The Brief

The contentious U.S. election is causing emotions to run high everywhere — including at the workplace.

Political and social tensions have sent workplace incivility to an all-time high this year, according to a survey from the human-resources group SHRM. As U.S. voters finish choosing a new president today, many are also bracing for a lot of tense conversations with colleagues — whether around the in-person watercooler, or over Zoom and other digital platforms.

“It’s getting hot out here,” says Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM’s president and CEO.

Taylor and other HR experts attribute some of the growing anxiety over political minefields at the workplace to this year’s divisive and unprecedented presidential contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. They also blame the lingering shadow of the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, when a group of Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

That violence sent a message that “you have the license to not just disagree with someone, but to physically hurt someone because of their political affiliation,” Taylor says.

For employers, there’s more at stake than workplace harmony. U.S. businesses are losing $2.17 billion per day from reduced productivity and absenteeism relating to incivility, SHRM estimates.

Now human resources executives are bracing for potentially many more weeks of uncertainty, and workplace disagreements over U.S. politics. After all, it could be days before the country knows the results of the presidential election – and months before the next U.S. president takes office.

“There is definitely potential for heightened tensions and increased discourse,” says Amy Schwind, a lawyer with Lowenstein Sandler who advises employers. “So how, as an employer, can you best navigate that and minimize the potential for disruption?”

Here are three ways she and other HR experts suggest that businesses, and their employees, can prepare at work for today’s election and its aftermath.

1. You can try banning political talk on the job – but don’t expect it to be easy

In the last few years, some prominent employers have explicitly banned political discussion at their workplaces.

The crypto platform Coinbase did it in 2020, controversially telling employees not to “debate causes or political candidates internally that are unrelated to work.” Google followed suit this spring after firing dozens of employees who had protested its business relationships with the Israeli government.

But HR experts who spoke with NPR said that such blanket bans are often hard to enforce in practice.

“It’s very difficult to manage,” says Taylor. “As human beings, Americans talk about politics or social issues – and because all social issues ultimately feel like they’re political conversations, I don't know how you enforce that.”

Supporters of both presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, have a conversation on October 29, 2024 in Pittsburgh.

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Some employers say they want to encourage workers to air their differences – under the right circumstances and with respect for each other.

“Part of building bridges is having conversations,” says Melissa Anderson, chief people and transformation officer for chemical manufacturer Albemarle.

Her company, which is the world’s largest lithium producer, has created employee resource groups and hosted internal conversations about current events that are affecting employees.

“In this moment when people feel less secure, the best way for them to handle their emotions is to feel like they have a safe place to talk about it,” Anderson says.

2. Do create a policy around how to talk politics at work

Ignoring a problem rarely works out well in the long term – and whatever the outcome of this U.S. presidential election, this won’t be the last time that politics becomes a flashpoint in the workplace. So if your office hasn’t already figured out guidelines for how employees should interact around these tense topics, it’s never too late to start.

“Companies need to proactively sit down and think about their policy,” Taylor says. “The odds are good that there [will be] an act of incivility or disagreement, up to and including violence. So how are we going to deal with this?”

Schwind adds that employers also need to think expansively about how they define the workplace, given how many employees work remotely or interact with colleagues online and over social media.

“There's potential for things that employees say on their own personal social media to be seen by their colleagues and to potentially create issues,” she says.

Vice President Kamala Harris is facing off against former President Trump.

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Photos by Scott Olson/Getty Images (Harris) and Bill Pugliano/Getty Images (Trump)

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Businesses that have already instituted and communicated workplace policies over social media, harassment, and discrimination are in the best position to weather this tumultuous week, Schwind argues.

“These are all things that should have been in place well before this election, and that that employees should be abiding by,” she says.

3. Do prepare for uncertainty and unproductivity – and maybe cancel some meetings

With partisan feelings and anxiety over the outcome of the election running high, the cost to mental health – and productivity at the office – is mounting.

For example, SHRM estimates that every time someone experiences an act of political incivility at work, it takes them more than half an hour to recover their focus. As Taylor says, “That directly impacts productivity.”

Some employers are taking more drastic steps to reduce the possibility of workplace confrontations over politics. Taylor says he recently spoke to one business that is canceling meetings this Wednesday and Thursday, so that employees who voted for different candidates aren’t forced to interact.

He adds that this employer compared the U.S. election, and its impact on workers, to another national event – if one that’s generally more festive and lower stakes.

