President Trump signed an Executive Order on March 1 designating English as the official language of the United States. The new E.O. rescinds E.O. 13166, which former President Bill Clinton signed to improve government services for people with limited English proficiency.
The new E.O. does not instruct federal agencies to take any action other than rescinding E.O. 13166 and related guidance.
The new E.O. also does not alter any workplace compliance requirements. However, we remind employers that restrictive language policies may trigger liability under Title VII. Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains that workplace policies requiring the use of the English language (commonly called English-only rules) may constitute national origin discrimination in violation of Title VII.
It would not be surprising if some government agencies stop offering services in multiple languages and stop requiring employers to provide various notices in languages other than English. Nevertheless, some notices are required by statute and are unlikely to change. It is also likely that future budget cuts may target language access services at some federal agencies.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.