Ask a Manager: Can Your Company Urge You To Vote For a Particular Candidate?

[minoanmiss]

Can your company urge you to vote for a political candidate? The company my husband works for was founded by the family of the wife of a current candidate for the U.S. Senate. The entire C-suite and most of the employees are very conservative politically. I’ve already asked my husband to keep quiet about being a member of the opposite political party, as I know that political affiliation is not a protected class.

The president of the company sent out an email that basically says they “strongly urge” all employees to vote for their in-law for the Senate. My husband thinks this is illegal; I think it’s a bad idea, but legal.

You’re correct: bad idea but legal. Private employers can indeed urge employees to vote a certain way. They can’t explicitly threaten employees’ jobs over it, but they can urge you all they want. Some states do have additional restrictions; for example, New Jersey prohibits employers from requiring workers to listen to the employer’s political opinions, and a handful of other states forbid employers from posting notices saying that they will shut down if a particular candidate wins.