“They likened it to the day after the Super Bowl,” Taylor says. “We know nothing’s going to be done.”

The restaurant:

Detroit-style pizza is hard to find in Southern California, given how far away it is from the Motor City.

Angelenos can consider themselves fortunate though to have a spot tucked in West Hollywood — DTown Pizzeria. The pizzeria is owned by Ryan Ososky, the 2025 Pizza Maker of the Year at the International Pizza Expo. He's received numerous honors for his pan pizzas.

The food: 

Oskosky's been all over the map during his time as a chef, and he's worked under the likes of Michael Mina, Charlie Palmer and Wolfgang Puck. After gaining all that experience, he’d eventually start a pizza pop-up in West Hollywood.

“I’m a chef by trade, but I guess I just happen to own a pizzeria and won some awards around it,” Ososky said.

What Austin tried:

• Goomba
• "Haole" aka not Hawaiian
• The 313
• The 1946 cheese

The verdict:

“Excellent puff of flavor in the middle of an excellent pizza, soft crust,” Austin said after trying the pepperoni-topped Goomba slice.

When taking a bite of the 313, Austin said “the pesto on top of this zings it up,” adding, “It stays moist … but it’s got a moist and crisp with soft dough.”

Listen:

Los Angeles Angels legend Garret Anderson has died. The team announced his death today on social media.

The cause and location of his death were not immediately announced.

"Garret was a cornerstone of our organization throughout his 15 seasons," owner Arte Moreno said in a statement, "and his stoic presence in the outfield and our clubhouse elevated the Angels into an era of continued success, highlighted by the 2002 World Series championship."

Anderson's story is a Southern California one in so many ways. He was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, where he was a three-sport star in baseball, basketball and football. He won All-Los Angeles City and All-League Honors as a junior and helped lead Kennedy's basketball team to an L.A. City Championship.

The Angels drafted him out of high school in 1990, and he made his Major League debut in 1994.

He spent all but two of his 17 Major League seasons with the Halos and was a key player on the 2002 team that won the franchise's first, and still only, World Series.

After the Angels decided not to renew his contract at the end of the 2008 season, Anderson signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2009 before returning to SoCal in 2010, this time as a member of the Dodgers. He spent a single season there before retiring in 2011.

He leads the Angels all-time in a slew of statistics, including games played (2,013), hits (2,368), RBIs (1,292), doubles (489) and several others. He was a three-time All-Star, the 2003 Home Run Derby winner and All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

But Angels fans will probably remember him best for his go-ahead, three-run double in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. It gave the Angels a 4-1 lead, which they never surrendered.

But despite all the accolades, one of the most impressive stats from Anderson's career was his reliability. He had a stretch of eight seasons where he appeared in at least 150 games and played in at least 140 games in 11 of his 17 seasons in the pros.

Shortly after he retired, he joined the Angels television broadcast team to provide pregame and postgame analysis.

The Angels will wear a special "GA" memorial patch on their uniforms for the remainder of the season. They'll also play a tribute and hold a moment of silence in his honor before tonight's game against the San Diego Padres at Angel Stadium.

This story first appeared in The LA Local.

For Koreatown resident George Chan, the appeal of public transit in Los Angeles is simple: avoiding the daily grind of driving.

“I don’t like cars, so I’m all for having more public transportation,” said Chan, who lives near Olympic Boulevard and Hobart Street and uses transit about twice a week to get to work in Culver City. “I feel like that’s one of the things L.A. really lacks, a working public transportation system. You go to any other major city and you’re able to take a train anywhere, but here you can’t.”

Even if it takes longer, he said, public transit offers something driving doesn’t.

“I don’t have to sit in traffic. I don’t have to deal with drivers at all,” he said. “I feel pretty comfortable on the train and bus, so it’s not a big deal for me.”

That’s why Chan is looking forward to the opening of the first phase of the Metro D Line extension on May 8, which Koreatown residents like him say will make it easier to reach some of Los Angeles’ most visited cultural hubs without sitting in traffic.

Where things stand

The project, more than a decade in the making, will add three new underground stations along Wilshire Boulevard at La Brea, Fairfax and La Cienega, closing an important gap between Downtown Los Angeles and the Mid-Wilshire area.

From Koreatown, the new stops will put destinations like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the La Brea Tar Pits within roughly a 15- to 20-minute ride from Union Station, offering a faster alternative to driving along one of the city’s most congested corridors. 

