Is this racist? Are the company in the wrong? Thoughts please.

[MaidenMotherCrone]

I'm am neither racist nor xenophobic. My extended family is like a United Nations meeting. I have mixed race heritage. My children have Eastern European heritage.

At work staff are 75/25% Eastern European/British. I like being with people of different cultures and enjoy learning about them etc. Find it fascinating. I do try with different languages too. I'm not very good but I do try. Every day.

My co workers all speak in their language to each other. Very loudly. They can all speak some English... most are fluent. I find it very difficult and rude tbh. They aren't the friendliest bunch and are quite hostile at times resulting in staff leaving because of bullying.

Our supervisor is also Eastern European. This is important.

Yesterday he read out an email from HR which in a nutshell said that in the interests of H&S/ the team only English was to be spoken in the working environment but this doesn't apply to breaks etc.

There was uproar. The supervisor decided it was racist bullshit (his words) and they carried on as before. They then treated the British staff like dirt. I reached a point where it was making me feel sick so I pointed out I hadn't written that email so why was I on the receiving end of their anger? I was ignored.

I don't want to go in today. Are the (multinational) company wrong? The email was nothing to do with me btw before Sherlock sticks her pipe in.

As far as I am aware it is fine to designate an official language for the company during work time. I used to have to speak English and Welsh, my Welsh was very rudimentary.

It sounds like the message was not delivered in a way that builds compliance. Are you a manager too? If not just go in and keep your head down and crack on as normal

Thank you@itsboiledeggsagain. I've no choice but to do as you've suggested. Funnily enough I'm Welsh too and if any of us speak Welsh ( mines very basic) we get the dirty looks and cold shoulder.

I used to work with a Polish couple they would often switch to talking in Polish and whilst it didn’t bother me, another last was enraged by it saying she was convinced they were talking about us.

The couple spoke fluent English.

My colleague who had a bee in her bonnet complained bitterly but nothing was done.

In a wider working environment I can see that it might cause problems so I don’t think it is racist to make a rule of English only being spoken, especially if they are allowed to converse in their native tongue during breaks.

They definitely talk about us, openly say our names in their conversations and all look then collapse in fits of laughter. You don't need to understand the words...... reading body language can be just as effective.

I think it sounds like the policy is ok but the implementation has been very poor. Can you speak to HR about the impact of the high-handed delivery?

I think Eastern Europeans and the native British are the same race aren't they? So how can it be racist?

@pusspuss9 my thoughts exactly.

Look for a new job. And complain to HR. The only ones who are racist are these nasty bullies who are using their own language to abuse you to your face.

I don't see a problem with this. If you worked in another country where most of the employees were English-speaking, I expect you would speak English. I worked in a European city for a year in a multi-national company, although the majority were native English speakers. Everyone spoke their own language if communicating with someone of the same nationality. We used either English or the language of the country we were working in for meetings.

It wouldn’t be an issue if they were just chatting about what they had for lunch or whatever. The problem is that they’re talking abusively about people and making fun of them, and using their own language to do it in front of people’s faces. So people can’t understand their bullying comments.

YANBU OP. This is an H&S minefield, and it's a hazard to everyone not just the non-language speakers. I work in personal injury claims and most of the industrial/manufacturing workplaces I visit will have a high proportion of Eastern European workers- I'm assuming you're in a somewhat similar environment, OP. It starts out just general chit chat and moves to work related discussions in the other language, then instructions are delivered in the other language, then warnings. These are dynamic workplaces where you need to have clear lines of communication at all times, and that comes second to being able to gossip about workmates in your own language on shift. It also opens the business to allegations of bullying/harassment if they're not hot on this, as it's one sure way to make some non-language speakers feel isolated and bullied.

@TheCraicDealer thank you so much for your very clear explanation. You are spot on with your experience.

Company policy is company policy and as far as I'm concerned should apply to everyone but what do you do when your supervisor is part of the problem and their (our) manager says he knows nothing about it and it's nothing to do with him.

I should look for another job but it's a great company to work for in other ways. If I left I'd just be another casualty and nothing would change.

The supervisor and Production Manager are best mates fgs. So frustrating.