Citation Nr: 21066408 Decision Date: 10/29/21 Archive Date: 10/29/21 DOCKET NO. 16-26 949 DATE: October 29, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from May 1966 to December 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision dated March 2014 of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. In February 2019, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge via videoconference. The transcript has been associated with the claims file and has been reviewed. This case was previously before the Board in February 2019 when it was remanded for further development. On review however, additional development is still needed prior to adjudication of this appeal. 1. Entitlement to a TDIU is remanded. The Veteran asserts that his service-connected disabilities render him incapable of securing or following substantially gainful employment. A TDIU may be assigned when a Veteran is unable to obtain or maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of one or more service-connected disabilities if the minimum rating criteria are met. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 (a). A Veteran meets the schedular criteria for a TDIU if there is one disability rated at 60 percent or more or, if the Veteran has more than one disability, those disabilities have a combined rating of 70 percent with at least one disability rated at 40 percent or higher. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 (a). In July 2021, subsequent to the Board's February 2019 remand, the Veteran was granted service connection for right and left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy. In view of that grant, the Veteran now meets the schedular criteria for TDIU eligibility. However, while the Veteran reported that his disabilities affected full-time employment as of 1998 and that he last worked full-time in January 2002 (see March 2014 VA Form 21-8940), more recent records indicate that he has been employed as a truck driver at various times during the appeal. See e.g., VA treatment notes dated February 2, 2015, January 25, 2017, February 22, 2018, May 24, 2018, June 20, 2018, July 6, 2018, August 20, 2018, and March 11, 2019, VBMS entry September 13, 2018; February 2019 Board hearing transcript, page 3; Medical Treatment Record Non-Government Facility, VBMS entry dated October 16, 2019, page 40 (patient used up short-term disability and was trying to get workman's compensation). Given this information, the Veteran's employment history for the entire period on appeal remains unclear; i.e., when did the Veteran begin working again and was the employment considered substantially gainful. Without clarification, the claims file in its current form does not contain sufficient information to adjudicate the claim. As such, a remand is warranted to obtain employment information for the entire period on appeal from 2013 forward. Failure to provide all the requested information on the form for the entire TDIU period on appeal from March 2013 may result in denial of TDIU. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the Veteran and ask that he: a) Complete and return a new VA Form 21-8940 He must provide his complete employment history (intermittent, part-time, full-time, self-employment) for the entire period from March 2013, forward must be provided. As the TDIU period in this case runs from March 2013, the information is required for the entire period from 2013. b) Provide information about his short-term disability mentioned in 2020 and whether he applied for and/or received workman's compensation benefits in 2020. Any relevant evidence in his possession should be submitted. 2. Thereafter, readjudicate the remanded claim. S. B. MAYS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Beach, Associate Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.