I recently conducted a poll on LinkedIn: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/92440/wqzig
I asked the question whether people thought that HR documentation should be provided in the employee's own language. It was an interesting result.
Overwhelmingly most people thought it was either Very Important or Fairly Important to do so, with only a few being sensitive to cost. No one said they would class it as Not Important.
Why is it then, that we almost always see employees, whose first language is not English, being asked to sign documentation or undergo HR interviews with little or no thought about the cultural and language implications?
My guess is that cost and time are the main perceived barriers, but perhaps there may be grounds for discrimination if an employee is unfairly treated because of their language capabilties.
Worth a thought?