SPOTLIGHT: Politics at work
January 2024
Spotlight: January 2024
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Less than half of U.S. workers say they are "satisfied with their organization's response to social change issues," according to a new survey by The Conference Board.
Just 44% of U.S. workers say they are "satisfied with their organization's response to social change issues like racism and gun violence."
87% of U.S. workers believe that organizations should "always or sometimes respond to social change issues." (Within that 87%, 39% say organizations should "always respond," while 48% say organizations should "sometimes" respond. (That's a decline from 2020, when 72% of workers said organizations should always respond and 27% said organizations should only sometimes respond.)
However, workers say they “prefer that an organization take internal action rather than public action to address an issue.”
On DEI-related issues related to race, ageism and gender inequities, over half (51%) of U.S. workers say they "expect internal action." Only 32% of respondents believe their organization should take "public action regarding racism."
When it comes to issues related to "nationalism, geopolitical conflict, or gun violence," only "around a quarter" of U.S. workers say they "expect internal action."
40% of U.S. workers said racism is the "most important social change issue," with gun violence and geopolitical conflict coming in a “close second at 38% of workers.” Just 24% of U.S. workers believe organizations should take "internal action" when it comes to geopolitical conflict.
70% of U.S. workers said their organization's CEO is the "main communicator about social change," while 51% said the role falls to their organization's CHRO.
"Silence on social change issues is becoming less of an option for many organizations. But responses need to be both agile and authentic, while also taking into account to the often-competing concerns of different stakeholders."
Read more via The Conference Board
With a U.S. presidential election looming in the not-too-distant future, experts are reminding employers on how to handle political speech in the workplace.
Employees do not have a Constitutional right to discuss politics at work:
It is a common misconception, according to experts, that "employees have a constitutional right to “talk politics” at work."
Employers understandably believe that the "First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prevents employers from standing in the way of their employees wearing political buttons or voicing their opinions at the water cooler."
Yet, the First Amendment offers no such protection, and "only guarantees citizens the protection of free speech from intrusions by the government."
Private sector employees simply “do not have First Amendment protections at work.”
Private employers can 'curb employee speech and expression,' with 'certain limitations':
Just because employees of private sector companies don't have First Amendment protections at work doesn't mean they don't have other protections under other laws, including state laws.
Experts say some states have laws pertaining to "free speech" or "political activity" that "impact what kinds of practices and policies employers can legally implement."
A number of California statutes "provide legal protections for private employees engaging in political speech at work." (Read more about California's laws here.)
Connecticut workers have "free speech protections, and employers are prohibited from disciplining or discharging employees for exercising their free speech rights with certain limitations." (Read the statute here.)
Employers operating in multiple states should exercise caution when “crafting their political speech policies in order to ensure that they are legally compliant.”
Political speech policies need to be crafted so that they don't violate other laws.
Experts say employers need to ensure their political speech policies don't run afoul of other laws, such as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
The NLRA protects employees “right to engage in speech and expression related to working conditions, which could include discussing compensation and benefits, supporting a candidate based on the candidate’s support of fair wages, and other issues.”
Ensuring political speech policies apply consistently:
Political speech policies must be applied "consistently to all workers."
In 2020, a number of Whole Foods employees filed a lawsuit "alleging that they were disciplined and fired for wearing Black Lives Matter face masks." While Whole Foods had a policy barring its workers from "wearing apparel with visible slogans, messages, or advertising that aren’t company related," the workers who filed suit claimed that "Whole Foods did not previously enforce this dress code policy for other causes, including sport teams names and logos, political messages, and support for LGBTQ issues."
Employers should take care to "refrain from restricting speech that contrasts with their political beliefs while permitting speech they are aligned with," as "doing so could open the door to discrimination lawsuits and other legal consequences."
Read more via National Law Review, American Bar Association, Association of Corporate Counsel
The portion of Americans who believe political violence may be "necessary" has risen, according to a new survey by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution.
23% of Americans agree that "because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country." (That's a marked increase from 15% in 2021.)
75% of survey respondents agree that "American democracy is at risk in the 2024 presidential election."
Read more via Axios, 2023 American Values Survey
Businesses are bracing for political protests and other unrest heading into the 2024 U.S. election season.
