Staff forced to speak english by mcdonalds

A RACE watchdog has launched an investigation after a McDonald's restaurant banned staff speaking any other language but English.

A notice in the staff room at the Orient Food Hall in the Trafford Centre read: "Due to the common language within the store, all staff members must use English at all times."

It said it was head office policy and anyone refusing to comply could be issued with disciplinary warnings.

Employees say they were shocked by the order. They say not all their customers speak English as a first language, and staff would occasionally speak Chinese or Urdu during breaks.

One McDonald's employee said: "Some workers think the notice is intimidating and possibly in breach of employment laws. It's also insulting and should be taken down."

Coun Qassim Afzal, equality spokesman for Liberal Democrats in Manchester, has complained to , the Commission for Racial Equality.

He said: "It is a disgrace for a global organisation such as McDonald's to issue a warning like this.

Diversity

"It is an insult to multi-lingual employees. If a customer visits a huge tourist attraction such as the Trafford Centre and cannot clearly communicate their order in English, surely if the worker is capable of helping that person they should be allowed to do so without the threat of disciplinary action hanging over them.

"Diversity in culture and language should be credit for any organisation and not something taken at face value."

A McDonald's spokeswoman said the notice was written by a manager and was not displayed in other outlets. She said the company would liaise with the manager "to make sure it is done in the right way".

"Although we have over 70,000 UK staff who speak many languages, as a customer-focused business we must ensure consistency in our communications.

"As a result, we simply require staff to speak English when working and specifically when talking to customers. During their break times and when in our crew staff rooms, we of course respect an employee's right to converse in whichever language they choose, provided this does not exclude any fellow employees."

A CRE spokeswoman said: "We have received a complaint and we are looking into it."

A spokesman for the Employment Law Advisory Service in Manchester said: "We think it is potentially discriminatory - only someone of English origin could fully comply.

"If you require them to speak English within the staff room I cannot see the logic. Then to discipline someone for it is dangerous when you take the laws into account."

Yes. It's a cliche because it saved you thinking about what you wrote. Precisely.

I am not discussing your limited vocabulary, but your taste for cliches- the unthinking use of ready-made phrases.

As one purpose of debate and discussion is to persuade other people that you are right you might find it useful to think before you type.

People in call centres often use foreign accents: they're often Indians mimicking British- foreign to them- accents.

The amount of mutual understanding necessary in Macdonalds is not high.

Beyond that, it doesn't matter which language people use to communicate with one another.

Dangers never occur instantly. Accidents always do, when dangers have been disregarded. Equally, if someone doesn't know the english term for a dangerous situation, they may not mention it.

Imagine you and you best English-speaking buddy travel to China for an extended holiday. After a few months you can speak enough Chinese to get by. You are running slightly low on cash and decide to do a bit of temporary work. So you look for something which isn't going to test your limited Chinese too seriously. Let's say a fast-food joint. So you ask the customers if they'd like to go large (in your best Chinese).

At 1pm it's time for you and your friend to enjoy a much-needed lunch break. (Remember here that you have never spoken to your friend in Chinese, you were at school together for 7 years and spoke nothing but English). Would you, or would you not feel affronted if you were told you were not allowed to speak English? And would you be offended if someone then turned around to you and said "If you don't like this rule then go back home?" I would imagine you may have some issue to take with this type of treatment.

But... crucially... the people we are expecting to drop all that comes naturally to them -their mother tongue- are not in England on holiday. They are here to earn a living. To get by the best they can (on abysmal McDonalds salaries).

Please don't tell me that there is any reason why they should be forced to speak English whilst they are taking a break at work.

On a slightly different (yet relevant) note, when I travelled around Europe this summer, I can unequivocally say that the British are the worst tourists imaginable when it comes to the issue of language. When speaking to a French person, a German or an Italian I saw British people assume that they would be able to speak in English and be understood. In one month I saw this happen numerous times. In England I am yet to see a French person arrive with such a blasé attitude as to expect to be understood when he speaks French.

It just doesn't happen. Europeans make much more effort when it comes to this question.

Sorry for the length of this post, but I hope it explains my disgust at people who say (nay grunt) things like "Speak English or piss off back home".

The company pick people who DO possess adequate English skills "for the job". That some of these people prefer to speak foreign languages to each other indicates that the standard of English required on duty is lower than that of a normal conversation.

As much as I hate McDonald's, they did give legitimate reasons for expecting their workers to speak only English at all times when working.

'Cliches' is plural. I used one 'cliche'. Perhaps your own use of English isn't quite as perfect as what you may think. I find much of what you type to be superfluous waffle that has no purpose other than as a feeble way to impress weak minded people.

Would you find it offensive if laws were introduced to ensure people working in call centres could speak english fluently?

Your politically correct elitist attitude becomes apparent here. You seem to look down on Macdonalds staff. You should realise that even here the company has to pick employees suitable for the job and encourage them to work in the optimal manner.

It does when you're working with customers. Any bad impression will lead to loss of profits.

They should know the English term.

Constantly speaking in the English language enables the staff to improve their english, so they will be able to communicate any dangers should they occur.