Let’s Talk Politics: An Employer’s Guide to Navigating a Divisive Election Season

The coming election year promises to be turbulent, and your workplace will unlikely be immune from the challenges that are sure to face employers. As political passions run high, for most employers it will be more a question of when, rather than if, workplace disruptions will occur.  As we have seen in the past, these disruptions include employees arguing with, refusing to work with, shunning, and/or harassing co-workers with opposing political views. Considering what you can do as an employer to prepare for this impending workplace dynamic raises several questions, such as: 

• Can you prohibit all political speech in the workplace? What about prohibiting just whatever political speech you want?  
• How about political speech outside the workplace or on social media? 
• Can you discipline or terminate an employee who violates your political speech policy?  Should you? 
• Can you as an employer encourage employees to vote for a specific candidate or position?  
• Is your organization publicly supporting a political candidate? If so, do you have a plan on how to respond to employees who object to the company’s position? 

 Join attorneys from Fisher Phillips to learn the answers to these and related questions, and for practical tips on what you can do to effectively address these unique challenges.