‘Speak English’ language ban notice at cleaning service not racist, says manager

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The manager of a Christchurch cleaning company that demanded employees only speak English by banning all other languages ​​in its break room is defending her actions by saying it wasnt racist and then denied the notice ever existed at all.

The company, Outsourced Client Solutions, an international corporation, offers a range of services that include cleaning, facility management and hospitality catering. In its own policies the company boasts that it hires employees who reflect the inclusiveness/diverseness of business context/community.

However, a former employee said the notice racially discriminated against the majority of migrant workers at the company.

He raised concerns with management who refused to take action, instead defending its stance in an email.

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The notice, which was pinned to the companys break room wall at Christchurch Airport for four years, read: Please be mindful of others when you are taking a break in the staff room.

I ask you all and as per your employee handbook you are required to communicate in English.

If you want to have a conversation in a different language I suggest you do this outside of the OCS CIAL offices.

Please also be mindful of mobile phone conversations when you are on break as others do not want to listen to your conversations.

Stacy Squires/Stuff

Outsourced Client Solutions has staff cleaning at Christchurch International Airport.

Appreciate all your co-operation to make it a pleasant environment for everyone to take their breaks.

We have many nationalities working in the team and from time to time people are finding it uncomfortable when English is not being used during break times.

Hours after contacting the manager, the company responded to Stuff in an emailed statement saying that after a morning-long investigation it did find the wording of the notice unfortunate but that the writers intentions were well meaning.

The company planned to run an internal audit to ensure this was an isolated incident.

SUPPLIED

The notice that was placed in the Outsourced Client Solutions break room banning languages ​​other than English for cleaning staff.

The employee, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns for future job prospects, said many of his colleagues were immigrants from nations such as Samoa, Fiji and the Philippines, and spoke English while completing their duties, but preferred to speak in their own languages with friends and family during their unpaid break.

Its racial discrimination, he said.

It’s the same thing as if you’re in public, and you’re speaking French and someone screams at you: Speak English!

It was just problematic to me, and I thought they shouldn’t be able to get away with it.

He contacted his manager about the notice, but the email he received back from the services contract manager, Angela Austin, made things worse.

In the email, she said she spoke with southern human resources manager Tanya Marais and southern aviation operations manager Amanda Barnes about his concerns, but it had been decided the notice was not racially discriminatory and would remain in place.

This notice has been up in the staffroom for over four years now, and at no point has any other staff member raised this as a concern, Austin said.

On his final shift on Friday, the sign was taken down.

Supplied

A screenshot of the email the man received after asking why the notice banned using languages ​​other than English.

When contacted by Stuff on Wednesday to ask about the notice in question, Austin said she wasnt aware of it.

Yeah, no, I’m not, I’m not aware of this particular sign that says you can only do that.

However, when told that Stuff had a copy of the email she sent in August regarding the notice, she passed the phone to Barnes, the person who originally put up the notice in the break room.

Barnes said: We’re not allowed to comment to the media, and I don’t intend on commenting to the media.

STUFF

Stuff’s NowNext survey asked its audience the tough questions about racism and the value they place on Mori culture. (First published April 2022)

The man, who has Chinese heritage but passes for Pkeh, said he had witnessed racism towards his colleagues.

There has been comments about the other workers like to the Filipino workers making comments about like, foreigners being in the break room, and just like that casual racism.

Very recently there were comments about Chinese people about eating dog and other sorts of racist stuff like that.

I think it’s our responsibility as people who pass [for Pkeh]who experience this secondhand, to stand up, because if no-one stands up to it, then nothing gets done.

I think they should still in the very least apologise, or at least acknowledge that happened in some way.

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In a statement, CSO Australia & New Zealand marketing and communications manager Carole Norris said the sign was originally put up because staff reported they felt targeted in the staffroom by other team members talking about them in their own language (laughing and pointing).

Its intention was not to stop people from speaking their own language, but to ensure all team members felt safe in the work environment.

It wasnt an issue with hearing another language, it was knowing that individuals were being harassed in a language other than English.

The wording is unfortunate, independent of the writers well-meaning intent. Regardless, it is not up to the standard that we wish to portray to our team members or the values ​​we live by.

Chris Skelton/Stuff

Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon says people are protected under the Human Rights Act to use their own languages.

Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon said everyone in Aotearoa had the right to enjoy their culture and use their own languages, and he was supportive of inclusive workplaces.

It is unlawful, under the Human Rights Act, for an employer to treat an employee less favorably because of their ethnicity or national origin, of which language forms a large part.

Foon said there was a history of this kind of discrimination rearing its head in Aotearoa.

I have seen many businesses celebrate and uphold diversity as an attribute. However, what needs to be remembered is that diversity without inclusion can be end up being empty and tokenistic.

Everyone has the right to enjoy their culture and to use their own language and I fully support inclusive workplaces where people can use the range of languages ​​spoken in the wider community.

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