Increasing diversity in the workplace has brought many opportunities and challenges. Ensuring effective communication among employees and with customers or vendors is one of them. Some employers have attempted to address the issue by establishing “English only” rules.  Such rules must be non-discriminatory, narrow in scope and application, and justified by business necessity.   The EEOC takes a dim view of such requirements.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is the latest group to make news in the “English only arena.”   It has adopted a new rule that beginning in 2009 requires all golfers who have been on the tour for 2 years to pass a test evaluating spoken English.  Apparently there are over 120 international golfers on the tour.  Is English essential to be a golf professional?   The LPGA says it’s important to attract corporate sponsors.  However the issue of discrimination based on national origin has been raised by a number of civil rights groups.   They also ask:  What about international athletes in other sports?  What about American golfers who participate in tournaments outside the U.S?  Do they need to learn the local language?  Stay tuned.  This could get interesting. 

For more information on English only rules in the workplace go to the EEOC’s website at: http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/national-origin.html#VC

The deadline for filing the EEO-1 Report, a government form requiring many employers to provide a count of their employees by job category and then by ethnicity, race, and gender, is approaching.  It must be submitted annually by September 30.  Do you need to file an EEO-1?  You do if you are:

1. A private employer subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and have 100 or more employees  or  have fewer than 100 employees if the company is owned or affiliated with another company or there is centralized ownership, control or management so the group comprises a single enterprise and it employs a total of 100 or more.  OR YOU ARE

2. A private employer and a federal contractor who is a prime contractor or first tier subcontractor and have a contract, subcontract, or purchase order equal to $50,000 or more; or serve as a depository of government funds, or are a financial institution which issues or pays U.S. Savings Bonds and Notes.

More information and filing instructions are available at:  http://eeoc.gov/eeo1survey/index.html

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has just released its numbers involving private sector discrimination filings for 2007.  They’re up by 9%, the highest increase since 1993, as the EEOC received 82,792 filings.  Bias charges based on race continued to be the most frequent. Race has been the most common claim since the EEOC went into business in 1965.   Interestingly, for the first time, retaliation was the second most common charge and was at record levels.  Claims based on sex/gender moved to third.  The next most common, in order, were filings based on age, disability, national origin, and religion.

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As we start a new year it’s a good time to review workplace developments of 2007 and make sure that you’ve integrated applicable ones into your policies and practices. The following information highlights a few selected federal developments. Remember to check your state law as well. The states were very busy in 2007. In 2008 you can expect to continue to see a lot of activity on the federal and state levels that will significantly impact the workplace. Several possibilities are discussed below. In a slight modification of an old, trite saying: nothing is certain but death, taxes, and changes in HR law.

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