our restaurant is in town where there are many spanish speaking immigrants.I have reason to believe a new employee is making fun of me in Spanish with a veteren employee.usually I dont care much about this nor what my employees think of me,but it is really starting to bother me now.can I obligate my employees to speak English at work?
Do you not have a trusted employee that speaks both you could use to make sure this is going on and then sit down both the new and vet employees and have a little talk in BOTH languages and make it clear this conduct will not be allowed and if you hear it again…Buh-Bye!
my number one trusted employee speaks only English and the number 2 trusted employee is sisters with the girl who is making fun of me.neither sister speaks english well but they are great honest hard workers.the one that I believe makes fun of me speaks the least English. the guy involved put his 2 weeks in,but it seems some of my more experienced employees are wanting to quit to.I dont feel like going back now,I would lose credibility,so I have to stick to my guns no matter who I lose in my opinion.
there used to be a no spanish rule but we slowly stoped enforcing it over the years as we hired more spanish speaking people. with this new guy the issues came back,and now thanks to him I have veterens that may quit and a whole staff upset.
I have given both employees verbal warnings about this.I am ok losing the new guy but the veteren is going to be a harder pill to swollow.then again every one is replaceable.
I realize not everyone like the boss and I am fine with that.after all I am not running a popularity contest.but to make fun of me in my business is not tollerable,if anyone has something to say about me say it to my face so I can understand.
Benny I would take someone that does not work for you but speaks both and have a sitdown with all your employees one by one. Make sure to reinforce the positives and not just harp on the negatives. Make sure the great workers know their worth to you and also make sure the problem ones understand in both languages this is over now! Then have a group meeting, again with your speech helper there, to just go over the issue and any others as a group. Just a general employee meeting. You need to keep the good ones and remember that this is your life and to them it is just another job. Protect yourself when needed! :!:
You need to know if your hunch is correct, or if you’re just misinterpreting body language. I don’t know how you can make the right call without that information. You’re flying blind in this. I would say that you need to get the facts.
If you’re set on this and are only looking for confirmation that you should do whatever you want as the owner, of course we would agree. But you have to accept that you might be making a big mistake, too. 
I’m curious. Do your Spanish-speaking staff use it with customers who don’t speak English?
It sounds as if you have a problem that needs to be addressed but it might not be the one you’re asking about. If I’m following your posts correctly you don’t seem to have had an issue with staff until after you hired this problem child?
I’m drawn to your comment that “…some of my more experienced employees are wanting to quit too”.
You have an obligation to find out, in whatever language it takes, just what has changed that has your staff in a position where leaving appears to be their best option. If it’s the new hire…say 'buh-bye". and be done with it. If this new dynamic has simply opened up trouble that’s been present, but under the surface, then it’s time to sit down and get it hashed out.
Good luck to you! Sometimes dealing with all the crud our employees can drag in with them makes running a day-care seem like a sweet career move!
on different occasions I have gave them jobs to do and as soon as I walk away the new guy says something to the veteren girl and they both start laughing.one time I even asked them what was so funny and that I also wanted in on the joke.they played it down and said inside joke.I know they are doing it,my brother says they do it with him too.it`s not a hunch.I am fluent in Italian and understand a some Spanish but they dont say it loud enough because of that.
we are having a meeting about this.the guy that is quiting we are going to let leave and the girl will be warned this type of behavior wont be tolerated anymore.
they do use spanish for walk in and phone orders when needed.
@deacon:what has changed is that I wanted them to speak in english at all times.since then my brother and I agreed to let there be limited use of spanish at work and none for work related stuff.the new guy is leaving and that solves most of this issue. the sisters have talked crap in spanish about a co-worker when she corrected one of them on something so they do do that kind of stuff.not all coworkers can be friends though either.the team works well together for the most part.I usually dont care what they think about me as long as we are all pulling the wagon forward and not backwards.it just bothers me that this high school kid cant even wait for me to leave the room to mock me.it bothers me even more my veteran worker has no respect for me or my brother.
My firm rule is English only, and I have several bilingual workers. I do not understand Spanish and 90% of my customers do not understand Spanish, so in my opinion there is no need to speak Spanish, unless on the rare occasion we get a customer that can not speak English.
I may be old school but it pi##es me off when I go somewhere and the employees are speaking English to me, and then turn around and start speaking Spanish and laughing with fellow employees. I will leave the business and never return. Just my opinion for what it is worth.
Well, looks like enforcing a rule that English is the only language except with customers that need help would make all the problems go away. Good luck and hope you get it all sorted.
(Hopefully your Spanish-speaking customers won’t walk out and never come back when the staff turns around and starts speaking a different language… :mrgreen:)
had they done this to a costumer they would have both been fired on the spot.thanks for the advice.we will see how it pans out,and let you all know.