How to handle the 2020 General Election in the workplace

General Election advice by Alan Hickey, Associate Director of Advisory at Peninsula

Now that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed the general election date for Saturday, February 8th, it’s a good idea for employers to consider how the upcoming vote could affect the workplace.

As politics can be an emotive subject for both employers and employees, many organisations might like to make their premises a politics-free zone.

While this approach may seem tempting, putting it into practice is near impossible, so here are four workplace issues to consider in the run-up to the general election:

1. Discussing politics in the workplace

While it’s not realistic to prohibit political discussions at work, it is important to remind employees to be respectful. Political views are personal to each employee, and if you have a diverse workforce, there is a risk that differences of opinion may turn confrontational.

Enforcing a total ban on political chat in the workplace is not feasible, but reminding employees of their obligations under your dignity and respect policy can ensure that employee discussions remain respectful and appropriate to the workplace.

2. Displaying political allegiance in the workplace

If employees want to wear political symbols in the workplace, this could pose a problem for your business. If your employees work in customer-facing positions, it’s best to have a dress code confirming that wearing clothing or accessories that display political allegiance won’t be permitted.

Most businesses will prefer to remain politically neutral to maximise their customer base. Make sure your dress code applies equally to all members of staff and that it can be justified by a legitimate business aim to ensure no unlawful indirect discrimination is taking place.

3. Expressing political views via social media

Employees who use social media as part of their duties should ensure that all posts are appropriate and comply with your social media policy. You can’t regulate personal social media activity, but you should certainly remind employees about their obligations under your social media policy. If employees disclose that they work for your business online, they should state that their views do not represent those of their employer.

4. Facilitating requests for time off to vote

Although it’s a rare Saturday election, seven days a week operations may still need to deal with requests for time off to vote. The easiest way to facilitate employees is to show some flexibility around working hours or allow employees to make up time on a different day. From an HR perspective, it’s good practice to confirm all such arrangements well in advance. For employers that do provide flexibility to allow employees to vote, flexible work requests must operate consistently. An inconsistent approach may lead to subsequent complaints or allegations of less favourable treatment.