Mandatory English at the workplace?

February 10th, 2004 by Julie Ferguson

As U.S. demographics continue to shift, one of the tough issues facing employers is an increase in the multilingual work force. Some employers mandate English-only in the workplace, but should they? Discrimination suits based on such policies are on the increase, yet employers defend the practice on the basis of business necessity, productivity, safety, and the like. The EEOC keeps a sharp eye out for potential violations of the Civil Rights Act, and fines can be steep. Employers certainly need to be aware of EEOC Speak English-only Rules.

Culling from several sources including his own personal experiences, George’s Employment Blawg has a thoughtful exploration of this complex topic that’s well worth a read – we won’t try to duplicate his excellent research here. Don’t miss his sensible recommendation and sample policy at the end of the post.

This issue of workers who have a limited command of English or for whom English isn’t the first or native language is of great interest to us in terms of safety and prevention. Non-English speaking workers are frequently at greater risk in the workplace than their English speaking colleagues. For example:

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 815 Hispanics were killed on the job in 2000, an 11.6 percent increase over the previous year. This double-digit increase stands in sharp contrast to the two percent decrease in workplace fatalities for all workers.
The death toll for Hispanic workers is even starker in the construction industry, which leads all industries in fatal accidents. In 2000, construction fatalities overall dropped three percent — the industry’s first decline since 1996. The number of Hispanics killed at construction sites, however, jumped 24 percent.”

What are some best practices in this area? We certainly don’t pretend to know them all, but we’ve seen a few over the years: native speakers hired as translators to help train and orient new workers; telephonic translation services; worker buddy or mentor programs; on-site English-as-second-language classes that focus on workplace issues.

Here are a few articles resources on the topic, and hopefully as we explore this issue further over time, we can bring you more.
OSHA: Listos para ayudarle – Ready to Help You
The Language of Safety

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