Controversial US elections stir up emotions run high everywhere, including in the workplace.

Political and social tensions have brought workplace incivility to an unprecedented level this year, according to an investigation of the SHRM human resources group. As American voters today finish choosing a new president, many are also bracing for plenty of tense conversations with their colleagues — whether around the water cooler in person, or on Zoom and other digital platforms.

“It’s hot in here,” says Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of SHRM.

Taylor and other human resources experts attribute some of the growing anxiety over political minefields in the workplace to this year’s contentious and unprecedented presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. They also accuse the lingering shadow of the violence of January 6, 2021, when a group of Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol.

This violence sends the message that “you have the right not only to disagree with someone, but to physically harm someone because of their political affiliation,” Taylor says.

For employers, the issue is not limited to harmony in the workplace. American businesses lose $2.17 billion per day due to reduced productivity and absenteeism linked to incivility, SHRM estimates.

Today, human resources leaders are bracing for potentially many more weeks of workplace uncertainty and disagreement over U.S. politics. After all, it could be days before the country knows the results of the presidential election — and months before the next U.S. president takes office.

“There is certainly a potential for exacerbating tensions and intensifying discourse,” says Amy Schwind, an attorney at Lowenstein Sandler who advises employers. “So how can you, as an employer, best manage this situation and minimize the risk of disruption? »

Here are three ways she and other human resources experts suggest companies and their employees can prepare for work in today’s election and its aftermath.

1. You can try banning political discussions at work – but don’t expect it to be easy

In recent years, some large employers have explicitly banned political discussions in their workplaces.

The crypto platform Coinbase did this in 2020, controversially tell employees not “debating internally about causes or political candidates that have nothing to do with work.” Google followed suit this spring after cooking dozens of employees who had protested its business dealings with the Israeli government.

But human resources experts interviewed by NPR said such blanket bans are often difficult to enforce in practice.

“It’s very difficult to deal with,” says Taylor. “As human beings, Americans talk about politics or social issues – and since all social issues ultimately seem to be political conversations, I don’t know how to enforce that.”

Supporters of two presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, talk October 29, 2024 in Pittsburgh.

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Some employers say they want to encourage workers to express their differences – in appropriate circumstances and with mutual respect.

“Part of building bridges is having conversations,” says Melissa Anderson, director of people and transformation at chemical manufacturer Albemarle.

His company, which is the world’s largest producer of lithium, has created employee resource groups and hosted internal conversations about current events affecting employees.

“In this time when people are feeling less safe, the best way for people to manage their emotions is to feel like they have a safe place to talk about them,” Anderson says.

2. Create a policy on how to talk about politics at work

Ignoring a problem is rarely a good thing in the long run – and whatever the outcome of this US presidential election, it won’t be the last time politics becomes a hot spot in the workplace. So if your office hasn’t yet established guidelines for how employees should interact on these tense topics, it’s never too late to start.

“Companies need to proactively sit down and think about their policy,” Taylor says. “There is a strong chance that there will be an act of incivility or disagreement, which could lead to violence. So how are we going to handle this?

Schwind adds that employers also need to think carefully about how they define the workplace, given the number of employees working remotely or interacting with colleagues online and on social media.

“It is possible that comments made by employees on their personal social networks could be seen by their colleagues and could potentially create problems,” she says.

Vice President Kamala Harris takes on former President Trump.

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Photos by Scott Olson/Getty Images (Harris) and Bill Pugliano/Getty Images (Trump)

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Companies that have already instituted and communicated workplace policies regarding social media, harassment and discrimination are best positioned to navigate this tumultuous week, Schwind says.

“These are all things that should have been in place well before this election and that employees should respect,” she said.

3. Prepare for uncertainty and unproductivity – and maybe cancel some meetings

While partisan feelings and anxiety about the election outcome are high, the cost to mental health – and office productivity – is rising.

For example, SHRM estimates that each time someone experiences an act of political incivility at work, it takes them more than half an hour to concentrate. As Taylor says: “It has a direct impact on productivity.”

Some employers are taking more drastic measures to reduce the risk of political confrontations in the workplace. Taylor says he recently spoke to a company that is canceling Wednesday and Thursday meetings so employees who voted for different candidates don’t have to interact.

He adds that this employer compared the US election and its impact on workers to another national event – ​​albeit one that is typically more celebratory and lower-stakes.

“They compared it to the day after the Super Bowl,” Taylor says. “We know nothing will be done.”