English-only policy

[TomCollins]

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You've never heard of it? It's almost required to know Spanish to get into Med school here in Texas. A lot of jobs have someone who knows Spanish given an advantage over someone who doesn't if they have to deal with customers. You must live north of the Mason Dixon line.

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uh oh tom, get ready for personal attack. someting like, hey, what you didn't into school cause u too dumb?

honestly i think the ridicule must be being taught officially or unofficially cause so many people use it.

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Yeah, it might happen, but whatever. I didn't go the med school route, but I know a few friends who did. I don't need to worry about Spanish being a software engineer (unless I want to listen in to the conversations of a bunch of my coworkers).

Employers requiring workers to speak Spanish is fine with me, as is requiring people to speak English. I know we have a requirement for our foreign employees to speak English who have to work with the rest of the company.

[AlexM]

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The two employees, who were clothes sorters, had been working at the Salvation Army for about five years before the Salvation Army decided to enforce their English language rule. One would think the Salvation Army would have a hard time proving that they weren't able to communicate with them if they had already been kept on for five years.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_505139.html

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I'm not saying the Salvation army is right, but it's still ridiculous.

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They're wrong in the sense that it's a dumb policy, but they're right in the sense that it's their business if they want to institute dumb policies.

[jogsxyz]

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I'm not saying the Salvation army is right, but it's still ridiculous.

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They're wrong in the sense that it's a dumb policy, but they're right in the sense that it's their business if they want to institute dumb policies.

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I don't think it's a dumb policy. It must be frustrating trying to explain things to these employees. Probably need to find a Spanish speaker whenever you need to communicate with them.
Obviously this law disagrees with me.

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Requiring employees to speak English where no business necessity exists constitutes national origin discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.

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Who gets to decide whether knowing English is a business necessity?

[Luxoris]

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Who gets to decide whether knowing English is a business necessity?

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The courts, assuming the EEOC has determined that it has a reasonable chance of prevailing in its opinion that it isnt.

[mbillie1]

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Who gets to decide whether knowing English is a business necessity?

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[censored] I knew I was supposed to be doing something

[DblBarrelJ]

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Passed over for that manager spot at Taco Bell?

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you don't see the double standard? maybe it's like at uni where only whites can be racist, by definition.

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I have never heard of any professional being told they needed to learn Spanish. Not sure what you mean by double standard. I am cool with employers requiring whatever language skills they want whether it be English or anything else they think the job requires.

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I consider myself to be a "professional" and my superiors recently posted a memo requiring all personnel working in an "Enforcement" capacity to complete the state's mandatory "Tactical Spanish Communication" course.

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Yeah, i mean this seems totally reasonable. Its not like people are loosing their jobs because they didn't get the symbolism in a passage of Don Quixote. Do you think that having this training will make you better at your job?

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I've got two more Saturdays to go before I recieve the certification, and the language I've learned so far is all very basic:

"Parada"
"Móntese el Suelo"
"No Mueva"
"Usted está detenido"
and
"Marihuana"
"Cocaína"
"Armas"
Etc.

I'm not going to be fluent by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know enough phrases.

My problem is with the "mandatory" part of it. I certainly have no problem with those who've freely taken the courses being looked upon highly when a promotion comes up, as speaking Spanish is a skill, just as taking additional law courses, combat courses, or fitness courses.

As to the OP, I also believe that a business is certainly entitled to require all employees to speak English. Let's not forget, English is, by far, the most commonly spoken language in America.

[tarheeljks]

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The two employees, who were clothes sorters, had been working at the Salvation Army for about five years before the Salvation Army decided to enforce their English language rule. One would think the Salvation Army would have a hard time proving that they weren't able to communicate with them if they had already been kept on for five years.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_505139.html

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I'm not saying the Salvation army is right, but it's still ridiculous.

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why do you think they are wrong? how is it unreasonable to expect a worker to speak the official language of the country in which they live?

[xorbie]

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why do you think they are wrong? how is it unreasonable to expect a worker to speak the official language of the country in which they live?

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If the people sort clothes and have been working there for a while, it seems clear that they are probably competent at working their job. However, I clearly don't believe it is "unreasonable" at all, which is why I don't support the use of my money to take them to court.

[Max Raker]

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why do you think they are wrong? how is it unreasonable to expect a worker to speak the official language of the country in which they live?

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If the people sort clothes and have been working there for a while, it seems clear that they are probably competent at working their job. However, I clearly don't believe it is "unreasonable" at all, which is why I don't support the use of my money to take them to court.

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I could see a situation where maybe there was a bilingual person who had the same job so he could tell the person that didn't speak english and if the bilingual guy quit the other guy would be unseless. If i were the boss I would try really hard not to fire the guy but I don't think they should have to by law.

[pvn]

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The two employees, who were clothes sorters, had been working at the Salvation Army for about five years before the Salvation Army decided to enforce their English language rule. One would think the Salvation Army would have a hard time proving that they weren't able to communicate with them if they had already been kept on for five years.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_505139.html

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I'm not saying the Salvation army is right, but it's still ridiculous.

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why do you think they are wrong? how is it unreasonable to expect a worker to speak the official language of the country in which they live?

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What do you think the official language of the US is?