English is the second language for 2.5 million workers. But can you insist that they don’t utter a foreign word at work, or will that be racial discrimination? And what about disciplinary proceedings
- do they have to be in English too?
Published 09.09.2009
An employee who was told to “never speak Polish” - even to fellow Polish colleagues - has been awarded over £5,000 by the tribunal. Was it the employer’s rule or something else that attracted this
level of award?
Published 15.02.2016
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that an employer who told a Russian employee to speak English only in its workplace did not commit race discrimination. Why was this employer’s rule OK?
Published 15.01.2016
Let’s suppose that two employees often converse in their native language in front of an English-speaking colleague who doesn’t have a clue what they are saying. Can this type of behaviour amount to
discrimination?
Published 09.10.2012
An employee who is subject to disciplinary proceedings has responded by raising a grievance. They claim that you must automatically put the disciplinary proceedings on hold until their grievance is
concluded. Is this correct?
Published 29.05.2015
One employer recently hit the headlines after it directed its Eastern European staff to “speak English only to colleagues”. It said the requirement is based purely on health and safety grounds. Is
this discriminatory or perfectly justified?
Published 21.10.2011
A group of workers has started to speak Punjabi at work. Other staff feel they’re being excluded from conversations and are being talked about in their presence. Is it acceptable to ask your workers
to communicate in English whilst at work?
Published 02.06.2006
The ACAS Code of Practice replaced the old statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedures some time ago. But the tribunal has only just dealt with one of the first cases to be heard under this new
regime. What point did it make?
Published 16.12.2010
A black employee who claimed that she had been offended when a colleague used the term “whiter than white” has lost her claim for race discrimination at the tribunal. Why did the tribunal reach this
decision?
Published 27.06.2023
You asked a female part-timer with children to change her working days although this caused no actual difference to her total working hours. She’s now saying this amounts to sex discrimination. Does
she have a case?
Published 04.11.2009