Company says, "No Foreign Language at your workstations!"

Bloodbooger

Bloodbooger

CAGiversary!
Feedback
50 (100%)
We had a 30min meeting yesterday to discourage the use of anything but English within our department.

This isn't company wide, it only corresponds to our department. This isn't a mom-and-pop shop either, the company is worldwide, with A LOT of cultural diversity.

Reasons include (verbatim):
--for the workplace health and safety of employees
--provides effective, clear communication between all employees
--to ensure that management understands what is being said in order to evaluate employees in all work-related communications
--to provide effective supervision and evaluation of all employees
--addresses the sense of alienation and resulting hostility felt by employees who don't speak or understand the foreign language

We're ok to speak whatever language we'd like during breaks, lunch, etc.

I guess I'd be ok with it if the policy was company-wide, our branch at least, but I can't help feeling a little crappy about this decision. It feels more than a bit discriminatory.

Is this normal, or legal? Thoughts?
 
I guess if you're working with heavy machinery it could be valid. You don't want someone screaming something and you don't know if they want you to stop, accelerate, or turn right.

Otherwise it sounds like a bonehead pointless demoralizing rule made up by know-nothing HR flunkies. Not that that ever stopped know-nothing HR flunkies.
 
That last reason is pants-shitting bad.

Find an employee talking about something you don't like (i.e., are alienated about) and hate (i.e., results in hostility). Complain to management.

So, when your company puts out a memo that nobody is to talk about vegetarian food, herbal tea, NASCAR, and Toby Keith, please do cut and paste that and post it here.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']That last reason is pants-shitting bad.

Find an employee talking about something you don't like (i.e., are alienated about) and hate (i.e., results in hostility). Complain to management.

So, when your company puts out a memo that nobody is to talk about vegetarian food, herbal tea, NASCAR, and Toby Keith, please do cut and paste that and post it here.[/QUOTE]

Those last two wouldn't be so bad...
 
It's fine. One language for the workplace makes sense, especially for management if they have to audit anything.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']That last reason is pants-shitting bad.

Find an employee talking about something you don't like (i.e., are alienated about) and hate (i.e., results in hostility). Complain to management.

So, when your company puts out a memo that nobody is to talk about vegetarian food, herbal tea, NASCAR, and Toby Keith, please do cut and paste that and post it here.[/QUOTE]
So what exactly is your point, that the comapny shouldn't care if something creates hostility? Anyway, its' true. People become suspicious and paranoid if they think something is being said about them in another language which they don't understand.
 
fuck 'em.

they'd be suspicious and paranoid about the conversations they don't hear anyway.

that's kowtowing to a bunch of crybabies and assholes.
 
Let's be honest here.
If people sat around talking about something they shouldn't they would be fired. What I mean is, if I sat next to someone and we talked about the big fat sweaty girl who smelled like rotted walrus. Everytime we walk by, we started saying shit. If she, or anyone for that matter, overhears us..we'd be fired.

If you're doing this in another language, what, it's OK? It's not OK. Just shut up everyone and learn enrgish at work!
 
[quote name='mykevermin']fuck 'em.

they'd be suspicious and paranoid about the conversations they don't hear anyway.

that's kowtowing to a bunch of crybabies and assholes.[/QUOTE]
Alright dude.:lol:
 
That policy is going to do nothing except create tension between your monolingual and bilingual co-workers. Instead of finding out why you all hate each other your boss are just shutting up one side. Just imagine walking into your workplace now and suddenly the conversation stop. Yea no "alienation and hostility" there.
 
[quote name='JolietJake']Those are perfectly valid reasons.[/QUOTE]

I agree. If one dude keep speaking Hindi with another coworker, supervisors are being left out of the loop.
 
I agree w/ this company. English should be the official language of business in the U.S. of A. On another note, Best Buy sent me coupons for this weekend that are all in Spanish, which pisses me off royally for some reason.
 
[quote name='camoor']Otherwise it sounds like a bonehead pointless demoralizing rule made up by know-nothing HR flunkies. Not that that ever stopped know-nothing HR flunkies.[/QUOTE]
:thumbsup:

[quote name='Aleryn']It's fine. One language for the workplace makes sense, especially for management if they have to audit anything.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='help1']I agree. If one dude keep speaking Hindi with another coworker, supervisors are being left out of the loop.[/QUOTE]

What audit? What loop? In any company I've worked for your performance evaluation was based upon just that -- your performance. Not what you were saying or who you were saying it to or the language you were saying it in.

At our current company many of the programmers will speak Mandarin or Farsi or Hebrew to each other in order to convey concepts in their first language that would take longer to convey were they to translate them to English first then translate back for comprehension.

Seems like another boneheaded policy that will place an anchor on productivity in order to placate both the office tinpot dictators and those with persecution complexes who will have something else to complain about shortly.

[quote name='pacifickarma']I agree w/ this company. English should be the official language of business in the U.S. of A. On another note, Best Buy sent me coupons for this weekend that are all in Spanish, which pisses me off royally for some reason.[/QUOTE]

Could it be your nascent xenoglossophobia?
 
I don't fear foreign languages. I just resent the fact that people assume I speak Spanish because I have a Hispanic surname. I don't speak any language other than English. When I worked retail in college, Mexicans would walk up to me at my job and ask me if I spoke Spanish. When I told them loudly that I didn't speak Spanish they would invariably look at me like I was lying to them and slink away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top