Top 10 questions about political activity in the corporate workplace
With the 2016 election quickly approaching, corporate employers are asking questions about what they and their employees can and cannot do to participate in the electoral process. These are some of the most commonly asked questions about employee participation in elections:
- Can we let an employee distribute candidate literature at the office?
- What about Citizens United? Aren’t corporations now permitted to freely engage in political activity?
- Can we suggest that our employees make contributions to a specific candidate who is especially supportive of our industry?
- It is critical to our business to get our current representative re-elected. Since this is a legitimate business need, can we reimburse our employees for any political contributions they voluntarily make to this candidate?
- Can we put information about voter registration or absentee ballots on the company website?
- Can our company support the local school levy?
- Can we place literature or a poster about a state or local ballot issue in our company’s public lobby for our customers and clients to see?
- Can we put a yard sign in our company window supporting a state or federal candidate?
- A candidate wants to come to our facility for a visit. Can we permit this?
- Are we required to give employees time off work to vote?
