Around the world and across the United States, we see so many languages spoken. People around the world communicate in thousands of different languages. Given the wide origins of workers and companies with international operations, the question arises: to what extent should employers accommodate language needs, as in translating handbooks, policies, notices, or memos? Legally, the answer is murky: states and foreign jurisdictions adopt varying approaches.

For example, in the United States, there is a varied patchwork of federal law that can apply requiring notices in languages besides English, while we have some states (Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Missouri, etc.) that do not have any requirements for translating employment-related documents. In contrast, states like Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, and Washington encourage employers to provide translation or guidance for employment-related documents, while states like New York, Illinois, Virginia, and Massachusetts require notices and posters in languages besides English. Finally, some states like Tennessee, Colorado, Texas, and California have more specific laws and case law on requirements for translating employment-related documents.

For employers with international operations, the answer will significantly vary based on an employee’s location. Some countries (like Australia and Switzerland) do not have any requirements, while many countries in Latin America, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, etc. have recommended or preferred languages. Other countries like Israel, Denmark, India, South Africa, and Japan have requirements that employers ensure employees understand employment-related documents or that a document in a specific language will prevail in a dispute. However, many countries, such as Belgium, Canada, France, Romania, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, China, etc., do have specific language requirements, and some of them are based on regions within countries.

It is clear that there is a lot of variety across the United States and around the world on whether employers must translate workplace documents. Employers should tread carefully with languages for employment documents, especially in light of ever-changing statutes across countries.

Polsinelli is monitoring these requirements around the world.