In the article, “Republican National Convention Ignites Heated Political Speech in Northeast Ohio Workplaces” featured in Crain’s Cleveland Business, Sarah Moore provides employers with the following tips to help manage political discussion among their employees:
- Review and implement policies: Employers should review non-solicitation, electronic communications and dress code policies to ensure compliance with all legal requirements and to place meaningful controls on political expression in the workplace. For private employers, this is key given recent National Labor Relations Board precedent.
- Provide “refresher” anti-harassment training: Employers should consider being proactive by providing “refresher” anti-harassment training to remind workers of their obligation to maintain a harassment-free work environment. Know your complaint procedures and follow them should any harassment allegations be made. Promptly and meaningfully handling complaints and taking action to diffuse situations will mean the difference between politics hijacking your operations and “business as usual.”
- Facilitate management meetings: To better manage politics in the workplace, consider having regular meetings with management from now through the end of the election cycle to discuss how employee political expression issues should be handled. For example, make sure each knows how to react to an employee saying “you’re violating my rights.”
To read the full article, please visit Crain’s Cleveland Business.
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