Can, or Should, Employers Prohibit Employees from Wearing Political Gear in the Office?

With a presidential election coming up in three months, politics are a hot topic of conversation nearly everywhere you go—including the workplace. As a result, many employers are considering whether to issue or adjust policies to address civility among employees, set rules for political discussions, and even clarify dress codes.

One common question: Can employees wear political gear into the office or display other paraphernalia supporting a candidate or political cause?

As long as speech and images are not violating anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws, political statements and images can legally be permitted in the workplace.

But ultimately, employers are allowed to dictate what’s appropriate and allowed, just as they often regulate work hours or have rules about dress codes.

In the private-sector workplace, employees traditionally do not have First Amendment rights to express their political views through office decorations or apparel.

But in the current climate, the definition of what is considered political has broadened to include many topics for which an employee may indeed have the right of expression in the workplace. For example, if employees are joining together to improve their working conditions—such as protesting gender, race, or religious discrimination in the workplace—then wearing so-called political apparel could be protected speech under the National Labor Relations Act. And the act provides such protection even in workplaces where employees are not currently represented by a labor union, he noted.

The difficulty for an employer in defining what is meant by political speech means that the employer risks being overbroad, which creates a bigger problem than was present with the original decoration or clothing. Instead, employers are well served to remind all employees of existing anti-harassment or respectful-workplace policies and take action if there is a complaint about unwelcome, offensive, or intimidating behavior by an employee toward a co-worker.

For the most part, when it comes to the upcoming presidential election, employers will most likely want to avoid allowing workers to wear or decorate with obvious political paraphernalia—such as a Donald Trump shirt or a Kamala Harris sign in one’s office.

Even an employer that champions engagement and self-expression should consider whether it should be allowed. Simple parameters such as prohibiting names and images of politicians, names and logos of political parties, and identifiable campaign slogans are a good place to start as such prohibitions can help minimize the emotional heat that is often an unintentional consequence of political expression.

In general, most employees prefer that politics not play a big role in the workplace. Recent data from jobs site Monster found that 68% of workers are not comfortable discussing politics at work. While 64% of workers say they respect their co-workers’ rights to their political beliefs without passing any judgment, 33% say they have judged co-workers negatively based on their political beliefs.

Richard Birke, chief architect of JAMS Pathways, a conflict resolution firm that works with employers, said permitting employees to wear clothing with overt political statements may be offensive to colleagues or stir up arguments or incivility in the workplace.

“At our company, for example, we want to help you solve your problem; we don’t want to incidentally get in a fight with you on the way in by wearing a T-shirt advocating for a particular candidate,” he said.

Communicating Policies

Leading up to the election—and even afterward—employers should communicate clear policies around political gear and paraphernalia to employees and enforce those policies, experts said.

The policies should apply to all workers, including remote workers who may appear on video calls. If you’re on a Zoom call for work, you’re at work.

As a best practice, if a private-sector employer issues a policy about restricting political decorations or apparel, the employer should ensure it applies the same restriction to all nonwork-related decorations or apparel.

The employer has to be diligent about enforcing the same restriction when it comes to charitable causes, community events, religious organizations, and even favorite sports teams or entertainers.

Avoiding Halloween Pitfalls in the Workplace

Seasonal office parties, complete with decorations and costumes, can be a great opportunity for employee engagement, communication, team building and simply having fun with co-workers. 

However, we should recognize that things can go awry and people may have other concerns that will need to be addressed. Not all employees want to participate in decorating the office, wearing a costume or attending a party, or want to deal with decorations, costumes and behaviors that are inappropriate.

As leaders, we need to maintain professionalism in the office, even during Halloween. Workplace rules and dress code policies still need to be enforced. Here are some tips to communicate the organization’s expectations and hold everyone accountable.

• Indecorous decorations? Companies are generally advised not to decorate for Halloween and to communicate to employees that “gruesome or graphic or otherwise distracting decor is not allowed.”  You may want to consider allowing a a small pumpkin decoration on one’s desk as acceptable, but “witches, demons and goblins can be unprofessional and potentially offensive to co-workers and customers.”

• “What dress code?” Employees depart from the dress code we normally expect at work for costume events such as Halloween, and for casual days, but the main policy still needs to be enforced.  Organizations should give examples of appropriate and inappropriate costumes or casual wear to make sure employees follow the rules. Examples of Halloween costumes that could raise red flags include a giant inflatable “poop” emoji, a famous comedian hauling away an unconscious woman, celebrities who overdosed or committed suicide, the president with a garish comb-over wig, as well as the commonplace “sexy” outfits. If employees violate the policy, send them home to change or ask them to cover the offending attire. Coach and counsel or discipline as needed.

• “Is this mandatory?” The organization should make clear that participation in any Halloween festivities is voluntary and that no one will be forced to do anything. Some employees may be offended or even afraid to celebrate something they associate with evil, and supervisors need to be sensitive to that.  Proper supervisor and manager training can also help with this.