German company bans foreign languages at work

[The Straight Story]

German company bans foreign languages at work
Fri Sep 5, 2008 5:18pm IST


BERLIN (Reuters) - A German technology company in which Russians comprise more than a third of the staff has banned the use of foreign languages in the workplace.

Witeg, a maker of laboratory technology based in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, employs 60 workers, including 21 Russians.

"This ruling in necessary because precise communication amongst workers is vital," Managing Director Elmar Swiegot said in a statement published on Friday.

The decision had nothing to do with racism and was necessary for organizational reasons, he added. Anyone who broke the rule would be given a warning and dismissal would follow for persistent offenders.

Alexander Marterer, a German labor lawyer, said employers were theoretically allowed to create language policy for the workplace but Witeg would probably be deemed to be infringing human rights if taken to court.

http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINL565878120080905

[dmallind]

1. hmmm.. depends

I would imagine (indeed hope) that a company has the right to insist that all official business, meetings, emails, memos, training, etc be conducted in a language understood by all, but the implication here is that two Russians sitting at lunch in a cafeteria could be punished for chatting in their mother tongue. No point there I feel.

I used to be a department head in a company that was 38% Asian immigrants, many with little English. We required a test to see if they could understand (heavily photographic) work instructions as well as recognize basic signage and safety instruction in English, and we certainly coducted all business in English, but I don't think anybody worried about them speaking Hmong amongst themselves. I certainly didn't. Must admit it was useful when we hired an HR trainer who spoke the language (although she was entirely Caucasian herself) but that's about it. Of course to get any kind of advancement from unskilled assembly work, some English ability was required just due to job responsibilities.

[robcon]

2. I've worked for both types of companies.

One required all communication to be in English in every country. The other did not make such a draconian requirement, but it did require, for example, the Japanese affiliate to communicate in English.

[Warpy]

4. Jeez, try working in a hospital in a big city.

I once counted the languages on a poster for in-house ESL classes: 22. There were nights I'd have 6 patients, none of whom spoke English and none of whom spoke a European language. That means no analogs, folks, and it meant I had to get a crash course in important words (hungry, thirsty, pain) from family members FAST.

I know there are people out there who get nervous around people who are speaking a language they don't understand. My advice: don't go into health care.

I imagine the German ruling was to break up language based cliques as much as ensure the smooth operation of the company. Unfortunately for them, such heavy handed rulings only make those cliques stronger as people tend to cling to something that's so much a part of them.

[LibertyLover]

3. English is the main language for communication where I work

and all official documents, including 98% of our legal agreements, except for security documents, are in English as well. But given that we have roughly 140 nationalities, if not more, working here, it makes sense to have a standard language for communications. However, if the Filipinos want to speak Tagalog or the Francophones want to gab away in French, nobody gives a hoot. I've watched attorneys discuss problems in their native language and then turn around and draft in English. My Spanish has definitely improved, as has my German. It's kind of fun because many other cultures are used to Americans only speaking one language. When they run into those of us who have some facility in a language other than English, the looks on their faces are amusing.

[bunkerbuster1]

5. Typische Deutsche...

Ok, maybe not.

Fucken Sie, Witeg.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Looks like a big step toward IMprecise communication amongst workers

Certainly among those who, say, speak Russian fluently but German poorly.