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Basecamp bans political conversations and removes employee benefits

Basecamp bans political conversations and removes employee benefits

Talking politics at work is a long tradition for many office workers, but it’s now a no-go at U.S. software company Basecamp.

In a blog post on Monday, Basecamp co-founder and CEO Jason Fried announced a ban on “societal and political discussions” on the company’s online workplaces. While work-from-home has become widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, Basecamp has long been a remote work company.

  • Basecamp’s CEO Jason Fried announced banning social and political discussions at the company. Beyond that, the company is also getting rid of certain employee benefits, committees, and 360 performance reviews.
  • On the benefits front, employees will no longer be able to access fitness benefits, a wellness allowance, a farmer’s market share or support for continuing education. However, the company has already paid out every employee the full cash value of those benefits for this year. Additionally, the company will instead pay employees a 10% profit-share.

Jason announced a raft of changes we’ve made to Basecamp earlier today. By far the most controversial is a new etiquette around societal politics at work, and the stances we’ll take as a company. So to expand on that, here’s a segment from what I wrote internally on that topic, as part of the announcement to employees at Basecamp.

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