Author: Priya Cunningham at Thompsons Solicitors (see website)
Generally speaking, the answer is no as this can be classed as discrimination. However, this does depend on the type of workplace you are in, the type of job that you do and the reason why you might be required to speak a certain language.
Let’s say that you are a Polish national and your employer insists that you only speak English at work. This could amount to discrimination which is against the terms of the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 provides that employers cannot discriminate against their employees on the grounds of their race. Race covers skin colours, nationality and ethnic or national origins.
If an employer has a requirement that all of its staff speak English all the time, this might result in staff who do not have English as a first language being discriminated against. For example, let’s say that the employer is a factory made up of 50% of staff who are Polish nationals and 50% of the staff are British nationals who all speak English as their first langue. If the employer was to insist that employees speak English with each other at all times, including during their break times, this could amount to discrimination against the Polish workers.
Employers may have genuine reasons for requiring employees to speak a certain language; however, this has to be considered against the fact that this could amount to discrimination. For example, in the situation that we are looking at, if Polish staff are required to speak to each other in English this could give rise to difficulties in communication and perhaps misunderstanding when it comes to matters such as health and safety. Employers also must be mindful of circumstances where a language barrier could divide the workforce and lead to staff feeling isolated and excluded.
If an employer implements a policy where they require staff to speak English and couples this with unwanted conduct which has the effect of violating a worker’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment then this might give rise to a claim for harassment, as well as discrimination.