Can your employer tell you to remove...

[tink_n_pooh]

but you are parking on company property right?

In theory yes - the company rents the property, the boss doesn't own it

 

[jenm2878]

I would think it could fall under a dress code type thing since you are a representative of the company. He probably doesn't want to allign the company with one side over the other which could potentially irritate clients. JMHO.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

A few years ago, I gave a friend a ride to her car, and noticed a Pro-Choice bumper sticker on her car. I asked if she was worried about retaliation from Anti-Abortionists, and she said no, not at all. When she got in her car, there was anti-abortion "literature" on her windshield wiper. Luckily, that was as far as it went.

My point being...maybe, with the way that some people can get pretty intense and downright hostile when it comes to the election and political views, they want to be careful about fueling the fire on their property. Just a thought. Whether they can legally make you remove it, I don't know. I tend to have pretty harmless ones (ie, "Virginia is for Lovers" is one) and wouldn't personally put anything on my car that might incite some nutcase to want to slug me!

 

[ford family]

I am big on personal freedom and free speech.

Things that this country was founded on.

Well, only as long as you were white, and male.

As for the bumper sticker, either remove it or move on.
I figure the boss is also the company owner.
His company, his rules.

ford family

 

[happygirl]

I think the can refuse to let you park on company property, It doesn't really matter if they rent our not. That still the company property while they are renting it

 

[connorlevismom]

What is the type of business your company does? If there are clients coming into the building then I see your bosses point of view. He may lose clients because of your sticker. People get very emotional about politics and I am sure that he does not want to seem like the company leans one way or the other.

Kristine

 

[pr surfer]

It was suggested for me to remove my Bush lied/People died bumper sticker at my old job.

It was a good thing I had already given my two weeks notice

 

[Amlee]

OP, I don't think they can make you remove the sticker from your car. But it doesn't matter if your company owns the property or not. If they are renting, that gives them the right to say what goes on the property. An yes they can tell you where to park or not.

We leep all polictial material out of our office. As there are truly people out there that would not do business with us, if they found out the way we voted. Good Gosh! Just let these Southern Baptist think for one minute that a company's owner if for us going wet. They can shut that business down in days!!

See I find that to be wrong on different levels. I know it is probably the policy of many employers, but this correlates right along with surfing your employees out on MySpace and their Blogs to see what their private lives are. Private is private, work is work.

Here is the thing about your post. The OP isn't keeping things private. If the sticker is where others (by others I mean clients, or other employees) can see it then it's no longer private. An if said others are offended or upset by what has now been made public, then yes it's the boss's business.

If you want to keep something private then do just that. Don't put it or post it where ever Tom, Dick or Harry can see it.

 

[LotsOfQuestions]

a bumper sticker from your car?

Today my employer mentioned to me that he does not know if he can allow me to continue to park my vehicle in the driveway of our place of employment (we rent the building, we are the only company in the building) because of a bumper sticker I have on my car.

This bumper sticker states my political viewpoint. There is no profanity, its very PG, it just shows my political viewpoint.

At first I thought he was kidding as we often joke about things like that but nope, he actually said he was quite serious. I don't know what exactly to think of it but I'm thinking that it would not be legal for an employer to tell any employee what he/she can put on their car. This is very annoying that my boss would even mention something like this, I always thought he was a lot more open minded than he really is after all.

Is your company or the owner of the building a charitable organization, ie a 501c3 or such?

Under 501c3 law, you cannot at any time espouse any political viewpoints. Consequently, no cars in the company parking lot would be allowed to have political sayings on the cars otherwise the company could lose their 501c3 status.

This would be why you be allowed to have a "pretty" bumpersticker, but not a political one.

And from what I have read, your manager did not ask you to remove the bumper sticker, only that you could not park in the company lot.

And even if it is not a legal requirement, it seems this is a privately owned company lot - they get to decide what parks in it. And they really don't have to explain it to you.

Anything that is in their building or in their parking lot represents their company. So, they have the absolute right to dictate what is said about their company.

Much like they can tell you that you cannot have the corner office if you are not a VP, they can tell you that you cannot have a parking space if you have what is deemed inappropriate (for the company) sayings on your car.

 

[MAKmom]

I can understand how your boss feels. It is very bad for business to have political signs. I own my own business & the building we are in. I would have loved to paste HILLARY signs all over but had the sence not to. I would never risk loosing a customer over politics....especially in this economy.

I did have the HILLARY signs at my home....and boy did I get comments

 

[Deb in IA]

I see you are in New Jersey.

I Googled NJ Employment Law, and found this:

Employment
At Will

In New Jersey, employees are presumed to be "at will." At-will employees may be terminated for any reason, so long as it's not illegal. Generally, employees who work under an employment contract can only be terminated for reasons specified in the contract. In New Jersey, if an employer shows express proof that an employee is employed at-will, even an implied contract will not overcome the presumption of at-will employment.

http://research.lawyers.com/New-Jersey/Employment-Law-in-New-Jersey.html

 

[Mean Queen]

When I worked in TV news we were told to not put political stickers on our cars because it could give the illusion of a bias. So I can see why some employers would make that rule.

 

[GeorgeG]

I'm wondering if there would be an issue with a client with the same bumper sticker parking in the lot. Perhaps your boss should clarify his request.

 

[Mom2Nick]

OP here, just stopping back in to see what everyone had to say...


