An Equal Opportunities Question

[Glassman]

Equal opportunities is a principle that ensures everyone has a fair chance to succeed, regardless of personal characteristics like age, race, gender, etc. It's about removing barriers to access and providing a level playing field. This principle is often embedded in policies and laws to prevent discrimination and promote inclusivity.

In situations where the role is customer facing, does the 'equal opportunities' directive mean that someone for whom English is not their first language should still be employed despite it being difficult to understand what they are saying? To rephrase, if the person is qualified to be considered for such a role, is one of the prerequisites to demonstrate the ability speak [English] intelligibly?

Example: I've was on the underground and an important announcement was made over the tannoy. It was the voice of a male, and (to me) sounded like an African accent. Nobody understood what he said. There was a genuine look of confusion on the face of everyone I looked at. We were none the wiser and had to find someone to clarify the message.

Another example was this morning. I took a call from someone at the hospital who was calling about an upcoming appointment. She sounded female and spoke in a very soft tone; quite pleasant in fact. However, I struggled to understand her because her accent was so strong. We got there in the end I wasn't triggered or anything but it did feel a bit awkward as I had to ask her to repeat almost every key point. I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable but I just wasn't understanding her.

If I eventually got the message, what's the issue? We got there in the end. I'm just wondering how these appointments go. Do the employers see it the same way? I ask the question respectfully and with caution as it's not my intention to object, or complain. Is this the whole point? We try to make everyone feel comfortable despite any challenges? How do we compare to other countries? Even though I can speak and understand some very basic Polish, I cannot imagine I would last long as the PA at a train station, or the person calling to arrange hospital appointments.

For context, my maternal grandfather was Glaswegian and a lot of non-Scottish people would have struggled to understand him when he was in full flow, and my father was from India who spoke very good English, albeit with a distinctly Indian accent.

[TheK1981]

Does anyone remember that little britain sketch about the airport worker who applies as a porter but is in a wheelchair, so they have to employ a worker to push him as he pushes the disabled persons wheelchair.... sometimes you need to look if they are the right person for the job....

Ages ago I had to call my car insurance company as for some reason the address wasnt found at renewal, im not sure where the call centre was but it took nearly an hour to get them to understand and check, I ended up not renewing and went with one that advertises a uk call centre,

[xx99xx]

Can depend on the location and specific job.

An area with, for example, a large population of Polish people, may benefit from a Polish person having a customer facing role. However, I don't believe language is covered in the Equality Act so would be fairly easy for an employer to favour an English speaking candidate over one that barely speaks English, if they deem English to be an essential skill for the role.

[Mortarboard]

And can get further complicated when multilingual requiremts exist, as the British are less likely to be so.

So you get (for example) a farsi speaker with functional English, as opposed to a native English speaker with no farsi at all

M.