Businesses fear escalating unrest:
Experts say the upcoming presidential election is taking place "against a backdrop of political polarization."
Increasingly, protestors are "taking their grievances to the streets," leaving many business leaders to "warily" consider the risks "escalating political polarization" could have on their employees and organizations.
U.S. cities have seen a surge in protests and demonstrations on a range of "contentious topics."
U.S. business leaders now rank "escalating political polarization" as their "second most important emerging risk," according to a Gartner report. (Generative AI comes in first.)
A December survey by risk and compliance firm Diligent found that "more than a third of board members said that U.S. election and political uncertainties pose the greatest risk to their company’s operations or outlook."
83% of respondents to a Navigator Research survey said they are “concerned about political violence.”
The cost of unrest is high, especially for businesses "on the front lines":
In May 2020, Target "temporarily shut down 175 stores" as a result of protests over the murder of George Floyd -- protests that resulted in "estimated insured losses of greater than $2 billion," according to the World Economic Forum.
Businesses with locations or offices in cities are "often on the front lines."
Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, Walmart opted to remove both guns and ammunition from store shelves "in anticipation of potential unrest."
Hotels in New York City are readying to supplement security staff to keep property and guests safe ahead of the upcoming election season.
“The increase in demonstrations and protests we’re observing globally will likely be true in the U.S. as well, particularly as we approach the primaries, large-scale campaign events and the general election."
Read more via Wall Street Journal, Gartner
Discussing politics at work has long been "considered taboo," but times appear to be changing, according to new data from Glassdoor. More than half of U.S. workers say they have discussed politics at work in the last year. With the 2024 presidential election on the horizon, experts say that trend is likely to increase in 2024.
Over the past year, 8% of active company-specific Glassdoor 'bowls' (where workers from a single company can connect) had a "conversation featuring either President Biden or former President Trump" and 21% had a "conversation about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East during the week after it started."
61% of U.S. workers say they have "discussed politics with colleagues at work over the past 12 months." Men are more likely to discuss politics at work, with 67% of men saying they have done so compared to just 54% of women.
62% of younger women (ages 18-34) say they have discussed politics at work in the past year, compared to just 49% of older women (ages 35 and older).
Younger workers aren't just discussing politics -- they are also "more likely to expect that their employers be vocal on current political issues."
Young workers are "less comfortable with politically diverse workplaces, and are more sensitive when senior executives have political views different from their own."
82% of workers overall, but only 72% of Gen Z workers, say they are "comfortable working with colleagues who have very different political views from their own."
49% of Gen Z workers say they "would not apply to open roles at a company where the CEO supported a political candidate who they did not agree with."
Only 45% of U.S. workers believe their employers "should take public stances on important current political issues such as abortion, immigration, or LGBTQ rights."
When it comes to women, there is a stark age gap. 82% of women ages 18 to 34 say they are "most likely to feel supported when their companies take public stances on the issues they care about," compared to just 49% of women ages 35 and older.
Read more via Glassdoor
The most significant "security-impacting hazard" in the next year is expected to be economic unrest, according to a new report by Allied Universal.
Globally, companies "lost a combined $1 trillion in revenue in 2022 due to physical security incidents," according to the report.
Companies are bracing for a surge in both threats and hazards including social and economic unrest, climate change, fraud and theft.
46% of security leaders anticipate a significant increase in physical security budgets in order to "keep people, property and assets safe."
Leaders say they plan to focus investments on both "advanced technology" (including AI) as well as upskilling security professionals.
25% of companies reported a "drop in their corporate value following an external or internal security incident during the last 12 months."
47% of companies reported that economic unrest is the "greatest security-impacting hazard in the next 12 months."
38% of security leaders say they expect climate change events to impact their organizations in the coming year.
Other risks leaders anticipate impacting security over the next year include social unrest (35%) and war or political instability (32%).
Half of respondents are anticipating their organizations' to be impacted by individuals involved in either cybercrime, protests, espionage or fraud, up significantly from the number who anticipated the same last year.
The "biggest internal threat in the next 12 months" is expected to be "leaking of sensitive information," according to 36% of respondents.
84% of leaders anticipate recruitment of security professionals to be "challenging over the next five years."
Read more via Security Magazine, Allied Universal