Just to add - my job is nothing even remotely close to political. I suppose if he says take the sticker off or park somewhere else I will park elsewhere. Actually, maybe I will park somewhere were people might actually see the sticker since you have to be in our driveway (which no one ever is) to even see the sticker.

I bet it will blow over but I'm really interested in seeing what other DISer's have to say


Back to add: We have no employee hand book, closest thing we have is a paper that we all had to sign that says we will not give up any trade secrets or customers contact info for 2 years after our end of employment.

There is only one other full time employee that even has a car to drive... and he doesn't have any stickers on his car yet. I have had stickers of variuos sorts (just pretty stickers, nothing political) ever since I have worked here and he has never said a word.

As far as being "at will" we have nothing stating either way but to my basic understanding of this law, you are at will unless otherwise noted but I don't really know for sure. I know my husbands company makes everyone sign an at will statement

NJ is an at will state. Handbook or no handbook - we are still an at-will state.

You don't have to do anything with the sticker however if yoru boss is mad enough he can fire you and not have to give you any reason why. I'd just cover the sticker

 

[shellybaxter]

Actually you can and it has happened. During the last election, a woman in CA was fired for having a Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker on her car. Her boss was a Bush supporter.

Here is the story:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/2005-06-12-off-duty-usat_x.htm

I don't know anything about NJ employment law but if it is a right to work state, you can be fired "for cause" and that cause can be the bumper sticker.

Actually that woman wasn't in California, she was in Alabama. She could not legally have been fired in California as employers are not to control or direct their employees politcal activities.

Here is a link for a story about a woman in California who was fired for a progressive radio bumper sticker and is suing the company

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/03/09/news/sandiego/20_24_273_8_06.txt

 

[pdchris]

Hmmm... I have no idea if it is legal or not but this is sure to be an interesting discussion!
I can sorta see it from both sides; depending on where you work, if you are sporting a sticker that is in contradiction with your company's policies or reputation then I can see it being an issue. Otherwise, if you work at McDonald's and your boss is republican and you are a democrat then I don't think he has a leg to stand on...

I agree. Let's say the OP worked for GM or Ford and had a bumper sticker that said "American cars stink!" I should think the employer would have the right to ask the employee not to park in the company parking lot.

 

[Imzadi]

What is the type of business your company does? If there are clients coming into the building then I see your bosses point of view. He may lose clients because of your sticker. People get very emotional about politics and I am sure that he does not want to seem like the company leans one way or the other.

Kristine

Yes, I agree with what connorlevismom says, (although I do not agree with her signature ) especially if your bumper sticker is emotionally provocative, saying something like: Abortion Kills, or Gays for Governor. You know if it is or not.

I agree. Let's say the OP worked for GM or Ford and had a bumper sticker that said "American cars stink!" I should think the employer would have the right to ask the employee not to park in the company parking lot.

That actually IS the case if you work for PepsiCo. I was there, working a freelance job. I went to take a swig out of my bottled water and my boss almost went nuts, making me toss out the bottle before anyone saw it. The brand, which might have been Dasani, I don't remember, was bottled by the Coca Cola company. Oops!

I found out, that when hired, each PepsiCo employee has to sign a form stating they will not buy, own, use, carry, etc. any products by their competitors. Furthermore, if their car is searched in the employee parking lot, or they have a family picnic and Coca Cola products are in their car or at the picnic, they could be fired. PepsiCo employees are representatives of PepsiCo even in off duty hours.

I'm sure Coca Cola has similar employee rules.

 

[Magix]

Freedom of speech issue, plain and simple. Your employer may be able to fire you for it, if he wishes, but I'm certain the American Civil Liberties Union would be delighted to hear about it if he did. While some may be advising you that this isn't worth fighting, I'd advise that this isn't something your boss should want to push too far.

For my part, I'd fight it as far as it needs to go. No employer is going to control what I put on my privately owned vehicle.

 

[swea_pea1]

I once had an employee who's uncle was running for mayor. Of course, she supported him and she had a campaign button stuck into the cork-board at her cubicle and she wore another on her blouse.

HR got wind of it, called she and I into the office, and told her that she was not permitted to show political support in the office at all. They reprimanded me as well because as her Manager I should have put a stop to it when I saw it.

At my current job, HR breezed through the floor one day and saw several folks with religious screen-savers and some with prayers (think Footprints) hanging up in their cubicles. Same thing - the management team was instructed to insist all religious material be removed immediately.

It does not surprise me at all that an employer wouldn't want political sign-age in the company parking lot, even if said sign is adorning a car. Whether you like it or not, most of the time in corporate America you're considered a representative of that company. The Pepsi example is a good one. They can tell you what to do in your off-hours because you're representing the company every time you pop open a can of soda.

As they say, it is what it is.

 

[Imzadi]

Freedom of speech issue, plain and simple. Your employer may be able to fire you for it, if he wishes, but I'm certain the American Civil Liberties Union would be delighted to hear about it if he did. While some may be advising you that this isn't worth fighting, I'd advise that this isn't something your boss should want to push too far.

For my part, I'd fight it as far as it needs to go. No employer is going to control what I put on my privately owned vehicle.

He didn't tell her what she can & can't put on her car. He CAN tell her he doesn't want her to park on privately owned property that he rents, thus being given permission & rights to use for his specific purposes, if he wants to.

And it's always interesting to me, when other people tell someone to fight for a cause, (although I also agree with the 1st amendment principles.) Are you going to pay her rent when she's out of a job fighting for this?