Employment expert discusses tech company’s downfall after trying to ban political talk
When software company Basecamp made changes to ban ‘societal and political talk’ on their company account, many of their employees reacted in outrage. Nearly a third of their employees took a buyout and left the company in the days following. Basecamp CEO Jason Fried has since apologized, but the company’s decision to ban certain topics still stands.
But should employers be allowed to ban political or social justice topics in the office?
“Yes,” says Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA, an employment solutions firm with locations across the country. “What Fried and company co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson essentially did was ask people to stop using the company’s internal software to have political discussions. Instead, they encouraged employees to have these conversations on Slack, WhatsApp, or Signal. They even said employees could have these conversations on a personal Basecamp account, but simply not on their company account.”
Wilson says employers have the right to ask employees to only communicate about work-related matters when using company software. But, it gets trickier when it comes to non-remote employees.
“Banning political talk conversations becomes more difficult when you’re trying to monitor in-person employees and their personal conversations in the break room or throughout the office,” says Wilson. “It’s harder to create a culture where those types of conversations aren’t allowed but you’re still fostering free speech and letting employees be individuals.”
Furthermore, says the employment expert, some political discussions are protected by labor laws, such as conversations around unionizing and workplace conditions.
But when it comes to topics like gun control or politics, employers have more free rein to ask employees to lay off the debates. Instead, Wilson says offering virtual alternatives for political talk like Slack or WhatsApp can be useful.
“If you notice your employees keep arguing during lunch or across the conference table, ask them to nip it in the bud and take the debate to Slack or somewhere else online when they aren’t on the clock,” says Wilson.
You can also be proactive in offering training sessions to help instill office policies and professional workplace behavior. “It doesn’t need to refer directly to political talk, but any seminars or training sessions you offer to help build your company culture and make all your employees feel safe is a good idea.”
For more on this topic, please contact Rob Wilson at rwilson@thewilsoncompanies.com.