Watch Your Language
If you require employees to speak only English, you'd better beware of the EEOC.
English may be our nation's official language, but that
doesn't mean all Americans speak it. The U.S. Census Bureau
reports that nearly 32 million people over the age of 5--14 percent
of all U.S. residents--speak a language other than English in their
homes. And more than half the 24 million foreign-born U.S.
residents speak little or no English.
These barriers pose big problems in the workplace. According to
Lowell Gallaway, an economist at Ohio University in Athens, the
lack of English proficiency among foreign-born U.S. workers costs
employers $65 billion a year in lost productivity. And customers
and co-workers often complain about employees speaking other
languages, accusing them of being rude or mocking them in a
language they can't understand.
In response to these problems, a growing number of employers
have established policies stating that only English may be spoken
on the job. By doing so, however, you risk incurring the wrath of
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is
opposed to English-only rules and prosecutes companies that impose
them for national-origin discrimination. In general, courts have
been supportive of employers' policies, as long as there's
a good reason for them. In two major cases, federal courts have
stated they disagree with EEOC guidelines on the matter and refuse
to be ruled by them.
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Steven C. Bahls, dean of Capital University Law School in
Columbus, Ohio, teaches entrepreneurship law. Freelance writer Jane
Easter Bahls specializes in business and legal topics.
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