Expert Opinion: Why party politics is best kept out of the workplace

With the general election looming, the political classes have wasted no time in hurling abuse at one another.

If the so-called political elite can’t keep the debate civil, can it be done any better in the workplace? Unlikely.

There is scope now for opinion to become really distilled. Where once politics tended to be two-tone: you were either Labour red or Tory blue, it’s now become a whole lot more colourful.

There is the yellow of the Lib Dems, green of the, well, Greens, purple of UKIP – not to mention the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Northern Irish parties. If, for example, a former Labour voter found a once Conservative colleague’s opinions distasteful – and vice versa – imagine how they might feel now they have been able to fan out left and right to become ‘Greens’ and ‘Ukippers’. And if co-workers may struggle with their differences, it could be even worse between bosses and their employees.

It would be a shame to lose a star employee over polarised political opinion, and would be downright dangerous for a boss to risk clouding their professional judgement during appraisals, after learning of staff political leanings. Many topics are best left private, and although it may dominate the news for the next few weeks, it may be best if politics is one of them.

While an outright ban may be heavy handed you could discourage political discussion by requesting that political leaflets and the like aren’t left in communal areas.

Peter Jones runs the HR Dept in Swindon and Wiltshire. www.hrdept.co.uk/offices/south-west/swindon