Is it discrimination for an employer to offer a Spanish-speaking employee a version of the personnel manual translated in Spanish?
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Is it discrimination for an employer to offer a Spanish-speaking employee a version of the personnel manual translated in Spanish?
I am assisting a Spanish-speaking individual whose employer claims that by
Montana law he can only ask his employees if they understood the personnel
manual and other on-boarding paperwork provided to them in English or if they
would like it in another format. He claims that to assume they cannot read
English/could read it better in Spanish by asking them if they would like the
personnel manual in Spanish would be discrimination and he is prohibited by law
from doing so. He also claims to not explain anything about the personnel manual
to individuals who cannot read unless they explicitly ask him to read the manual
to them. Is this true? This company hires a lot of Spanish speakers, and it seems
to me it would be fairly straightforward to offer someone who is obviously a
Spanish speaker resources in their his/her native language.
Asked on February 5, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Montana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
There is nothing wrong or illegal about offering resources in an employee's native language on request, but the employer correct that it may be considered national origin discrimination or harassment to assume that somone who looks, say, Hispanic or Latino cannot read English. In terms of language and anything else related to national origin, the best course for employers is to simply not make any assumptions.
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