Workforce Language Services

This article addresses the legality of English-only policies in the workplace. Such policies open employers to being sued for discrimination, but perhaps more importantly, they create an environment of intolerance and can lower employee morale. As Ronna Timpa notes, “Imagine how you would feel if you couldn’t speak your own language in the bathroom.”

Some companies are adopting policies that require employees to speak only English on the job, spurring a backlash of lawsuits alleging that such rules can discriminate against immigrants.The English-only policies are coming as the number of immigrants in the USA soars: Nearly 11 million residents are not fluent in English, according to U.S. Census data, up from 6.6 million in 1990. Nearly 34 million residents are foreign-born, according to 2003 U.S. Census data. That’s up from 24.6 million in 1996.