Anxiety in the workplace is common, but employers should not reject accommodation requests from employees with social anxiety disorder out of hand. HR should consider the reasonableness of accommodation options in the context of essential job functions.
“Because anxiety and social fear are a common part of the human experience, there may be a temptation to simply dismiss requests based on them,” said Pierce Blue, an attorney with Morgan Lewis in Washington, D.C. “HR professionals need to remember that these can qualify as disabilities under federal and state employment civil rights laws.”
HR should not reflexively question whether a social anxiety disorder diagnosis really qualifies as a disability, according to Betty Graumlich, an attorney with Reed Smith in Richmond, Va., and Lauren Scotti, an attorney with Reed Smith in Tysons, Va. Courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission construe the Americans with Disabilities Act’s definition of disability broadly, so “the analysis should not demand extensive scrutiny.”
“The challenge is often less about the diagnosis and more about identifying effective accommodations while preserving essential job functions,” said Rocio Blanco Garcia, an attorney with Littler in Miami.
Background
Social anxiety disorder is more than ordinary shyness or nervousness, Garcia said. “It involves a significant fear of social interactions, being evaluated by others, public speaking, meetings, customer interactions, or other situations where an individual may feel scrutinized.”
“Social anxiety” was not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association until 1968, when a narrow definition was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-II, Graumlich and Scotti noted.
Then “social phobia” gained an official diagnostic category as a distinct condition in 1980 in the DSM-III. It was given the alternative name, “social anxiety disorder (SAD),” in 1994 in the DSM-IV, and became just “social anxiety disorder” in 2013 with the release of the DSM-5. “As of 2022, the official disorder name is social anxiety disorder and social phobia is no longer used,” they said, citing DSM-5-TR. TR stands for text revision.
“Individuals with social anxiety disorder avoid social situations or endure them with intense fear or anxiety, which causes them to experience clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning,” Graumlich and Scotti added.
To meet the diagnostic standard for social anxiety disorder, the fear, anxiety, or avoidance must:
- Be persistent — typically lasting for six months or more.
- Not be attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition.
- Not be better explained by the symptoms of another mental disorder, such as panic disorder.
Possible Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations are highly individualized and depend on the essential functions of the employee’s job and needs.
Examples of reasonable accommodations for employees with social anxiety disorder, according to Garcia, may include:
- Modified methods of communication when feasible, such as increased use of email or messaging rather than impromptu interactions.
- A quieter workspace or private office to reduce anxiety triggers.
- Flexible scheduling to attend therapy or medical appointments.
- Adjusted break schedules to allow an employee to manage symptoms.
- Remote or hybrid work arrangements when compatible with the job’s essential functions.
- Gradual exposure or phased onboarding into public-facing responsibilities.
- Changes in how meetings are conducted, such as advance agendas or allowing virtual participation.
- Leave as a reasonable accommodation when appropriate.
Reassignment to a vacant position is an accommodation of last resort.
Analyze Accommodation Options
“It is important to remember that what might be reasonable in one situation might not be reasonable in another,” Garcia said.
If an individual holds a job in sales that requires frequent direct customer interaction, the employer cannot agree to a request to remove that duty due to social anxiety, Blue said.
“Similarly, if a position requires frequent international travel for work, it would be difficult to accommodate an individual who is unable to fly due to anxiety,” he added. “When making that determination, however, HR should keep an open mind about alternative methods of performing those functions.”
In the sales example, for instance, an individual with social anxiety disorder might not be able to engage in direct meetings, but they may be perfectly comfortable using Zoom or the phone, or vice versa, Blue noted. “That might work for one employer, but not others,” he said.
Remember that when a requested accommodation is not possible, the employer needs to explore alternatives, noted Fiona Ong, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Baltimore.
“HR should also remember that an employer is not obligated to give the employee their preferred accommodation if there are other accommodations that would allow them to perform the essential functions of their role,” Blue noted.
A person with social anxiety disorder may be qualified for a job that has minimal client or co-worker contact but not for one where public speaking or continual interaction with others is an essential function, Ong said.
Main Takeaways
The key point is to take an accommodation request from a person with social anxiety disorder seriously and engage with the employee through a robust interactive process to identify a reasonable accommodation, Ong said. HR should request appropriate documentation and work collaboratively with the employee towards a solution, she added.
Reasonable accommodation does not require eliminating essential job functions, lowering performance standards, or excusing misconduct, Blue said. The objective is to provide an employee with a disability an equal opportunity to perform the job, not an exemption from the job’s essential requirements or the employer’s policies.
“The biggest takeaway is to avoid assumptions and focus on individualized assessment,” Garcia said. “When employers approach these situations with flexibility, consistency, and an open dialogue, they are more likely to identify accommodations that support both the employee’s success and business needs.”
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