Yesterday’s Advisor Advisor covered many key issues relating to political discussion and debate in the workplace; today, more on employer policies, and good news on your policies—they’re updated and ready to go.
Time Off to Vote
There is no federal law that requires employers to give employees paid time off to vote, but some states do have laws that regulate this area. Some states require that employees be given time off to vote if the polls are not available to them during work time. In most states, employers do not have to pay their workers for this time off unless the employees are exempt.
State Laws
State laws regulate various areas of political activity for employers and employees including time off to vote, PACs, off-duty conduct, paycheck proselytizing, employer endorsements, getting out the vote, and attempting to influence employees’ votes.
Job Applicants
There are few jobs, aside from political staffers, where political affiliation would be a valid employment criterion. Therefore, asking potential employees about their political views during interviews could lead to complaints that you are making employee decisions in a discriminatory manner.
Attempting to Influence an Employee’s Vote
Does the law prohibit an employer from attempting to influence an employee’s vote? There is no federal law on this subject. Many states, however, have statutes protecting the rights of public, and sometimes private-sector, employees to engage in political activity.
Many of these statutes limit the ability of employers to use political activity as a reason for discipline or discharge. Generally most state laws on the subject provide that you cannot coerce employees to make them vote a certain way.
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Nonsolicitation Policies
Generally, there are two types of solicitation: union solicitation and all others, including, but not limited to, political solicitation and charitable solicitation.
Solicitation can be a request for money or also include handing out informational pamphlets, putting up posters espousing a certain political belief, or a simple request for football tickets.
Employers may prohibit employees or others from this type of activity. Prohibitions are usually included in an employee handbook or posted rules. Security personnel or trained receptionists also can prevent solicitation. Rules against solicitation must be uniformly enforced.
So much for political activity policies. What about all your other policies? Detailed? Accurate? Up to date? Our editors estimate that for most companies, there are 50 or so policies that need regular updating (or maybe need to be written). It’s easy to let it slide, but you can’t afford to back-burner work on your policies—they’re your only hope for consistent and compliant management that avoid lawsuits.
Fortunately, BLR’s editors have done most of the work for you in their extraordinary program called SmartPolicies.
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In all, SmartPolicies contains some 350 policies, arranged alphabetically from absenteeism and blogging to cell phone safety, EEO, voice mail, and workers’ compensation. What’s more, the CD format makes these policies easily customizable. Just add your company specifics or use as is.
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