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Fresh supermarket apologises in foreign language row after issuing 'only English' policy
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<a href="http://www.irishmirror.ie/by-date/04-03-2015"> 11:47, 4 March 2015</a>
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By <a class="" href="http://www.irishmirror.ie/authors/brynmor-pattison/" rel="author">Brynmor Pattison</a>
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The notice threatened staff with disciplinary action if they didn't speak English - even on rest breaks
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<span>Fresh store at Grand Canal Dock</span>
<p>Supermarket chain Fresh has apologised for any offence caused over a
policy notice that told foreign staff they couldn't speak their own
language in stores.</p> <p> The "communication policy" memo, found by a <a href="http://www.broadsheet.ie/">Broadsheet.ie</a> user and <a href="http://www.broadsheet.ie/2015/03/02/fresh-language/">posted to that site</a>
on Monday, told employees that the "use of various languages on the
shop floor has resulted in misunderstandings and some negative customer
comments".</p> <p>It was claimed that the notice, headed with the Fresh
logo, was found in the Grand Canal Dock Fresh store. It was dated
February 23.</p> <p>It added: "Where possible the company would much prefer if the staff member encourages English speaking."</p> <p>The document requested that staff speak English "even when working with a colleague who may speak the same language as you".</p> <p>Online
users greeted the first half of the policy largely with agreement,
however reacted strongly when the end of the document asked employees
"that this policy be applied during rest breaks".</p> <p>It also
concluded: "Please be advised that going forward should anyone be heard
on the shop floor or while working speaking another language other than
English that they may be the subject of disciplinary action."</p> <p>One
Reddit user posted: "I was ambiguous right up until rest breaks. They
have no business interfering with employees private communications.</p> <p>Another added: "Starts off morally ok-ish, gets a bit dodge towards the end.</p> <p>A third said: "Makes sense. It also says if a customer speaks to them in their language they should obviously respond in it. </p> <p>"I don't see the big deal in a company asking employees to speak English in a country that speaks English. </p> <p>"Might be a bit heavy with the threat of disciplinary action but I suppose you have to send a message."</p> <p>In
a statement this week, Fresh Opportunities founder Noel Smith said he
apologised for any offence caused and said they had issued an "updated"
policy.</p> <p>He said: "As you may have seen from social media
recently, we issued a communication policy to our staff members, to
encourage them to speak English when in the workplace. </p> <p>"This was to help avoid any misunderstandings between customers, staff and suppliers on the shop floor.</p> <p>"We’ve
been consulting with our staff over the last 24 hours and as our
earlier communication policy caused some confusion, we decided to take
the step of updating this policy.</p> <p>"This updated communication
policy has now been issued to all our staff members, to help create an
inclusive and welcoming environment for all our team.</p> <p>"We are encouraging our staff to speak English or Irish when in the workplace and this doesn’t apply to rest periods.</p> <p>"We
will also provide information around language classes to any team
members, who feel that they could benefit from improving their language
skills.</p> <p>"Our goal is to create a welcoming and inclusive
environment for all our staff here at Fresh and if we caused offence,
then we apologise unreservedly.</p> <p>"I am personally very proud of our team here at Fresh and we look forward to serving you in the future."</p><p><a href="http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/fresh-supermarket-apologises-foreign-language-5270120">http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/fresh-supermarket-apologises-foreign-language-5270120</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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