Lost In Translation -- Not the Movie
Throughout history the lack of clear understanding has led to many things going very wrong. Wars have been started, relationships have been ruined, business deals lost and customers have been alienated forever. And as you are about to read in an article by Carlos Osorio, when that misunderstanding stems from barriers of language in the workplace where companies fail to fulfill their obligations to clearly communicate their policies, practices and directives, it can lead to expensive legal settlements
Translations of company information and requirements to the language of the employees working for you are not always a simple matter. Those translations also must be accurate to convey precise meaning, which requires not only language skills but also cultural and business knowledge to get it right.
The following article speaks to critical workplace issues, but think about the importance of translations when it comes to representing or marketing your business or products to your various customer groups as well, and then give us a call if you would like to discuss any of this farther.
Rod
Lost In Translation: Liability Risks And Lost Business Can Result From Poor Translations
The failure to provide a version of an employee manual in your workforce's language or providing a poor translation may result in serious liability for your business. For the past 10 years in the area of Spanish speaking groups alone, an increasing number of costly lawsuits have been brought against employers throughout the U.S. for failing to provide Spanish translations of important work documents. And in the majority of cases the courts have tended to side with the employees.
One example involved the failed attempt to terminate a monolingual, Spanish-speaking employee who did not understand the company's requirement for workers to call in daily following a work-related injury.* The policy, printed in the employee manual in English, was not translated for the non-English speaking workforce to comprehend. Consequently the employee was terminated for failure to call in and a wrongful termination lawsuit ensued.
The company was found liable and ordered to pay damages and attorneys fees. The costs of defending this lawsuit far exceeded the cost of providing a Spanish version of the employee manual in the first place.
In a second case, a Texas employer was found liable and ordered to reinstate, with back pay (in addition to paying legal defense costs) 19 employees due to a poor translation of a work offer during a strike situation. The translation created confusion regarding a workplace protocol, which misled the employees during the strike, later leading to their dismissal.** It is important to ensure that translations are accurate including in the correct dialects so that your terms carry the meanings that you intend. A common error when many translations are done.
These two instances alone involved monolingual, Spanish-speaking employees with companies at a time when today the Spanish-speaking community in the United States is almost 46 million strong and expected to reach 60 million by 2020 (World Bank Report, 2009). This community is growing faster than any other ethnic group making the United States the "5th largest Spanish-speaking country in the world" (U.N. World Report, 2009). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security data indicate that immigration from Latin America is expected to continue, while the Department anticipates a labor shortfall of some 10 million U.S. workers by 2012. An increased dependency on immigrant employees of all ethnicities is certain.
If your company is not providing at least some communication to your employees in their native languages, you are putting your company at risk for potential lawsuits. And in this state the challenge is even greater with well over 100 different languages spoken just in the Bay Area.
Employee manuals and policies, if properly translated, are the first line of defense for employers in the event of an employee dispute or lawsuit. From a practical point of view as well, employees whose primary language is not English may be more susceptible to isolation in the workplace and require more reference material in their own language to understand policies and practices. After all, a productive contributing employee is good for your business and the clients you serve.
* Jose Torres vs. Conagra, CS-96-2504
** Poly America vs. National Labor Relations Board, US Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, case # 00-60036
Submitted by Rod Hanna on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 09:25.
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