From the White House to the Workplace

Turn on your TV, radio, or take a drive – everywhere you turn political banter is being tossed at you like a bad infomercial at 3am. And, being merely weeks away from Election Day, we know it will only get worse as the political arena heats up. With all this taking place outside the office, it is inevitable that some would find its way into our workplace conversations and relationships.

From an HR perspective, while not a legally protected status, political views can often times have the same effect on employees as discussing other sensitive issues, such as gender / sex-related content or jokes, religious matters, income or salaries, etc. By allowing these conversations to take place during work hours, you run the risk of having employees feel alienated within their teams, offended, uncomfortable, or worse – the exchange can turn confrontational. Some cases have also made the link between political conversation and harassment via the hostile work environment clause¹.

 According to CareerBuilder’s last survey on politics at work², 36% of workers discuss politics at work, while 46% stated that they plan to discuss this year’s presidential election with their co-workers. Of those who discussed politics at work, more than one in five – approximately 23% – said it led to a heated work exchange or fight with a work colleague. At the same time, only about 25% of organizations have a written policy on political activities, according to a survey conducted during the last presidential election by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Other things to think about, legally, are that our notion of ‘Freedom of Speech’ is not wholly guaranteed in a private workplace, only in public places, and where it does exist in these organizations, is constrained under certain circumstances, specifically:

§  Within state and local municipality laws that provide protections to employees during off-duty hours

§  When the NLRA protections are enforced for your workforce. These can be for both at the workplace and away from work.

o   More specifically, these begin to kick in if an employer is stating support for specific candidates, parties, etc. in terms of the conditions of employment – tying political speech to workers’ employment situation

§  Private sector employers have a right to forbid use of company e-mail for distributing political banter, cartoons, etc., and, they can restrict t-shirts or buttons with ‘political flare’, if the employee deals directly with customers.

This line can get even blurrier and harder to walk for federal or state government employers; many in these industries have solidified policies outlining exactly what, and when, employees can talk about regarding their political views. However, for those in private or public companies, taking a hard stance or creating over-reaching policies may not just be ineffective, they could be a breeding ground for resentment and mistrust.

Best practices tend to fall somewhere in the middle – realizing that different beliefs, values, and opinions are unique to every individual and should be respected as such, but it is also in the best interests of management and HR to keep the workplace as amiable and united as possible. In a teamwork environment, an issue like politics can more-often-than-not be polarizing and divergent – a cancer that can eat away at your business, customers, and moral.

Until next time, be Inspirational!

1.     http://www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/harass/breadth.htm

2.     http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2012/03/01/is-it-politically-incorrect-to-talk-politics-in-the-office/