When are English-Only Rules Allowed in California Workplaces?

The National Football League (NFL) recently announced Bad Bunny (aka Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio) as the halftime performer for the upcoming Super Bowl. On a typical year, this type of announcement either flies under the radar or circulates on talk shows for a few days before fading from everybody’s collective consciousness until the big game.

This year’s announcement, however, sparked a number of objections, including the fact none of Bad Bunny’s hit songs are sung in English. This discussion has raised some questions from employers about English-only policies and practices in the workplace.  Below we address some of those frequently asked questions.

Does the United States of America have an official language?

No. In March 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the federal government. However, this order affects only federal agencies and contractors, and does not impact private businesses that are ruled by existing laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, State and Local laws. While the executive order has reinvigorated support to pass legislation making English the official language, those attempts would have to pass through Congress before being signed into law.

Note: Nationwide, approximately 22%, or roughly 68 million people, speak another language at home, with Spanish accounting for almost two-thirds of this number. This percentage is even higher in California.

The biggest impact of this executive order was in rescinding a Clinton-era mandate requiring agencies and recipients of federal funding (ie, contractors, grant recipients, etc.) to provide extensive language assistance to non-English speakers.

According to the White House’s own guidance, federal agencies are allowed to keep current policies in place and provide documents and services in other languages. Agencies still have the flexibility to decide how and when to offer services in other languages in order to fulfill their mission.

Can I Require my Employees to Speak Only English?

California has protections in place against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin. While language is not named as a protected class, a policy prohibiting the use of a specific language could be interpreted as discriminatory against people of a specific race or national origin.

Federal Employers: Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 English-only rules are only permitted when it is a business necessity. This means when the language is a requirement to ensure a safe and efficient operation of your business. Some possible scenarios include:

• When it is necessary for safety. For instance, in some construction sites, emergency rooms, laboratories, or other jobs with a serious risk of injury
• Where English is necessary to communicate with customers, coworkers or supervisors.

California Employers: Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), in order for an employer to enforce a policy that limits or prohibits the use of any language in the workplace or establish and “English Only” policy they must satisfy a three part test:

1. The language restriction must be justified by business necessity
2. The language restriction must be narrowly tailored and
3. The employer must effectively notify its employees of the circumstances and time when the language restriction is required to be observed and of the consequences for violating the language restriction

Remember, employers are never allowed to restrict employee’s use of another language while they are on a meal or rest break or otherwise “off-the-clock”. If you think it is necessary to implement an English-only policy in your workplace, we recommend you consult legal counsel to avoid issues in the future.

Finally, keep in mind that California law requires employers to post certain labor law posters in Spanish if at least 10% of their workforce is Spanish-speaking. Some notices must be translated into the language normally used to communicate with employees. It’s a best practice to translate all policies to avoid claims that your employees did not understand them.

How Should Employers Respond to Complaints?

One common issue we hear from employers is that employees complain that others are gossiping about them or teasing them in another language. Rather than default to enforcing an English-only policy employers can address this complaint the same way they would any other: investigate, reach an evidence-based conclusion, and implement effective remedial measures when there is proof of misconduct.

For more details on English-only policies, CEA members can download CEA’s English-Only in the Workplace Fact Sheet.

CEA’s HR Advisors are here to answer questions. Contact us – by phone, email or Live Chat.