With Midterms a Week Out, 85% of You Have No Written Policy on Politics at Work
We asked how your organization is handling politics at work ahead of the November 3 midterms. The most common answer was an unwritten rule (33%), then letting it ride (28%), already putting out fires (24%), and a written policy (15%). That means about 85% of respondents have nothing on paper a week before Election Day.
We have a few theories about why.
Everyone Says They’d Rather Not Talk Politics
In Monster’s Politics in the Workplace Report, published in September 2025, 68% of U.S. workers said they weren’t comfortable discussing politics at work, and 60% said it should be avoided entirely. If most employees already steer clear, there isn’t much reason to write a rule down, particularly one you’d then have to enforce the same way every time. The 28% of you letting it ride are counting on the same thing. Of course, the catch is that 67% of respondents in that same report admitted they’d discussed politics with colleagues anyway.
Written Policies are Legally Awkward
After Charlie Kirk was killed in September 2025, employment lawyers told the AP that private employers have wide latitude over speech at work. They also noted that some states protect lawful off-duty conduct, with exceptions that are far from clear. A blanket written policy has to survive that patchwork. An unwritten rule can be applied case by case, which works fine until two similar cases get handled differently.
The Fires Were Already Lit
In Brightmine’s Politics in the Workplace survey, published in November 2025, 64% of employed Americans said they had experienced or witnessed a political disagreement at work in the past year, and 27% said the political climate was distracting them from their jobs, up from 19% the year before. Against that backdrop, it isn’t surprising that a quarter of you were already managing conflict before Election Day.
Editor’s Note: These are HRinsidr readers who chose to answer, so treat the results as a read of the room and not a national benchmark.
HR ProfessionWe saw Saket Agarwal, VP & Global Head of People and Governance Technology at Walmart, speak at HR Tech last week about the AI-powered Talent Ecosystem the company built for its more than 2 million associates, and we knew we wanted to get to know him better.
Employee EngagementWe asked how your organization is handling politics at work ahead of the November 3 midterms. The most common answer was an unwritten rule (33%), then letting it ride (28%), already putting out fires (24%), and a written policy (15%). That means about 85% of respondents have nothing on paper a week before Election Day.
News & ComplianceOver the past two weeks, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) moved to withdraw its criminal records guidance, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized the end of certain automatic work permit extensions. New York City's fair chance hiring rules change October 30. The Second Circuit also revived a waiting time pay claim.
