Now that election season is upon us, it can create unique concerns for employers dealing with employees who wish to voice their opinions about a candidate or political issue. These opinions can be impassioned and have the potential to be both offensive to other employees and disruptive to the workplace as a whole.
Regulating political discourse often boils down simply to uniformly applying employer rules already in place to keep in check comments or statements that are considered offensive or disruptive.
In fact, private employers have significant flexibility to prohibit political discourse in the workplace, as long as the rules are applied consistently with respect to all employees. That said, employers should avoid discriminating against an employee simply based on his or her political views. There are a number of states that expressly prohibit discrimination based on a person’s politics.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.