Political discussions at work: What should your workplace policy cover?

Midterm elections are approaching, and political discussions at work become harder to avoid. Employees start discussing their thoughts about candidates, ballot issues, news stories, or public policies during breaks, in group chats, or sometimes in front of customers. These discussions do not mean small business owners need to ban them. It does, however, mean it can help to set boundaries before disagreements start affecting the workplace.

Political speech at a private workplace is not automatically protected by the First Amendment. Federal employment discrimination laws generally do not list political affiliation as a protected characteristic. The First Amendment does restrict government action, but it generally does not prohibit a private employer from regulating employee speech simply because it is political.

It's important to note that political conversations can also touch on issues that are protected by employment laws. For example, a disagreement about a political issue could include comments about an employee’s race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. Those characteristics are protected under federal discrimination laws. State and local laws may provide additional protections, including in some cases protections related to political activity or affiliation. Employers should consider these protections when deciding how to handle political discussions at work.

Focus your policy on conduct, not viewpoints

You may not need to write your policy from scratch. Many of the same standards you already use for employee conduct can be applied or adapted for political discussions.

Employees may have disagreements, but discussions should not interfere with work, disrupt customers, involve threats or intimidation, or violate your existing anti-harassment and discrimination policies.

Remember, a political disagreement is not automatically unlawful harassment. The situation changes when a conversation includes unwelcome conduct tied to a legally protected characteristic. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) explains that harassment based on protected characteristics is unlawful when it results in an adverse employment action or becomes sufficiently severe or pervasive.

Your existing workplace conduct policy may already cover much of this, but review it anyway. Make sure it includes disruptions at work, interactions with customers, harassment, and how employees should report a concern.

Consistency matters when problems arise

Not every complaint will be as straightforward, and managers should know when to escalate an issue.

For example, if your policy prohibits employees from having disruptive non-work conversations while serving customers, apply that rule consistently regardless of the political position being discussed.

Managers should also know when a complaint needs a closer look. A conversation about politics could overlap with protected workplace activity. For example, the EEOC specifically addresses workplace religious expression, which can overlap with political conversation. Under federal labor law, covered employees may also have rights to act together and discuss issues involving wages, hours, benefits, and other working conditions.

A political disagreement can also become a different workplace issue when comments involve a protected characteristic such as race, religion, sex, or national origin.

A blanket “no politics” rule may not solve every situation. Focusing instead on workplace conduct gives managers something more concrete to address when a problem comes up.

Questions to consider about politics in your workplace

Before adding another rule to your employee handbook, Rocket Lawyer recommends reviewing what your current policies already cover.

• Do we need a separate policy for political discussions? Could our existing conduct, harassment, communication, or customer-service rules already address most concerns?
• When does a conversation become a workplace problem? Does it disrupt work, affect customers, involve intimidation, or potentially violate another policy?
• Do managers know how to respond to complaints? Would they recognize when political speech may overlap with protected workplace activity or a protected characteristic?
• Are we applying our rules consistently? Would we respond the same way if employees expressed opposing political viewpoints?

What to do next

1. Review your existing policies. Check your conduct, anti-harassment, communication, social media, and complaint procedures before creating a separate political speech rule.
2. Set clear behavioral expectations. Focus on disruption, respectful conduct, customers, threats, harassment, and use of company resources, not particular viewpoints.
3. Prepare managers for complaints. Give supervisors a clear process for documenting concerns and escalating situations that may involve protected rights.
4. Check applicable laws. State and local protections can vary.

Your employees do not have to agree with each other. What matters is having workplace expectations that managers understand and apply consistently when disagreements come up.

This story was produced by Rocket Lawyer and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.