• English-only workplace rules are generally impermissible but may be lawful in situations where they’re required for safe or efficient business operations.
• The EEOC recently released a video indicating an intent to increase its enforcement focus on national origin discrimination against Americans and English speakers.
• The EEOC has prioritized its efforts on protecting American workers from “anti-American national origin discrimination.”

Background

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects workers from employment discrimination based on national origin. The scope of this protection includes employees born outside the United States, as well as U.S.-born workers and those with ancestors born in the United States. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) enforcement and litigation statistics, in fiscal year (FY) 2025, the agency received 7,856 charges alleging national origin discrimination (8.9 percent of all charges received in FY 2025) and had 1,250 merit resolutions involving national origin discrimination.

The EEOC considers an individual’s primary language “often an essential national origin characteristic.” While employers may require English in certain situations, such as when speaking only English is needed to ensure safe and efficient communication for specific tasks, an employer’s English-only rule must be justified by business necessity and enforced for nondiscriminatory reasons. In general, it’s unlawful for an employer to...

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