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In our latest installment of Ask the Expert, brought to you by the team of industry experts at HR Hero®, we look at a recent question from a subscriber regarding political discussions (and disagreements) in the workplace. Q: I have an employee who has requested FMLA and has worked for us for 11 months, but has worked […]
HR professionals have the responsibility to enforce workplace rules, promote cooperation, insist on civility and respect, and—most of all—remind folks they are on one team, at least in the workplace. Meanwhile, another election season is imminent. How do you keep people working productively when those very divisive discussions are happening at work?
by T. Harold Pinkley Participating in last year’s Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia—an event that involved several groups usually identified as the “alt-right,” along with groups protesting the marchers—has proven to have unforeseen and unintended consequences, including job loss, for some of the people involved. This article examines how you can or should […]
by David L. Johnson Recently, a Pennsylvania YMCA stopped showing cable news shows on the TVs in its gym because they were prompting political squabbles among its members. When filtered into the diverse workplace, passionate opposing political viewpoints can harm productivity and morale and even create liability issues for employers. Sometimes political discussions can morph […]
It’s an employer’s nightmare. An employee shows up in a video making the rounds on social media taking part in a protest that includes violent clashes and racist insults. The employer wants no association with such actions and decides to cut ties. Will there be legal trouble if the employee is fired? Possibly, according to […]
by Luke Draisey It’s likely that 2016 was a year that most people won’t soon forget. It was a year marked by international turmoil, celebrity deaths, and unprecedented political disunity. We saw Great Britain’s decision to withdraw from the European Union, the genesis of the Zika virus, and the deaths of several cultural icons, including […]
by Courtney Bru None of us were immune from this year’s presidential election dynamics. Disrespect and name-calling have seemed more prevalent than policy discussions. The election was highly polarizing, potentially pitting employee against employee. In the midst of it all, employees were often misinformed about their “free speech rights” in the workplace. A recent instance from Georgia […]
It’s everywhere. Whether you like it or not, you can’t escape it. While the topics of politics and social justice are undoubtedly important discussions to have in our country, the reality is that they now seem ever present. Consider, for example, two popular entertainment outlets many individuals usually go to in order to “escape” from […]
As the race for the White House sees the Republican and Democratic candidates heading to their national conventions, political tension is making its way from the campaign trail into the office. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, three in 10 employers (30%) and nearly one in five employees (17%) have argued with a coworker over […]
During every political campaign, I am reminded of the notion that if we speak about our co-workers or subordinates in the manner in which the American voter speaks about political candidates, we should expect some remediation by our superiors or human resources. For example, if we question the legitimacy of an employee’s birth certificate, criticize […]