At a glance
- Supporting social initiatives is becoming an increasingly important part of how employers operate however, for such initiatives to be truly inclusive and support the development of a positive organisational culture, employers should follow a few key rules.
- Participation in workplace social initiatives should be clearly communicated as optional, with no impact on career progression or performance evaluation.
- Employers should offer a variety of initiatives and welcome employee input to ensure activities reflect diverse interests and backgrounds.
- Employers must allow respectful feedback and ensure no one feels pressured to adopt particular beliefs or values through workplace activities.
Supporting social initiatives is becoming an increasingly important part of how employers operate. This is not only related to implementing rules on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but also to the fact that employees themselves often expect to be able to participate in and undertake CSR activities in the workplace.
In response to these needs, many employers are involved, for example, in charitable, intercultural and diversity-promoting activities.
However, for such initiatives to be truly inclusive and support the development of a positive organisational culture, employers should follow a few key rules. These help to maintain a balance between promoting social engagement and respecting the individual beliefs and values of employees.
Rules on the responsible organisation of social initiatives by employers
Voluntary participation: Clear communication to employees
- An employer may invite an employee to get involved in an initiative that is in line with the employer’s values, but it is not acceptable to exert any form of pressure on the employee’s decision. Participation in such initiatives must be entirely voluntary.
- It is therefore important that communication about such initiatives clearly indicate that the employer encourages participation but does not require it.
- Information about events should be communicated transparently, including the purpose, nature and form of involvement. The employer may also explain why it has decided to support a particular initiative, emphasising its alignment with the employer’s values.
- It should also be clearly communicated to employees that participation in social initiatives has no impact on performance reviews, promotion opportunities or other aspects of professional development. The employer should not impose any negative consequences on employees who are not interested in participating in an event or who express opposition to it.
Selection of events: Openness to diversity
- An employer has the right to initiate social, charitable or educational events, but should also consider employees’ suggestions and allow them to submit their own ideas.
- It is good practice to leave this area to the employees, who can organise themselves from the bottom up and submit requests to the employer to organise a given social event. The employer’s role is then limited to giving consent and providing administrative or financial support, if necessary.
- The initiatives organised should be thematically diverse so as not to favour one social group over another.
Employee reactions: Respect for diverse opinions
- Employees have the right to express their opinions about organised events, within the framework of so-called justified criticism of the employer. However, this criticism, expressed in an appropriate form and within the limits of the law and the rules of social coexistence.
- In such a case, and if the employee does not violate the above-mentioned limits, the employer cannot punish the employee in any way. A good solution may be to offer the employee the option of opting out of receiving information about supported initiatives.
- The employer also has the right to ask / instruct employees to address any doubts or critical comments exclusively to the event organisers, for example, and not publicly (ie to all employees) or 'externally' (eg on social media).
- Expressing opinions cannot take the form of insults, aggression or discrimination against other team members. As the court pointed out in one of the cases that we handled: 'It is one thing to express disapproval of receiving such invitations (in this case to an Equality Parade) from an employer, and quite another to state explicitly that one does not support certain people and is against them.'
- In such situations, the employer should respond by indicating the need to end the discussion and reminding the employee of the principles of mutual respect.
- An employee who is critical of the initiatives supported by the employer can be given additional explanations as to why the employer is involved in a given action. This type of communication should be conducted with great sensitivity so that it is not perceived as an attempt to influence the employee’s worldview or beliefs.
- The workplace should be free from any form of ideological indoctrination. Even in the name of tolerance in the broadest sense, situations in which employees feel compelled to change their beliefs – including those based on their religious faith – should not be allowed.
In some cases of this type, courts refer to the 'clean hands' principle, according to which a person who has violated the rules of social coexistence cannot then invoke those rules. Therefore, if an employer has introduced elements of 'coercion' to participate in a given social action (eg indicated in the invitation - your presence is recommended or attendance will be well received by managers), then, as a rule, it will not be possible to impose negative consequences on an employee who has criticised such actions. Even if the employee has exceeded the acceptable limits of criticism.
In summary, the key factors for the effective implementation of social initiatives in the workplace are:
- Voluntariness: No compulsion to participate and clear communication that participation is optional.
- Openness: Taking into account different perspectives, including critical voices.
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