You may have seen the headlines in July that a school dinner lady was suspended for attending a protest march organised by an ex-English Defence League (EDL) leader. Or in August a former Google employee hit the headlines after the company let him go amid an outcry over a memo he had written which criticised Google’s diversity initiatives that went viral. If an employee is expressing controversial views or criticising the company in the workplace then their line manager would be quick to deal with the issue. But what can you do when an employee is expressing controversial views outside of working hours or that leaks in to the public domain?
Between legal protections and a company’s policies this can be a difficult area for any employer to navigate. What employees do in their own time doesn’t necessarily interest their employer. But with the increasing rise in the use of social media, sometimes employee’s controversial views more easily get in to the public domain. This can leave employers in a difficult position with many gaps and grey areas.
As an employer how do you decide when to take-action?
Has the employee’s speech or actions affected the workplace? Whilst you might believe people have the right to express their views and it isn’t any of your business, by doing nothing you run the risk of alienating other members of staff and creating a hostile working environment.
If for example an employee is expressing views against women or racial prejudice in the workplace, or publicly expressing them on a social media site, then other employees may feel threatened or intimidated at work. Especially if the controversial views are being expressed by a manger or another senior figure, who is responsible for recruiting and promotional decisions.
Employers could be held liable for not removing that employee to protect others in the company.
How should you handle the situation?
When you are deciding on how to deal with an employee’s controversial views, start by looking at how serious they are, and who if anyone else has been affected by them. Depending on the severity you may be able to start by speaking to them about any inappropriate conduct and going through the company policy on what is acceptable and what is inappropriate.
Revisit your policies and employment contract, you need to define explicitly what isn’t acceptable. If your current policies don’t provide protection or guidance on what is and isn’t allowed then revise them to make sure that this is clear. These will need to be clearly communicated and consistently applied.
You need to have clear guidance, communication and be consistent to create a great working environment that will protect your employees and your business from liability.