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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/#comments">1 Comment</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></div></article></div></div></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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