For years, workers have been told to keep politics out of the workplace, but these days that can seem unavoidable. According to a recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, 42% of U.S. employees say they have personally experienced, and 44% say they have witnessed, political disagreements at work. Roughly 34% of respondents told SHRM that their workplace is not inclusive of differing political perspectives, and 12% said they have personally experienced political affiliation bias. A majority (56%) said that discussing politics at work has become more common in the past four years. "One year out from the 2020 election, we should expect to see political disagreements increase even further in the coming months," said Johnny Taylor, SHRM president and CEO, in a statement. "Companies can't, and shouldn't try to, quash these conversations because — contrary to popular belief — they're already happening. But what they can do is create inclusive cultures of civility where difference isn't a disruption."

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The trend isn't just happening among workers; employers are also becoming more politically vocal. "Companies need to be proactive, not reactive. We're talking about hot-button issues that fire people up, so it's important to put up 'guardrails' when facilitating constructive, inclusive environments where employees can disagree without being disagreeable," said Taylor. Experts agree that setting guidelines, such as agreeing to give all coworkers time to speak, can help promote healthy conversations at work.

Companies also feel pressure to take sides

Glassdoor said increased politicism among corporations is one of the biggest trends of 2020, as a part of its newly released Jobs and Hiring Trends for 2020 report. "Traditionally, companies have tried to be neutral politically for really obvious reasons," Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor tells CNBC Make It. "But the political climate in the U.S. is so contentious, so divided. There's a new scandal in the headlines every day, and it's taking over watercooler conversations at work. It's also putting CEOs under pressure to react in that environment." Chamberlain says the politicized climate is creating opportunities for companies to speak up. Taking a stand on "social issues that are closely linked to their mission and values can help organizations with talent attraction in a tight labor market, and it can be a win for them in terms of a company culture," he says, pointing to Patagonia's advocacy for environmental sustainability and Dick's Sporting Goods's stance on gun sales. But while large corporations and high-ranking CEOs may have some space to take political stances, Chamberlain maintains that individual employees should exercise caution when talking about politics at work. "Individual employees need to be extremely careful," he says, suggesting that workers find groups of like-minded coworkers and organize volunteering efforts. "Volunteering for a specific cause like homelessness, or whatever it may be, that's a way that people can safely express their political opinions in the workplace and help build team morale and culture at the same time. But I definitely think going it alone without being part of a larger group at a company is risky." To be sure, political speech can get you lawfully fired. "Private employers can fire you at will," Lata Nott, executive director of the First Amendment Center, told CNBC Make It. However, according to Nott, the company's reasoning for firing an employee cannot infringe on their civil rights. "Title VII protects your age, national origin, race, ethnic background, gender, religious beliefs and pregnancy status from discrimination, but it does not explicitly protect political speech at work."

What employees should keep in mind