Another view of the Wilshire/La Brea Station.

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Metro projects the new stations will add roughly 16,200 daily riders and increase foot traffic for local businesses. The opening comes more than three years behind its original 2023 timeline and about $700 million over budget, with this part of the project now reaching around $3.51 billion. 

The project is part of Metro’s “Twenty-Eight by ’28” push to finish major transit expansions before the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.

For Chan, that could mean easier trips west, whether that’s grabbing brunch near Miracle Mile or visiting museums that currently require multiple transfers.

How residents are feeling

Other residents said the expansion is also expected to reshape how often they use transit, particularly for trips that currently require driving. Davis Read, a Koreatown resident who is a part of the Wilshire Center Koreatown neighborhood council, says he uses Metro about once a week now, but that will likely change once he gets more access to the museums by La Brea. 

“I’m also excited to be able to go to Beverly Hills, where a lot of my medical appointments are,” Read said. “That’s something that was usually like a half-hour drive.”

But while many welcome the expansion, residents say the city still has work to do — especially when it comes to building housing people can actually afford, shortening timelines for major transit projects and improving bus infrastructure.

Sherin Varghese, a Koreatown resident and organizer with Ktown for All, said buses remain essential for many in the neighborhood.

“A lot of our neighbors, housed and unhoused, don’t have cars,” she said. “Building out infrastructure that isn’t car-forward is generally a good move.”

At the same time, she noted that buses, which often serve lower-income riders, have historically been deprioritized.

“I’m really excited about the trains,” Varghese said. “But I also want us to continue investing in bus infrastructure, like dedicated bus lanes that don’t get closed off that aren’t just for rush hour.”

Wilshire/La Brea Metro station remains closed off to the public as of April 14.

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Marina Peña

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For Varghese, who relies on transit regularly, the D Line will open up parts of the city that currently feel out of reach.

“I’m going to be able to take the D straight to LACMA or to the Academy Museum to see a movie,” she said. “It opens up a huge amount of access to the west side.”

Metro's overall plan

The D Line extension is part of Metro’s broader plan to connect Downtown Los Angeles to Westwood through a nine-mile subway, with future phases expected to open in 2027. Additional stations will include Beverly Drive, Century City, Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital.

Another major project — the K Line Northern Extension — would further expand that network by linking South L.A. to West Hollywood. But with funding not expected until 2041 and an opening still years after that, between 2047 and 2049, many residents say the timeline highlights a broader frustration.

After last-minute negotiations between Mayor Karen Bass and local leaders, Metro’s board voted unanimously in late March to approve the route. The planned underground extension would tie into four major rail lines and is projected to carry up to 100,000 riders daily

“There’s a repeated trend in which these great public projects are having to conform around the needs of wealthy home ownership groups. I think that’s frustrating,” Read said. “I think at this point, we should be pressuring our elected leaders to act quicker on the Metro.”

He pointed to the K Line extension as one example, where opposition from a group of homeowners in Mid-City, particularly in affluent Black neighborhoods like Lafayette Square, raised concerns about construction, safety and property values, contributing to delays.

“That’s the most important stitch in the Metro system — it would be a game changer,” Read said. “A two-seat ride to LAX from Koreatown or downtown would make a huge difference. Right now, it takes about three lines and can take just as long as driving in traffic.”

The Wilshire/Fairfax station where the D line and K line would meet is expected to add 33,000 riders, according to Metro.

Residents ask: Why'd it take this long

Varghese, who has lived in Koreatown for 15 years, said her frustration is less about the current timeline and more about missed opportunities in the past.

“I wish we had started this 50 years ago,” she said. “But I’m glad it’s happening now.”

Alongside transit improvements, residents also raised concerns about what new development around stations will look like, particularly whether it will include housing that current residents can afford.

“A lot of the housing is built for upscale renters,” he said. “If they built low-income or cheaper housing, that would be great, but that’s not what’s happening.”

Read said transit and housing need to be planned together.

“If we don’t act drastically to construct new housing, we’re never going to dig ourselves out of this crisis,” he said.

Varghese echoed that concern, pointing to what she sees as a gap between policy goals and what’s actually being built.

“We need to build housing that people can actually afford now,” she said. “We need to be affecting the supply directly and not hoping that housing eventually trickles down in terms of pricing.”

The post ‘I wish we had started this 50 years ago’: Koreatown is ready for Metro’s D Line appeared first on LA Local.