Ron Chapple Stock Today's Water Cooler Talk About Current Events Can Lead to Tomorrow's Legal Headache
Employers can expect that a significant portion of employees returning to the office are eager to get back to socializing with co-workers about non-work-related issues. Employers must recognize that some of these discussions could lead to claims of a hostile work environment under the federal and state anti-harassment laws.
August 20, 2021 at 12:00 PM
9 minute read
In March of 2021, YouGov and Otter.ai released the results of a study conducted into various issues relating to employees who have been working at least partially from home since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that 43% of remote workers miss "water cooler chats" and "office chatter." Since the results of this study were released, New Jersey has seen and will likely continue to see more and more employees returning from virtual workplaces to in-person work settings. Based upon this study, employers can expect that a significant portion of these employees are quite eager to get back to socializing with co-workers about non-work-related issues. Employers must recognize that the water cooler talk that employees will engage in these days will very likely be much different from the discussions that were occurring when COVID-19 first stuck in March of 2020. Many of these discussions could lead to claims of a hostile work environment under the federal and state anti-harassment laws.
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