Employer’s ‘speak English' rule potentially perilous

Q         Our employment applications are available in English. If an applicant applies in a language other than English and our recruiters cannot read the responses, what do we do with the application? Are we able to disqualify the candidate?

A   Immigrants are protected from employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and various state civil rights acts, including the Arizona Civil Rights Act (ACRA). In addition to other protected categories, Title VII and the ACRA protect against discrimination based on national origin, which includes bias based on language. Therefore, you must take care when engaging in practices that exclude employees or candidates because of their inability to speak English.

There are times when you may exclude a candidate who can’t speak English. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), you can implement a rule requiring employees to speak only English in the workplace if you can show the standard is justified by business necessity. Justifications may include (1) jobs in which employees would be required to communicate with customers or coworkers who speak only English or (2) situations in which they must speak English to promote safety.