule and any actual task changes. Be accurate about duties you continued performing as well as those you could not perform. Preserve dated job descriptions and workplace communications.

Connect restrictions to the affected dates

Give the treating provider an accurate description of your duties and obtain clarification of any work restrictions, their duration, and follow-up plan. Keep records of reduced hours, missed shifts, changed duties, and available modified work. A medical restriction and an employer's scheduling decision are different facts; documenting both helps explain the sequence. Do not treat a legal claim as a reason to disregard clinical instructions.

Separate past income loss from future capacity

The State Bar's recommended damages instructions distinguish past lost earnings from a future decrease in earning capacity. Both require supporting evidence and a connection to the injury. Payroll records, schedules, tax records where appropriate, and employer verification can help document a claimed loss. Temporary restrictions do not automatically establish permanent earning impairment, and a different task assignment does not necessarily mean wages were lost.

Questions this episode raises

Is a job title enough to show whether I could work?

No. Describe the actual duties and relevant restrictions, then document what changed in practice and when.

Do medical restrictions automatically prove lost wages?

No. They may support why work was affected, but records should also establish the hours or income actually lost and their connection to the injury.