Thorndon New World

TVNZ had a story last night, featuring my local supermarket – Thorndon New World.

A Wellington supermarket is under fire for ordering workers to only speak English.

The Thorndon New World has told staff they may get a warning if they break the rule and a notice to staff posted on the supervisor’s kiosk spells out the English language policy. …

The notice says foreign languages make customers and staff uncomfortable.

One interesting aspect to this, not reported on by TVNZ, is that the local manager of the Thorndon New World is himself Asian. Now this is off memory and may be wrong now, but that makes it an interesting issue even more.

Personally I have no problems with people speaking other languages between themselves. In fact one of the things I like about London is how you hear dozens of different languages on the tube.

But is there a difference when you are working in a retail environment? Customers can get upset if they do not understand what staff are saying to each other – they may even be talking about the customer. As I said, personally I don’t give a stuff, but what is as a shop owner it is generating negative feedback?

I don’t think there is any question that in staffrooms, or if workplaces where you are away from the public, there should be no restrictions on language. But should an employer be able to insist on English if staff are talking within earshot of customers?

Personally I think Thordon New World over-reacted by putting notices up and threatening warnings. That is over the top and potentially illegal. If I was them, I would have just spoken to staff and told them to be mindful that any private conversations do not come across to customers as rude.