{"id":9661,"date":"2016-04-28T10:53:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T14:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/?p=9661"},"modified":"2020-01-16T15:02:28","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T20:02:28","slug":"discussing-politics-nanny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/discussing-politics-nanny\/","title":{"rendered":"Discussing Politics with Your Nanny"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-9664\" src=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"discussing politics with your nanny\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-1080x608.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>One of the things some household employers struggle with is the idea that their home is a workplace when their nanny or other employee is on the clock. Because the home is a casual environment and not separate from where the family lives, it&#8217;s hard to draw the line between home and work when an employee is on duty. Employers that have a successful relationship with their employee recognize that their home is a workplace, and create policies accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>This year has already been an intensely political one (and will continue to be), with the presidential campaigns creating a lot of passion and debate on both sides. Because of how much the campaigns are in the news, it seems to be a natural topic of discussion, especially in a more relaxed setting like a family&#8217;s home. But it&#8217;s crucial to remember that just like in an office environment, discussing politics with your employee\u00a0may not be a good idea.<\/p>\n<p>The key thing to keep in mind is that you have a professional relationship with your nanny. While it may seem more casual because the nanny works in your home, it&#8217;s\u00a0his\/her workplace. So what do you do if your nanny shows up one day wearing a shirt in support of a particular candidate (especially if it&#8217;s a candidate you dislike)? Or has a campaign pin on a\u00a0purse or backpack? Are you allowed to ask that it be removed from your home?<\/p>\n<p>Generally speaking, a private employer can ask an employee to remove political signs\u2014or otherwise limit political expression in the workplace\u2014as long as they don\u2019t run afoul of protected Section 7 rights or applicable state laws.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlrb.gov\/about-nlrb\/rights-we-protect\/the-law\/interfering-with-employee-rights-section-7-8a1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act<\/a>\u00a0gives employees the right to talk about the terms and conditions of their work. While this law protects some political activities, it doesn\u2019t give employees a right to display political signs on their person or the right to discuss, during work hours, politics that aren\u2019t work-related. It is also important to keep in mind that several states more broadly protect the political speech of employees while off duty, so household employers should focus on workplace behavior and not on limiting the beliefs or protected outside activities of their employees.<\/p>\n<p>So what happens if you&#8217;re a nanny, and the family you work for tries to initiate a political discussion, even something as simple as asking who you&#8217;ll be voting for? In this case, it&#8217;s up to you as the employee to decline to discuss it. Tell them that you prefer not to talk politics at work, that you have a professional relationship and are uncomfortable bringing up personal issues. The family must accept this and respect your wishes, just as you must accept and respect their wishes should they not want you to wear clothing or have items that bring political issues into the home.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line, again, is that your home is a workplace when your nanny is there, and political discussions should be avoided. Keep the relationship professional and focus on topics that either pertain to the job or are just small talk. Families should include a section in their <a title=\"Top 5 Reasons for Having an Employee Handbook\" href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/household-employee-handbook\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">employee handbook<\/a> regarding political or religious discussions. That way you are covered if an employee ever takes issue with your restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on how GTM advises families on household HR issues like this one, <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact us<\/a> at (800) 929-9213.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This political season has been highly impassioned, with strong opinions being vented on both sides. While discussing politics with your nanny may seem natural, families must remember that their home is a workplace when the nanny is there, and political discussions at work are ill-advised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85,78],"tags":[33,41,45,91],"class_list":["post-9661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-household-employer-policies","category-retaining-employees","tag-household-hr","tag-nannies","tag-parents","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is it OK to Discuss Politics with your Household Employee?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Keep in mind that you have a professional relationship with your nanny. Just like in an office, discussing politics with your nanny may not be a good idea.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/discussing-politics-nanny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it OK to Discuss Politics with your Household Employee?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keep in mind that you have a professional relationship with your nanny. Just like in an office, discussing politics with your nanny may not be a good idea.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/discussing-politics-nanny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GTM Household\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-28T14:53:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-16T20:02:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-1024x576.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GTM Payroll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GTM Payroll\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GTM Payroll\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5696289a269315ec74e98df4f58f74fd\"},\"headline\":\"Discussing Politics with Your Nanny\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-28T14:53:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-16T20:02:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-1024x576.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"household hr\",\"nannies\",\"parents\",\"politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Household Employer Policies\",\"Retaining Employees\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/\",\"name\":\"Is it OK to Discuss Politics with your Household Employee?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/discussing-politics-nanny\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtm.com\\\/household\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/24101702220_33e934b5b7_o-1024x576.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-28T14:53:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-16T20:02:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Keep in mind that you have a professional relationship with your nanny. 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