It wasn’t long ago that politics, like religious affiliation or sexual orientation, was a taboo topic in the American workplace. Political beliefs were considered a private affair—off limits to the boss.
But today employers increasingly are approaching workers to raise funds, lobby and campaign in ways they never have before, according to a new Reuters analysis of FEC filings and data compiled by the Business Industry Political Action Committee. The Washington, D.C., trade group, which has offices across the street from the White House, helps firms such as Wal-Mart, Halliburton and Lockheed Martin mobilize employees on policy issues important to the companies.
BIPAC is working with top U.S. companies on a massive employee voter registration drive in September in preparation for the 2016 presidential election. For years it was unions and trade associations that were the politically powerful workplace players, operating political action committees that raised millions of dollars to support their preferred candidates. But since a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed for unlimited political spending by corporations, the number of companies engaged in this sort of activity—be it nudging employees to write letters, donate, campaign or vote—has risen 45% to 7,317, according to BIPAC’s internal research, seen by Reuters.
The new approach to workplace giving is called “E2E,” or employer-to-employee outreach. These PACs donate to both Democrats and Republicans, depending upon who supports policies and issues favorable to the business interests of the corporation.
Employees at the nation’s top firms are contributing more money than ever before to company PACs controlled by CEOs and senior management, according to April 2015 quarterly fundraising and spending documents disclosed to the U.S. election regulator, the Federal Election Commission.
An analysis of FEC filings of 122 of the top company PACs shows employees raised a median 25% more in the first quarter of 2015 versus the like period four years ago. For the PACs analyzed, the median amount of contributions collected was $130,842.
To encourage this sort of donation, some companies are attaching perks—such as prime parking spots and matches for charitable giving—to the political donations.
