Politics: Trump v. Harris in the Workplace: Is Political Gear Okay?

Question:

Our problems started in September. Four guys in the warehouse started wearing Camo “Make American Great Again” hats. Two weeks later, they installed in a handmade sign inside the warehouse door that said, “This is Trump Country.” It didn’t bother anyone, or so we thought.

But apparently it did. Ten days later, two women in the accounting office came to work sporting “Make America Laugh Again” hats, and our front desk coordinator displayed “I’m Speaking” and “Madam Vice President” coffee mugs on her desk. This annoyed one of the warehouse guys who made stupid comments about her and her candidate when she walked by him in the parking lot.

She filed a grievance.

 The simple answer is for us to forbid political hats, shirts, signs and other gear. While many employers do this, our employees enjoy discussing why they like their candidates. Most of these discussions have been civil, though occasionally heated. Can you weigh in on what’s a legal and balanced way to handle this?

Answer:

You may have your answer. Your employees enjoy talking about politics, and most of them can handle it. Why punish everyone because one individual offensively commented about another person who backed a different candidate? Instead, discipline this one individual—if you decide he deserves it after you’ve investigated and found out the full story.

Some employers choose to prohibit all political discussions, fearing even benign comments concerning candidates or news events might escalate into bitter, emotionally charged workplace arguments that alienate coworkers or customers and negatively impact morale. These employers are within their rights if political discussions disrupt productivity or job performance. These prohibitions, however, can damage morale as employees don’t shut off their emotions or brains when they enter the workplace.

Many employers allow employees to have political discussions if they keep them brief, respectful and civil. Managers can then address political discussions that cross the line into hostile attacks or polarized verbal duels in the same way they tackle other forms of inappropriate behavior.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) gives private sector employees the right to distribute information to support political candidates or viewpoints that directly connect to work-related topics such as minimum wage, equal pay, or paid leave. A Trump button that supports no taxes on overtime pay or a Harris button that backs paid leave might be protected. The NLRA doesn’t protect employees who cross the line with careless comments regarding sex, race or religion that are discriminatory, harassing or incite violence.

Additionally, some states, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois, have laws prohibiting employers from disciplining employees who express their political affiliations.

Although private sector employees don’t have First Amendment rights to express their political views through office decorations or apparel, many employers allow employees to wear hats, buttons, T-shirts and to use mugs emblazoned with political slogans if they don’t occupy a customer- or public-facing position. Your receptionist’s mug poses a challenge if customers pass her desk; if they don’t, she deserves the same freedom you grant other employees.

You might create the balance you seek by following the same approach employers adopt concerning religion. Employees who passionately believe in their faith may express it, for example in statements or by wearing crosses, but they’re not allowed to “push” their faith on others. If you follow this same thinking, your warehouse employees can wear their MAGA hats, but they need to remove the “Trump Country” sign, because other employees enter that space.  

Finally, you may want to confidentially survey all your employees and give them the chance to weigh in on whether they want your company to allow brief, spirited political discussions. If you employ a significant number of individuals who feel these discussions interfere with their work, you need to listen to them as well.  

© 2024 Lynne Curry, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

p.s. You’ll useful material for handling challenging political discussions in “Just in Time;” “the Price You Pay for Avoiding Conflict,” and other chapters in Navigating Conflict: Tools for Difficult Conversations, https://amzn.to/3rCKoWj.

If you love the politics topic, you might enjoy https://workplacecoachblog.com/2023/05/political-discussions-in-the-workplace/

 https://workplacecoachblog.com/2019/07/how-to-deal-with-political-discussions-in-the-workplace/; https://workplacecoachblog.com/2016/03/politics-a-demotion-and-a-bosss-bad-habit/; https://workplacecoachblog.com/2020/10/employee-political-dispute-escalates-to-danger-level/; https://workplacecoachblog.com/2020/01/how-to-avoid-political-landmines-in-the-office/, or https://workplacecoachblog.com/2021/02/6-steps-for-healing-our-polarized-divided-country/.