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An Auckland medical laboratory has offered a separate lunch room for staff to speak a language other than English during their breaks.
However, if they insisted on communicating in a language other than English during work hours they would be sacked, Fort Richard Laboratories company director Maurice Clist said today.
"It is non-negotiable. It is a health and safety issue."
Mr Clist said staff needed to communicate at the factory in Otahuhu, South Auckland, to ensure a very high level of quality control in the manufacture of medical laboratory supplies, and that required everyone to speak English.
All his staff could speak English perfectly, he said.
<br
"We want to be absolutely confident of product integrity and quality and we can't do that when workers are communicating with one another in a language when we don't know what they are saying.&
quot;
He had given several verbal warnings but earl
ier this month sent a memo to staff telling them they would be sacked if they spoke another language during the manufacture of medical laboratory supplies.
Mr Clist said today he also wanted staff to speak English during lunch breaks but if they insisted, he would be happy to provide a separate room for those who wanted to speak another language.
Half his staff were New Zealand-born, a quarter were Indian and the rest were of other ethnic origins.
The lunch room was a place for staff to relax during their break and when a foreign language, particularly Indian, was spoken, it could create a "trying" and not a relaxing atmosphere, he said.
"They don't want jabberwocky or gobbledegook going full bore.
It is like machinegun fire. It is a staccato type speech. I don't want to be critical but it is not a smooth, quiet undertone.
"They get quite excited and some of the staff don't
lik
e it," Mr Clist said.
"It is very rude. It's like whispering behind somebody's back."
He sai
d his staff were happy with his ruling and there had not been a problem since he issued the written memo.
"It looks like it's me versus the staff. It is not. It is the very antithesis of that. I wouldn't know who I am against.
"The staff all see it as perfectly reasonable," he said.
It was a happy workplace and most of his staff had been with him for many years.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2955113a11,00.html
An Auckland medical laboratory has offered a separate lunch room for staff to speak a language other than English during their breaks.
However, if they insisted on communicating in a language other than English during work hours they would be sacked, Fort Richard Laboratories company director Maurice Clist said today.
"It is non-negotiable. It is a health and safety issue."
Mr Clist said staff needed to communicate at the factory in Otahuhu, South Auckland, to ensure a very high level of quality control in the manufacture of medical laboratory supplies, and that required everyone to speak English.
All his staff could speak English perfectly, he said.
<br
"We want to be absolutely confident of product integrity and quality and we can't do that when workers are communicating with one another in a language when we don't know what they are saying.&
quot;
He had given several verbal warnings but earl
ier this month sent a memo to staff telling them they would be sacked if they spoke another language during the manufacture of medical laboratory supplies.
Mr Clist said today he also wanted staff to speak English during lunch breaks but if they insisted, he would be happy to provide a separate room for those who wanted to speak another language.
Half his staff were New Zealand-born, a quarter were Indian and the rest were of other ethnic origins.
The lunch room was a place for staff to relax during their break and when a foreign language, particularly Indian, was spoken, it could create a "trying" and not a relaxing atmosphere, he said.
"They don't want jabberwocky or gobbledegook going full bore.
It is like machinegun fire. It is a staccato type speech. I don't want to be critical but it is not a smooth, quiet undertone.
"They get quite excited and some of the staff don't
lik
e it," Mr Clist said.
"It is very rude. It's like whispering behind somebody's back."
He sai
d his staff were happy with his ruling and there had not been a problem since he issued the written memo.
"It looks like it's me versus the staff. It is not. It is the very antithesis of that. I wouldn't know who I am against.
"The staff all see it as perfectly reasonable," he said.
It was a happy workplace and most of his staff had been with him for many years.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2955113a11,00.html
