Examples of ADA accommodations for anxiety, and how to ask for one

What accommodations can you ask for at work with anxiety?

The ADA reaches employers with 15 or more employees. In the Job Accommodation Network's words, "The ADA does not contain a definitive list of medical conditions that constitute disabilities." Whether your anxiety meets the ADA's definition has its own page: Is anxiety a disability.

The groups below are built from JAN's Anxiety Disorder page, sorted by the part of the job each change touches. Use these examples to discuss which changes would address your limitations. The EEOC's reasonable accommodation guidance says "The employer may choose among reasonable accommodations as long as the chosen accommodation is effective."

An accommodation changes how the work gets done. Your employer doesn't have to remove an essential function of the job, or lower a production standard it applies to everyone.

If what you need is time off rather than a change at work, see ADA leave and FMLA for depression and anxiety.

A quieter space with fewer interruptions

To cut down on noise, JAN lists noise-canceling headsets or earbuds, white noise or environmental sound machines, sound-absorbing panels, and cubicle doors or shields.

The space itself can change as well, with alternative or natural lighting or a modified workspace. The day can include uninterrupted "off" work time.

How the work reaches you can change too, through written instructions or task separation.

Pace and workload

Changes to the pace of the day include a flexible schedule, a modified break schedule, periodic rest breaks, and job restructuring.

Restructuring can move marginal tasks, the non-essential ones, to someone else. The essential functions stay with the job.

JAN also lists a support person and on-site mentoring.

Appointments and time away from your desk

A flexible schedule or telework can make room for appointments inside the workweek. JAN also lists a rest area or private space.

The EEOC's mental health page gives its own examples: "altered break and work schedules" and "quiet office space or devices that create a quiet work environment." Scheduling work around appointments is one of the schedule changes it names.

Keeping track of time and priorities

For managing time and tasks, JAN lists timers, calendars and planners, checklists, reminders, a task flow chart, and a color-coded system.

Written instructions and extra time are on this list as well.

Working with your supervisor

JAN lists changes to supervisory methods, one-on-one communication, positive feedback, and supervisory feedback.

Another is communicating a different way, for example messaging or texting in place of a live conversation.

Workplace policies

Policy modification and task rotation are on JAN's list too.

Is working from home a reasonable accommodation for anxiety?

It can be. The EEOC's telework guidance says "allowing an individual with a disability to work at home may be a form of reasonable accommodation." It adds: "Changing the location where work is performed may fall under the ADA's reasonable accommodation requirement of modifying workplace policies, even if the employer does not allow other employees to telework."

Whether it fits your job turns on the essential duties. "An employer does not have to remove any essential job duties to permit an employee to work at home." And "the employer may select any effective accommodation, even if it is not the one preferred by the employee".

Do you have to tell your employer you have anxiety?

To get an accommodation, your employer has to be told that you need a change at work for a medical reason. The EEOC's mental health page says: "Tell a supervisor, HR manager, or other appropriate person that you need a change at work because of a medical condition. You may ask for an accommodation at any time."

That rule is about getting an accommodation. Beyond it, and apart from a medical inquiry the regulation allows, one that is "job-related and consistent with business necessity," whether you tell your employer anything is your call.

Medical information your employer gets through its medical inquiries has rules of its own. Under 29 CFR 1630.14(c)(1), it "shall be collected and maintained on separate forms and in separate medical files and be treated as a confidential medical record." The EEOC's plainer version: "it must keep the information confidential, even from co-workers."

Supervisors and managers may be told about "necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and necessary accommodations." First aid and safety personnel may be told, "when appropriate, if the disability might require emergency treatment." Government officials investigating compliance "shall be provided relevant information on request," and under (c)(2) it "shall not be used for any purpose inconsistent with this part."

Certicare is a telehealth service where leave and accommodation paperwork is completed and signed by a state-licensed provider after an evaluation. If your employer asks for documentation, a provider can complete the paperwork or letter it requested, where the evaluation supports it. There's usually no appointment, and a provider may follow up for more detail before deciding. Turnaround is usually within 24 hours after we have everything needed.

Completing our intake form starts the review; it does not guarantee a signature, and if the review does not support your request you are refunded in full.

How do you ask for an anxiety accommodation?

A request doesn't need legal wording. Under the EEOC's guidance, it can be in "plain English," with no mention of the ADA or the phrase "reasonable accommodation." It doesn't have to be in writing.

What the request needs is the link between a change at work and a medical condition. Who can make the request, what happens after you ask, and how quickly your employer should respond are covered in our guide to requesting a reasonable accommodation.

What documentation can your employer ask for?

The EEOC's mental health page says: "The employer also may ask you to submit a letter from your health care provider documenting that you have a mental health condition, and that you need an accommodation because of it." Under the EEOC's guidance, documentation can be requested when the disability or the need for accommodation isn't obvious. The same guidance says the employer cannot ask for it when you have "already provided the employer with sufficient information to substantiate" the disability and the need for the accommodation.

It can cover the nature of the impairment, its severity, its duration, the activity it limits, and the extent of the limitation. It describes your limits at work and what would help. The same guidance adds that "the employer may require only the documentation that is needed to establish that a person has an ADA disability, and that the disability necessitates a reasonable accommodation."

The EEOC's list of who can provide it includes doctors and psychologists. It also includes licensed mental health professionals, a group that can include a licensed therapist.

Through Certicare, a state-licensed provider reviews your intake answers and, where the evaluation supports it, completes and signs the paperwork your employer asked for. Whether the accommodation goes ahead is your employer's decision.

What if your employer says no?

Your employer may offer a different effective accommodation instead of the one you asked for. The EEOC's guidance leaves that choice to the employer. It also says, "If more than one accommodation is effective, 'the preference of the individual with a disability should be given primary consideration.'" It adds, "However, the employer providing the accommodation has the ultimate discretion to choose between effective accommodations."

An employer can also point to undue hardship, which the EEOC defines as "significant difficulty or expense," judged against the employer's resources. When no accommodation is possible, read when an employer can't accommodate restrictions.

EEOC charge deadlines, the ADA's bar on retaliation, and what to do after a denial are covered in our guide to requesting a reasonable accommodation.

You don't need to have the accommodation worked out before you start. Answer the intake questions, and a state-licensed provider completes and signs the paperwork your employer asked for, where the evaluation supports it.