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Election Stress in Your Office? 8 Answers to Employers' Most Important Questions

By Jonathan Segal
November 8, 2016
Entrepreneur

Election Stress in Your Office? 8 Answers to Employers' Most Important Questions

By Jonathan Segal
November 8, 2016
Entrepreneur

Read below

Jonathan Segal

We just saw the first Presidential debate. No matter what your view, I think we all can agree it was contentious. The feelings of the campaign in general, and the debates in particular, will undeniably leak into workplaces. What do you do? Or better yet, what don’t you do?

To help guide you, here are eight questions and answers to help handle political workplace discussions.

1. Don’t employees have a First Amendment right to say what they want politically?

No. The First Amendment applies only to restrictions imposed by the government. Private sector employees have no First Amendment rights in the workplace. If you are an entrepreneur, you can prohibit employees from talking politics without worrying about the First Amendment.

There is one exception -- keep in mind some state constitutions, such as California, apply (or may apply) to private sector employees. So a ban in California, for example, is asking for trouble.

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