English Only Policies – Again

As the political year begins, and candidates make all kinds of promises and are willing to discuss any topic where they believe they have the answer the crowd wants to hear, we again find the ring of “English only” rising up from the Republican contenders – just as the topic came up from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has weighed in on the subject of policies that specify English as the official workplace language.

The Commission has issued a report stating that English-only policies should be deemed unlawful only if the policy is enacted to harass, embarrass or exclude employees or applicants based on national origin.  This runs contrary to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) stated guidelines that English-only policies are presumptively unlawful.  The Civil Rights Commission recommends the EEOC guidelines be withdrawn.

There are many considerations to be made prior to instituting language specific policies in the workplace - alienation of current employees and new prospects, specific local and state laws, contract requirements and state and federal contract prohibitions (debarrment and other sanctions).  Let us know if you have any questions about language specific limitations or requirements.