Supplemental materials for LEAP 2025 session Balancing Civility and Employee Expression in the Workplace
As the election nears, your employees are going to bring some of their political opinions to work. It’s your job as a responsible employer to keep the workplace free of harassment. You can and should train employees to interact civilly with one another, even those with different political views.
But that can be difficult when public discourse from politicians descends to levels that would be inappropriate at work, creating a hostile work environment.
Recently, with the emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate, there has been a flood of social media memes and comments centering on her sex, race and national origins. If employees share some of this content via company email, text or other official channels, it could trigger harassment lawsuits.
Take, for example, a recent widely circulated comment about single cat ladies being unfit for office. Could it be interpreted as an insult to women in general because of their sex or reproductive status? What about comments about Harris being a “DEI candidate”? That could be seen as a racist comment stereotyping Black or Asian individuals as less capable than others.
Here’s what employers can do to maintain civility in contentious times:
Reinforce your electronic-communication rules. Remind all employees that they may not use company-owned computers, email systems, smartphones and text-messaging applications to share political memes or comments that denigrate anyone’s protected characteristics. Explain that sharing such content may create a hostile work environment for customers, clients and co-workers.
Ensure private social media doesn’t implicate the company. Remind employees that what they say or share on private social media must not mention the company or tag co-workers or customers who may find the message harassing.
Hold a meeting. It may help to hold an all-hands-on-deck-type meeting. Remind staff of your communication and anti-harassment policies. Explain that you will investigate all reports of harassment or statements that may create a hostile work environment. Follow up with a disclaimer that you are not prohibiting civil discussions that address politics or the election.
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