Boss won't budge: speak English or face the sack

By ANGELA GREGORY

An Auckland company director is standing by a warning to his workers that they will be sacked if they don't always speak English at work.

Maurice Clist says he is within his rights to insist that his staff at Fort Richard Laboratories all speak English, even during lunch breaks.

Mr Clist said some of his staff at the Otahuhu premises had complained that a few of their colleagues were speaking "Indian".

"They complained they were having their lunch interrupted by ... people talking in another language," he said yesterday.

Mr Clist said that for safety reasons he had already ordered some workers to speak only English on the production line because the company prepared medical supplies for disease diagnosis.

"We need to know that what the person is saying is right."

On June 1, Mr Clist wrote a letter to those who might breach the rule.

"This is a non-negotiable issue," it said. "I will have no hesitation in dismissing anyone who persists in this matter. Be warned."

Mr Clist said he had advice that such a dismissal would be lawful.

But Auckland Queen's Counsel Kit Toogood said he would be surprised if any court or the Employment Relations Authority would consider the decree as a lawful and reasonable instruction.

"It is unlikely such a dismissal would be justified."

A spokesman for the Human Rights Commission said there could be good reasons for insisting on the use of one language in the workplace.