The Rules for Enacting an English-Only Rule in Your Business

By: Jennifer Leahy
November 9th, 2011

As many workplaces become increasingly multicultural, business owners must navigate the sea of anti-discrimination laws, while maintaining industry best practices. Balancing the needs of the business with the rights of the employee can be tough for even the most seasoned managers.

Since communication is a key component of a productive work environment, many issues can arise when employees and managers cannot communicate effectively.

But can employers require that all employees speak English?

Yes and no.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) offers that “English-only rules must be adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons. An English-only rule may be used if it is needed to promote the safe or efficient operation of the employer’s business.”

The EEOC offers some situations in which business necessity would justify an English-only rule:

• For communications with customers, co-workers, or supervisors who only speak English.

• In emergencies or other situations in which workers must speak a common language to promote safety.

• For cooperative work assignments in which the English-only rule is needed to promote efficiency.

• To enable a supervisor who only speaks English to monitor the performance of an employee whose job duties require communication with coworkers or customers.

If a business owner can prove that there is a legitimate business reason for requiring employees to speak English while performing job duties, they would be operating according to the tenets of the law.

“English-only policies are obviously permissible for work-related communications with customers, co-workers or supervisors who only speak English. Thus, a cashier in a retail store or a server in a restaurant could be required to speak English when serving English-speaking customers or when speaking with his fellow English-speaking employees about work issues or with his English-speaking supervisor,” says Reed Russell, the EEOC legal counsel on English-only policies, in an address to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

It’s not illegal, however, for employees to be banned from speaking other languages while in the workplace. On breaks and in casual conversation employees must be allowed to converse in their preferred language to avoid violation.

“For example, English-only policies should not be imposed merely because some non-Spanish-speaking employees dislike eating lunch in the same room with co-workers who engage in private conversations in Spanish,” says Russell.

Organizations that opt to adopt an English-only policy should be sure the policy is carefully crafted and effectively communicated to employees. A sample policy offered by the EEOC reads:

“XYZ Petroleum Corp. operates an oil refinery and has a rule requiring all employees to speak only English during an emergency. The rule also requires that employees speak in English while performing job duties in laboratories and processing areas where there is the danger of fire or explosion. The rule does not apply to casual conversations between employees in the laboratory or processing areas when they are not performing a job duty. The English-only rule does not violate Title VII because it is narrowly tailored to safety requirements.”

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