The Law: What about politics in the workplace?

The November general election is rapidly approaching, and discussion of political issues is beginning to intensify.

Since any workplace is a community in which its members hold a variety of political views, free speech and tolerance will certainly be tested. Occasionally office political discussions erupt into heated arguments, which can impact productivity, employee morale and working relationships.

Accordingly, many employers are re-examining their rights and policies regarding political activities in the workplace.

The basics

As a private employer in Iowa (not a public employer), what can you do regarding such political discussion and expression in the workforce?

Frankly, as much or as little as you want. Many people incorrectly believe that the First Amendment guarantee of free speech makes it unlawful for a private employer to discipline or fire them for political expression in the workplace.

However, the First Amendment only applies to “state action,” not to private employment.

Unlike several other states, “political discrimination” is not unlawful in Iowa, unless the conduct at issue ties to a federal or state statute prohibiting discrimination on other grounds — for example, religion under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or union activity or discussions about such matters as wages, hours, and other terms or conditions of employment under the National Labor Relations Act.

Moreover, employers themselves have the right to engage in political activity in the workplace, including communicating with their employees about a company’s support for or opposition to legislation or regulations.

However, it is a federal crime to interfere with an individual’s abilities to vote for federal candidates or coerce that individual to cast a ballot in a specific way.

What to do?

How should an employer proceed?

First, good or bad, people have opinions about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Accordingly, encourage your employees that no matter the topic, they should be respectful in their communications and to talk about their policies rather than their personalities. You should encourage your employees to be inclusive and their tone optimistic.

Another related land mine will involves workplace debates about a particular candidate's fitness for office, which often include mention of age, genders, races or religions or their views on hot-button social issues such as abortion and immigration, on which there are high emotions and opposing views among employees of different ages, genders, religions, national origins, etc.

The potential for heated disagreements — and inflammatory, impulsive, ill-advised comments — is obvious.

Unfortunately, such comments sometimes result in claims of discrimination or retaliation in which it is alleged that “my supervisor is biased against [women/non-Christians/Hispanics] as shown by his comments about [health care/abortion/immigration policy]” or “the company punished me because I disagreed with my boss about [a social issue implicating gender, nationality, or religion].”

Some employers choose not to do anything.

While employers may not want to be restrictive with regard to their employees’ political opinions and affiliations, most prefer their employees to focus on their jobs (and permit their colleagues to do the same) during work hours.

You are in luck.

Simply stated: Courts recognize that work time is for work. Courts recognize that employers have a legitimate interest in preventing any non-work activity (be it political discussion or conversation about a less controversial topic) from disrupting their business’ efficient operation.

Accordingly, if political discussion impairs productivity — either the productivity of the speaker or of the person(s) to whom the political speech is addressed — management can and should intervene.

Focus on the disruption, not the content of the speech (unless the content is unlawful harassment on the basis of a protected class.)

Rules to consider

In order to avoid any misunderstandings, private employers may want to consider the following workplace rules:

Iowa employers are allowed to adopt these practices in the interest of their company’s legitimate business interests and to keep employees concentrating on their work, not their politics.

Fostering a culture of inclusion and respect will help ensure that political differences do not disrupt the workplace.

Wilford H. Stone is a lawyer with Lynch Dallas in Cedar Rapids. Comments: (319) 365-9101; wstone@lynchdallas.com