Talking politics at work is probably not a good idea. In fact, a growing number of companies are implementing policies that ban or restrict it.
Everybody has political opinions, but when it comes to the workplace, most people would rather not talk politics.
“Obviously in our market in D.C., that is a little bit different. But generally, from our research we found that a lot of people would prefer really to just do their jobs, and politics is a disrupting factor,” Grayson Kemper, at D.C.-based B2B research firm Clutch told WTOP.
If you do bring up politics, don’t assume you know where your coworkers stand.
“Not everyone is necessarily friends with their co-workers. Relationships can be based purely on the professional level,” Kemper said.
“At small businesses it can be a little different. You may know people outside of work and go to happy hour, but a lot of times you are not totally sure what your coworkers believe.”
Companies may be worrying a lot more about on-the-job political discussion than employees are.
In Clutch’s survey of 500 office workers, only 9% said they have felt uncomfortable at work because of political expression.
