Shareholder Nannina Angioni shared her advice for employers during this heated election season with French newspaper Le Monde for an article covering how American companies are approaching the hot contest from a human resources perspective. Her observations, translated, below and the link to the full article, in French, here.
Title: Speaking About Politics Yes, But Outside The Office
The right of political expression is protected by law. So says Nannina Angioni, of the law office Kaedian in Los Angeles, to her business clients. As elections approach, business owners have asked her more and more about what the right approach to this issue is. “These conversations can heat up quickly,” she says. “Sometimes, you can’t escape it. Don’t make a personal affair of it, don’t attack your clients.” advises the labor and employment attorney. And better yet, she reminds employers: “Refresh your internal policies so that sources of conflict are addressed and share these with your supervisors, as they are on the front lines and best placed to act quickly and stop a discussion before it becomes really sensitive.”
Of course, Facebook and Instagram have extended the breadth of what is possible [in the area of political speech]. “If you post on Facebook at night, from your own home, your employer should not intervene,” reassures Ms. Angioni. However, “if you do this at work, you do risk having repercussions.”