Speaking English Only At Work
Lisa In Iowa
67 Posts
We have a small call center in our company, and we employ a few bilingual customer service specialists to assist Spanish speaking customers with issues. We have a situation where two of our bilingual employees occasionally chat back and forth with each other between phone calls. Most of the time, they chat back and forth in Spanish. It is not uncommon for employees to chat back and forth between phone calls; many of the English only speaking employees chat also. Many times it is work related (discussing how they handled a call, or an issue that has surfaced), however sometimes it is not. The supervisor for the area has reminded all employees that they must be cognizant of their conversations to make sure they are not disruptive to others, nor are they harassing, inappropriate, and to remember that even though they may not be on a call, others may be, etc. A non bilingual team leader overheard the bilingual employees chatting the other day, and she heard them use a name of another employee. She did not know what they were talking about because she did not know Spanish. The team leader shared the information with the supervisor, and because he is concerned that the bilingual employees could be chatting about others and no one would know, the supervisor would like to ask the bilingual employees to not use Spanish unless on the phone with customers or on a actual break. He feels that even if they are not chatting about others, he feels that it could create a perception that they are because they are speaking Spanish. Is this legal?
Have any of you ran into this situation? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Have any of you ran into this situation? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Comments
Essentially, English-only rules are acceptable only if justified by "business necessity", which the EEOC says means that it is needed for an employer to operate safely or efficiently. While, it's clear that a policy that prohibits the use of foreign languages at all times (as in, even while employees are on break) is unlawful, the law in the grayer areas of this field is not very well-settled, and different circuits have come to different conclusions about when English-only rules can and can't be enforced. While some courts have accepted the argument that avoiding interpersonal conflicts and preventing people from feeling left out of conversations constitutes a "business necessity", others have indicated that that's not always sufficient. English-only rules increasingly have been the subject of national origin discrimination charges; I'd recommend consulting with legal counsel who's familiar with the court decisions relevant to your area so that you can get better guidance.
I could understand how it would be very uncomfortable to hear someone speaking a language that you did not understand and hear your name mentioned. Its like talking to a group of people, walking away and hearing them bust up laughing. Its disconcerting.
I would argue that good communication is a business necessity. Look at most job descriptions. Communication skills are often at the top of the list of requirements.
It seems the EEOC fails to recognize that even casual conversation is part of workplace communication and can affect the relationships in a workplace.
I think allowing people to speak multiple languages increases the chance that workforces will be divided down ethnic lines. If a english speaking employee walks into a lunch room and a group of Hispanic workers are talking in spanish, do you think that worker will feel welcome to join them?
This seems like an example of the government trying to be culturally sensitive and politically correct at the expense of what is truly best for businesses and ultimately best for achieving an integrated society.
That said, your only solid ground response seems to be to deal with these problems individually.
!Buena suerte!
With respect to your example saying that hearing people speak in another language and mention your name is like talking to a group of people, walking away and hearing them bust up laughing - that may be true, and it may be disconcerting, but how many organizations have a company policy that prohibits busting up laughing after a person walks away from a conversation? I suspect very few, if any. Or what if people are speaking softly or whispering (in English) and an employee hears his or her name mentioned but can't hear the rest of the conversation, so feels uncomfortable? (this is actually the proper analogy to the foreign language example; unless the coworkers are laughing in a foreign language when mentioning a person's name there's no reason to think the person is the subject of any ridicule) If an employee came to you complaining about that kind of situation, how would you respond? Would you enact a policy prohibiting people from mentioning someone's name within possible earshot of the person unless the person is involved in the conversation? I think the argument would be that prohibiting this kind of behavior when it involves foreign languages, but not when it doesn't, would constitute discrimination based on national origin.
I also think there's a fine line to be drawn here - some employees may be uncomfortable hearing a foreign language spoken in the workplace because they harbor a discriminatory animus towards a particular ethnic group. If employees are having a personal, non-work-related conversation, I think it would be hard to argue for limiting that based on a business necessity. One way to help alleviate this might be to have a policy that requires employees to keep all personal conversations to a minimum, but that may not be particularly good for morale, either.
I think that while it may be natural to be a little concerned when you hear your name mentioned and don't know the context in which it's being mentioned, at what point does this concern become paranoia? Personally, when I've found myself in that kind of situation, I've just said, "Hey I heard my name - what are you talking about?" which works just fine. On the flip side of your comment, I could say that blanket English-only rules seem like an example of employers trying to be too sensitive to employees' paranoias and cultural biases at the expense of respecting the multiculturalism that exists in an integrated society. ;-P
While I really don't think you have a legal leg to stand on when it comes to the "business necessity" of speaking English, you are not without remedy!
What we did is hold an informal counseling session with the Spanish speaking workers and let them know that regardless of intent, there are times when other EEs who don't speak Spanish are uneasy about the Spanish conversations, especially when they hear words/names they recognize. We told them that although we respect their right to converse in their native language, and we definitely appreciate their skills, that they may want to be mindful of the feelings of others. Our corporate culture strives to foster a comfortable, family atmosphere, and whether they noticed it or not, they were distancing themselves from other workers. If they want to be a part of the family, they may need to reevaluate their workplace behaviors.
Granted, we have a work environment where these conversations are possible without feelings getting hurt - I'm not sure what your situation is like.
The counseling sessions went over really well, and we had a remarkable decline in complaints from other workers. By telling these employees that we value their skills but that we still wanted them to fit in with our corporate culture, I believe it showed them that we care, but were leaving the decision to them.
Good luck with this - its a tricky situation but one I believe is completely resolvable.
I truly appreciate your assistance with this issue!
Have a great weekend and a "Happy St Patrick's Day!"
I'm not "overhearing" my name-o in el conversation-o, so I can only presume you are ignoring me in a highly-offensive multicultural way. Please stop not using my name immediately, or I will contact the forum border guards.
Gracias.
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