With the presidential election approaching, many workers will participate in political discussions in the workplace.
While sharing business information, ideas, and news of the day with colleagues helps build camaraderie, it’s important to remember that an employee’s primary responsibility is to do the work they have been hired to do. This means that spending working time on debates about non-work topics, including politics, should be kept to a minimum to ensure productivity in the workplace.
Political discussions or workplace harassment?
In a recent Politics in the Workplace Study, 51% of respondents believe workplace political discussions hurt the work environment. Political discussions have become more personal, with people feeling threatened about not just their choice of candidate but their very own value systems. A line can get crossed when what one coworker sees as political expression is interpreted as harassment or insults by another coworker. Established laws that safeguard people from harassment are based on protected specific classifications such as race, age, gender, ethnic culture, national origin, ancestry, or sexual orientation. Language or behavior that’s harassing or negatively impacts working relationships must not be tolerated, and these behavioral guidelines must be set forth as a policy in an employee handbook for all to read. It’s important to remember that these laws are in place to protect everyone and to ensure a safe and respectful work environment.
So, can HR ban political talk and activity in the workplace?
Both legal and HR specialists say yes and no.
Under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, employees have the right to discuss labor-related issues, including wages, working conditions, unionization or collective bargaining activity. Many states also have laws that protect employees from coercion or discrimination based on their political or voting activities, so employers must respect employees’ right to political discussions within these legal boundaries.
Can an employer fire or discriminate against an employee based on political beliefs?
According to Nolo Press: “You may be surprised to learn that, for many employees, the answer is yes. Federal law does not protect private employees from discrimination based on their politics. However, some states do protect employees from certain types of political discrimination. Employers may not use an employee’s politics as a pretext for discrimination based on a protected trait, like race or religion.“
What about the right to “Free Speech?”
The First Amendment under the U.S. Constitution ensures that citizens’ rights to speech, among others, shall not be encroached upon by state action. The First Amendment applies only to government censorship, so the workplaces of government employees are protected under the First Amendment. Private employers, with certain limitations, may regulate and even prohibit political expression if they so choose by publishing a company policy. However, banning political speech is fundamentally implausible because it is impossible to draw a clean, objective line between what counts as “politics” and what doesn’t — or which issues are “acceptable” to discuss, and which are not.
Beware of the Boss’s Politics!
Political discussions aren’t the only situations that can create a hostile work environment climate for workers—bosses and managers who bring politics into the workplace can also contribute to the conflict. Management needs to be particularly careful because they are in an authority role. The Politics in the Workplace Study found that …
- 59% of respondents believe their manager’s political beliefs influence their management style and decisions, with the potential to discriminate against workers who do not share those same beliefs.
- 25% either left a job or have wanted to leave their job because of their boss/manager’s political beliefs.
- 23% of job seekers stated they decided not to apply to a company’s job listing because of the company’s political stance.
Review and establish company guidelines on political conversations in the workplace.
As an employer, you cannot ban or legislate what people think. However, you can mandate how people behave in certain work circumstances. Here are some steps you can take to address this issue:
Set a Policy and publish it in your Employee Handbook.
- Establish office policies and hold training sessions on showing respect to co-workers, but don’t focus specifically on politics, which can have the effect of fueling conflict.
- Clarify company policy on what rises to the level of harassing another worker. Threats, name-calling, and vulgar graphics posted anywhere can be classified as hate speech and harassment.
- Check federal and state laws that protect certain types of speech. The National Labor Relations Board protects workers discussing unionization and workplace conditions, so experts say it’s not realistic to outright ban talk of politics at the office.
- Set an example at the top. If the boss talks openly about supporting one candidate or another, employees can feel intimidated or worry they’ll be treated differently if they disagree—so managers should stay mum. Don’t use social media to discuss politics.
Communicate with your staff.
- Acknowledge and address political polarization: Regardless of individuals’ political parties or beliefs, political tensions are running high throughout the world right now. Recognize that many employees may be feeling stress or fear related to the upcoming presidential election.
- Remind employees that the workplace is a place where everyone should feel safe, welcomed, respected and included—and that’s not a political opinion—that is court-settled labor law.
- Communicate to employees that the company doesn’t want to limit healthy dialogue about social issues but has a vested interest in reducing disruptions and maintaining a culture of respect.
Set expectations of staff behavior during such discussions.
- Encourage employees to approach these conversations from a place of curiosity and accept that they may not find common ground. Conversations should be seen as an opportunity for better understanding, not a means to change someone’s mind.
- Advise Managers to steer meetings away from politics or limit the discussion to more generic aspects of an issue.
Monitor your work environment.
- Consider keeping political programs off the televisions in the office, including in the break room.
- Prohibit visual political displays in the office, such as campaign buttons, ideological flags, bumper stickers and posters.
- Prohibit political fundraising or election material distribution, including email communications.
Let Cardinal review your company policy on political activity in your workplace.
Setting a policy on political speech and activity can be complex and perceived as controversial by your employees!
- If you currently hire or employ through Cardinal, we’ve already got you covered on this topic.
- If you do not have a policy in place, let the HR experts at Cardinal help you navigate this complex issue. Our HR Specialist can help you develop an HR policy for your company. Call us—we’ll be happy to schedule a consultation.