When evaluating an individual's ability to maintain substantially gainful employment, many people focus primarily on physical or mental limitations. While those limitations are certainly important, one factor that is often overlooked is attendance.

In competitive employment, employers expect workers to report to work consistently and reliably. Even highly skilled employees can struggle to maintain employment if they are frequently absent, arrive late on a regular basis, or require unscheduled departures from work. For individuals pursuing Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), attendance-related limitations can be particularly significant.

The Importance of Reliability in Competitive Employment

Most employers operate on schedules, deadlines, staffing requirements, and productivity expectations. When employees are unable to attend work consistently, those expectations become difficult to meet. Attendance issues can affect virtually every occupation, including:

While certain jobs may offer some flexibility, competitive employment generally requires workers to be present and productive on a sustained basis.

Conditions That Commonly Affect Attendance

Many medical conditions can interfere with an individual's ability to maintain regular attendance. Examples include:

These conditions may result in flare-ups, medical appointments, periods of increased symptoms, or days when the individual is simply unable to function at a level required for work.

Beyond Missing Entire Days

Attendance issues are not limited to full-day absences. Vocationally relevant attendance concerns may also include:

When these issues occur regularly, they can significantly impact an individual's ability to sustain employment.

What Vocational Experts Consider

Vocational experts evaluate how functional limitations translate into workplace demands. This analysis often includes consideration of:

The key question is not simply whether an individual can perform a job on a good day. It is whether they can perform that job consistently and reliably over time.

Why Sustaining Work Matters

A person may possess the skills, education, and experience necessary to perform certain work activities. However, if medical conditions prevent consistent attendance, maintaining substantially gainful employment may still be unrealistic. This distinction is often critical in disability evaluations.

Competitive employment requires more than the ability to perform tasks occasionally. It requires the ability to sustain performance, maintain attendance, and meet employer expectations on an ongoing basis. Attendance is one of the foundational requirements of competitive employment, and when medical impairments result in frequent absences, tardiness, or other reliability concerns, those limitations can have a significant impact on employability.

The Bottom Line: Attendance is a foundational requirement of competitive employment, not a detail. A veteran may have the skills, education, and experience for a job and still be unable to keep it when service-connected conditions cause frequent absences, tardiness, or unscheduled breaks. The real question is never whether someone can work on a good day — it's whether they can show up, stay, and perform reliably, week after week.