Politics & the Workplace

The general election is but a few weeks away, and with the live debates between the leaders of the main parties capturing the nation’s interest, and the majority of the airwaves, it seems there is little else being discussed. Can this pose problems for your business?

Generally speaking, in the public sector there are restrictions on political bias, with employees being contractually bound to remain politically neutral at work. However, this is not necessarily the case for private sector employees. It is therefore worth a look at the risks involved in trying to manage political views in the workplace, and the effects these views may have on other employees.

A policy which seeks to ban political activity in its entirely is probably a step too far, but employers do need to take measures which strike an adequate balance between the rights of the individual and the needs of the business.

With legislation in place to prevent unlawful discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief (which could arguably encompass political beliefs) employers do need to be careful in how these matters are handled.

A sensible approach would be to have in place a clearly defined and transparent policy on political activities, which outlines the acceptable parameters, and the needs of the business to be able to function effectively without disharmony often caused by conflicting political views.

Such a policy might state that employees should not:

• Use any company time or property for the dissemination of political views;
• Act in a manner likely to create the impression that the business itself endorses a particular political stance;
• Seek to foist their view upon others, as this is conduct that could amount to harassment or intimidation of fellow employees;
• Wear any items of clothing or accessories (such as t-shirts or badges) which seek to outwardly display support for a political view. (This is particularly important for customer-facing staff for the reasons stated above).

Of course specific employment law advice should be sought in any particular case, and it would also be wise to encourage the individual employees to contact HR if they are unsure about the extent or applicability of any of the rules in the policy.

It is possible that in the coming weeks there could be complaints from employees who have been offended by the views of others. This is a difficult situation which ought to be handled within the framework of the existing grievance procedure. Employees will perhaps refer to their perceived right to Freedom of Expression under the European Convention on Human Rights as justifying their actions in promoting a political idea within the workplace.

However, any such employee would need to be reminded that the right to freedom of expression is not absolute and always needs to be balanced against the rights of others in the workplace.