Employers Banned From Pushing Politics Under Emerging State Laws

Bans on mandatory workplace meetings where managers opine about politics, religion, and unions are close to spreading into California, in a blue-state trend that’s driven by labor supporters yet also restricts bosses looking to influence how employees vote in November.

More than a half dozen states including New York have recently enacted bans on what unions and worker advocates often call “captive audience meetings.” Three face litigation from business groups claiming the laws infringe on employers’ First Amendment rights to communicate freely with their workers.

The captive audience laws add another wrinkle to the decades-old legal questions over how actively ...