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<h1 class="gmail-name gmail-post-title entry-title"><span>Gavel to Gavel: The value of translation</span></h1>
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<span class="gmail-post-meta-author">By: <a href="http://journalrecord.com/author/stephanieduran/" title="">Stephanie Duran </a></span>
Guest Columnist<span class="gmail-pm-byline"></span>
<span class="gmail-tie-date">July 11, 2018</span>
<span class="gmail-post-comments"><a href="http://journalrecord.com/2018/07/11/gavel-to-gavel-the-value-of-translation/#respond">0</a></span>
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<div id="gmail-attachment_551801" style="width:160px" class="gmail-wp-caption gmail-alignleft"><a href="http://journalrecord.com/files/2018/07/c-lg-Duran-Stephanie.jpg"><img class="gmail-size-thumbnail gmail-wp-image-551801" src="http://journalrecord.com/files/2018/07/c-lg-Duran-Stephanie-150x150.jpg" alt="Stephanie Duran" width="150" height="150"></a><p class="gmail-wp-caption-text">Stephanie Duran</p></div>
<p>If your company has limited English proficient individuals in its
workforce and you aren’t offering training programs in non-English
languages, your company may be exposed to a discrimination claim.
Because language is an integral characteristic of someone’s nationality,
discrimination based on language constitutes national origin
discrimination.</p>
<p>LEP discrimination can take many forms. For example, the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the national
retail grocery chain Albertsons alleging it subjected certain employees
to a hostile work environment and harassment due to implementation of an
English-only policy, which prohibited Spanish-speaking employees from
speaking Spanish around non-Spanish-speaking employees and customers.</p>
<p>What do you need to do for your employees?</p>
<p><strong>Access to information:</strong> Most employers know that
having clear policies in place, and implementing them consistently, can
be the best defense to employment-related harassment or discrimination
claims. Though federal law does not require employers to provide LEP
employees with direct translations of employment policies, it may be in
an employer’s best interest to do so. In at least one case, failure to
both provide translated policies and training in Spanish factored into a
court’s determination that an employer had not exercised reasonable
care.</p>
<p><strong>Access to relief:</strong> An employer must also provide a
way for LEP employees to exercise their rights under the policy – in
their spoken language. Hiring bilingual managers isn’t a requirement but
making translation services available is essential. If your employees
cannot complain in the language that they speak, then your policy cannot
be effective.</p>
<p><strong>A note about English-only policies:</strong> If your company
needs an English-only policy, drafting and implementation should be
handled with great care. While the EEOC recognizes that an employer must
be able to communicate with its employees, it will presume that an EOP
that applies at all times and in all places in the workplace violates
Title VII. However, an English-only policy may be compliant if it only
applies at certain times and is justified by a business necessity. For
example, requiring employees to use English in emergency situations.</p>
<p><strong>Treatment during the hiring process:</strong> It is crucial
for an employer not to treat any applicant differently based on his or
her birth, country of origin, ancestry, native language, or accent.
Having on-boarding processes and policies that apply uniformly to all
new or potential hires is essential.</p>
<p><em>Stephanie Duran is a labor and employment attorney with <a href="http://www.gablelaw.com/" target="_blank">GableGotwals</a>, a full-service law firm of more than 90 attorneys.</em></p></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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