EEOC publishes guidance on using social media in reasonable accommodation process

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released new guidance on using social media to help determine if telework is a reasonable accommodation at federal agencies under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. However, one lawyer told HR Brew that employers should take caution before looking at workers’ social media.

The Trump administration has tried to cut down on remote work, including telework accommodations for disabled workers, at federal agencies since last year. In 2025, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) temporarily paused all telework accommodation requests, and the Veterans Administration updated its rules to limit telework for disabled workers.

In recent guidance, the EEOC said that federal agencies are “not required to turn a blind eye to” evidence that shows an employee may not be entitled to certain accommodations, including remote work. The agency may follow up on an employee who routinely posts evidence in direct conflict with their accommodation on social media, and agencies should use medical documentation and the legally required interactive process to determine if telework is an appropriate reasonable accommodation

Private employers often take cues from decisions and trends in the public sector, but they should be cautious if they do choose to review workers’ social media posts for this purpose. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires private-sector employers to consider workplace accommodations for disabled employees and engage in with them in good faith, HR Brew reported previously.

Employers should not use social media as “definitive proof” that an employee should not receive accommodations, but rather as a potential part of the overall process, according to Bernadette Coyle, associate attorney at Duane Morris. “The safest approach is for employers to continue to engage in the interactive process basing their decisions on medical documentation and job related criteria,” she said, adding that isolated social media posts could be taken out of context and harm employers’ credibility.

“Since Covid-19, employers have been seeing an increase in the number of employees requesting telework as a reasonable accommodation,” Coyle told HR Brew. “We are still adapting the modern workplace to these firmly rooted principles that we’re familiar with when it comes to providing employees reasonable accommodations under the ADA.”

Some employers and disability advocates have grappled with questions around who deserves to work from home or when disabilities qualify for the accommodation. That said, Coyle noted that she has not seen data that indicates disabled workers take advantage of remote-work accommodations.

“As we see changes in administrations, then we see changes in the priorities of that administration,” Coyle said. “A lot of this is a reflection of the changing administrations in terms of private employers. As we get further from Covid, I believe that many employers are looking to sort of try to get back to some semblance of normalcy. But, of course, remote work is likely here to stay.”