other staff all talking their first language [duplicate]

Question

This is a question for my niece she is a supervisor in a chain restaurant, all the other waiters have English as their second language and all have the same first language.

Their English is very good and they can all easily converse in English.

Her problem is that they all speak their first language unless actually speaking directly to her or a customer.

This means that she has no idea what any of the people she supervises are talking about all day, unless she asks them a direct question.

1. is she allowed to do anything about this, or is trying to do anything racial discrimination?
2. if she is what can she do?

Editing to add she lives and works in England. (This is relative to the possible duplicates where the person had moved abroad and didn't speak the local language. She would like them to speak the local language.)

Answer 1

There are a few angles to this:

1. Legal Angle - I personally would not go down this road. Reason is two-fold - doing so might not be legal (you would need to check separately for that). Worse, it would spoil relations with the team. Unless, you are in a rule-based union shop, I don't think spoiling relations is a good idea.

2. Personal Angle - I have been in a few situations like the one described above. (I can speak three languages, and understand a fourth, though not converse too well in it.) In one situation, I was with some people whose first language was my fourth. In the other, I was with some people who spoke my first language.
   In all these situations, my experience is that is there is no language like your first language for comfort (for the sake of reference - English is not my first language though I am quite fluent in it).

As a supervisor, your niece can always pull rank, and ask them to talk in English. What impact this has depends on:
A. What relationship she has with them.
B. Are they doing any cribbing compared to just talking about stuff.

Your niece could also look at it as a challenge, and learn the language. Apart from making the team feel nice, it also creates a situation where the fact that your niece cannot speak the language is clearly emphasised to the people speaking it.

Answer 2

Since it was the restaurant's choice to hire people that have English as secondary language, I'll agree with @jon-custer's comment: this seems like an excellent opportunity for your sister to expand her horizons and learn a new language.

• It'll pass a message to the other waiters that management is understanding and supportive;
• She'll be able to tap into her team's day-to-day dynamics;
• The fact that all the other waiters have the same first language is an asset - by communicating using it they reduce the noise-to-signal ratio, something important on a dynamic environment like a restaurant;
• She'll have extensive opportunities to practice.

The other possibility is to force it, and on that aspect @starlight's answer is spot-on. She's risking alienating and spoiling the relationship with her workforce.

Answer 3

Easily converse in English is not easier.

Find out the chain policy on language. Then talk to her supervisor. Even if there is a policy that has not been enforced she should get permission to enforce the policy.

If it is OK with her supervisor I guess she could order English only but it might not be well received.

If other supervisors don't order English only then it will likely not be well received.