Managing pre- and post-election angst: 7 tips for HR.

• Author: Hyman, Jon
• Position: WHAT I WOULDN'T DO: Legal Updates from HR's Trenches

Our country is more divided than we have been in over 155 years. If this division exists in our society, you can guarantee it also exists among your employees.

Given our 24/7 news cycles, social media and the overall unavoidability of the 2020 election, these issues will bleed into discussions among your employees at work, and outside of work on social media. Some will be happy with the election results, some will be mad, and many will want to discuss.

While I believe that employees should not discuss politics, it is simply not realistic to ask or expect your employees not to. These discussions will happen among co-workers, just as they happen among families and friends.

Thus, instead of trying to stop them, employers should be promoting ground rules that hold employees accountable for their behavior, focused around one key theme ... civility.

Political discussions are okay, if they are civil discussions. No one will yell, no one will talk over anyone else, no one will disparage anyone else, and we respect all people and all lawful (i.e., not racist, sexist, xenophobic, etc.) ideas.

So how do we promote this civil discourse around an issue that can (and has) brought out the worst in people?

1. Remind employees of your expectation through general (and nonpolitical) civility or respectfulworkplace training.

2. Establish a clear differentiation between political opinions (tolerated) and unlawful harassment or other more generalized bullying (not tolerated).

3. Do not have an organizational position toward one candidate or another.

4. Consider keeping workplace televisions (such as in the lunchroom)...