What to Do When Employees Talk About Politics at Work

Knowing the current political climate, peoples views on politics will unavoidably show up in the office. With so many opinions and beliefs going around, a discussion could turn into an argument among the employees.

As an employer, we must maintain a supportive and collaborative team and positive company culture, especially within a small business. Do not let politics create divisions or harm working relationships.

We can start by setting a few guidelines around the types of speech and behaviour that are acceptable and taking a zero-tolerance approach to harassment.

Discussing politics in the office

While it is very tempting to ban all political talk to avoid any issues altogether, this will likely have a negative effect. If employees feel that their communication is being monitored and controlled, it will create a tense work atmosphere. You can try to ban political discussions, but your staff may continue to have conversations somewhere else.

The chance to take part in some political chat could encourage employees to take an interest in current affairs, but be sure to remind the employees to be respectful of everyone's views. If a conversation starts to get heated, tell them to walk away. Try your best to be as neutral as possible, and advise line managers to do the same.

It's also crucial that discussions don't affect the level of work done by employees. If the productivity starts to decline because the employees are too busy debating, remind them that they're on company time. They can continue the discussion on their lunch break, or after working hours.

If you're telling the employees to ease up on the chatting, you should focus on the distraction being the main issue, and not their views or beliefs.

If a conversation starts to get heated, it's best to walk away
 

No campaigning in the workplace

A little political chat is alright, but if an employee attempts a full-blown political campaign in the office complete with posters, that's where you draw the line. This behaviour will cause arguments and damage relationships between employees and possibly clients.

You should discourage the wearing of political signs or slogans, and make sure you are consistent with your approach.

Dealing with political harassment in the workplace

The main concern for employers is the possibility of light-hearted political discussion turning into potential bullying or harassment. You can prevent this by creating a policy for your employee handbook, which states that this type of behaviour may be treated as misconduct and dealt with through the disciplinary procedure.

Even if someone made general comments and not directed towards a specific person, it can still count as harassment if the person finds the comments offensive or threatening.

Politics is a very sensitive issue, it's understandable why most employees would rather not discuss it at work.

Social media rules for employees

It's impossible to control what an employee chooses to post on their personal social media pages, but you can ask them to be careful. Avoid anything that's potentially offensive or threatens your company's reputation, as well as actions that could become a disciplinary issue.

Can you dismiss an employee for their political views?

In short, no, you should not dismiss an employee because of their beliefs or what political party they belong to, even if they're at direct odds with what you believe is morally right.

Nevertheless, if their beliefs extend to disruptive activities such as trying to recruit others or offensive behaviour towards colleagues, you may need to start a disciplinary investigation. 

Source: CitrusHR

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