Politics in the Workplace

With protests continuing across the country, wars abroad, and courts repeatedly confronting challenges to executive-branch actions, employers increasingly find themselves managing political speech in the workplace.  Even seemingly minor subjects can devolve into significant confrontations that, in turn, negatively impact the workplace and relations among employees.

SHRM has reported that 87% of employers were concerned about managing divisive political beliefs and conversations in the workplace, while only 8% maintained workplace policies addressing political expression.  Another survey of 1,000 workers showed that 59% believed their manager’s political opinions influenced their decision-making and leadership, and about 25% stated they had resigned or wanted to leave their job because of their boss’s political beliefs.  Also, SHRM’s Q2 2025 Civility Index found that employees who received little managerial support following incidents of incivility were nearly 48% more likely to look for another job than employees who received strong managerial support.

Applicable Law

Employers should be aware of applicable state and federal laws governing employee rights and related limitations concerning political speech in the workplace.  There is a common misperception that employees have a First Amendment right to free speech at work.  The First Amendment, however, generally applies to governmental restrictions on speech, not restrictions imposed by private employers. Consequently, private-sector employees ordinarily have no First Amendment right to political expression at work.[1]

Generally, under federal employment discrimination laws, political belief or affiliation is not, standing alone, a protected characteristic, in contrast to race, sex, religion, national origin, age or disability, for example.  That does not mean, however, that employers have unrestricted authority to regulate political expression.  Other federal laws and applicable state and local laws may also affect the analysis.[2]

Additionally, political expression may overlap with legally protected characteristics.  An employer that responds differently to employees’ political expression because of a protected characteristic may inadvertently create evidence of unlawful discrimination, even though political belief itself is not protected.[3]

In addition to federal law, employers should be mindful of applicable state law. Some states provide greater protection to workers based on their political views and activities than federal law provides – in particular, when those activities take place outside work. For example, subject to certain statutory exceptions, Colorado prohibits employers from terminating an employee because the employee engaged in lawful activity off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours, which courts have recognized can include political activity.  In contrast, North Carolina does not provide comparable general protection to private-sector employees but does protect State employees' off-duty political activity while restricting political activity during work time. 

What Actions Can Employers Take?

As an initial matter, it is generally neither realistic nor advisable to expect employees to simply leave their concerns behind when they come to work.  A blanket prohibition on workplace political conversations may unintentionally cause employees to feel silenced and cynical about management and impact morale.  However, even in a workplace with an established culture of respect and civility, political conversations can easily devolve into conduct that violates generally applicable workplace policies or disrupts the workplace.

Consequently, employers are well-advised to carefully craft, implement and communicate clear and relevant expectations concerning conduct at work, particularly in this divisive climate.  An employer’s approach will depend on its specific situation and culture. 

When crafting guidelines that address workplace political expression, employers may, for example, consider language that:

• acknowledges employees are living through an unusually contentious environment at this time and may, regardless of their political beliefs, be experiencing stress about the news cycle;

• reassures employees that the company expects all employees to be valued and treated with respect, regardless of political viewpoint or other differences;  

• establishes that open, healthy conversations and respectful disagreement are permissible, but disruptive or abusive conduct is not;

• encourages employees who choose to participate in these discussions to do so with curiosity, kindness and a desire to understand, rather than judgment, defensiveness, or an effort to change the other person’s mind;

• restricts actual political activity during working time, such as campaigning for political candidates, distributing political materials or soliciting political donations; and

• explains how employees may ask questions and bring concerns to the company’s attention.

Employers may also want to consider providing training to managers and supervisors that builds managers’ skills in conflict management and fostering civility in the workplace.  Those trainings may include, for example, a “refresher” on applicable company policies, a primer on basic employment laws, and training on listening skills, conflict de-escalation, understanding the underlying emotions in a conflict, and responding to workplace disruptions, such as when to get HR involved and when to send an employee home.

The Takeaway

In today’s especially divisive climate, political disagreement will sometimes spill into the workplace.  The takeaway is straightforward: (1) focus policies on the company’s values and employee conduct rather than political viewpoints, (2) enforce those policies consistently, and (3) consider training for management.  Don't police which political opinions employees express.  Rather, establish rules concerning conduct, such as heated confrontations, bullying and intimidation, harassment, disruption, and campaigning during working time, and apply them evenly.  Also, review the company’s existing workplace behavior policies in connection with legal counsel to ensure they are drafted neutrally, clearly apply to political expression in the workplace, set clear expectations, and do not inadvertently infringe on employees’ protected rights. 

The objective is not to eliminate political disagreement at work but to keep disagreement from turning into disruption, disrespect, harassment, inconsistent treatment or unlawful conduct.  Taking the steps described in this post can go a long way toward achieving that objective.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.  Readers should consult legal counsel regarding their specific circumstances.

[1] This post primarily addresses private employers.  In limited circumstances, however, a private entity may be treated as a state actor and therefore may be subject to constitutional constraints.

[2] Other federal, state and local laws may also restrict employer conduct relating to political coercion, such as pressuring or inducing employees to vote for or contribute to certain political candidates or parties.

[3] Often overlooked, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects covered private-sector employees in both unionized and non-unionized workplaces. While the NLRA does not expressly address political speech at work, it protects the rights of nonsupervisory employees to engage in concerted activity to improve working conditions.  Consequently, employers should be mindful that the NLRA may protect concerted employee discussions or advocacy concerning political or public-policy issues that bear directly on employees’ wages, benefits or working conditions.  An employer, therefore, should not assume that speech may be restricted merely because the subject is “political.”