National origin discrimination covers treatment based on a person’s or their ancestors’ place of origin, or on physical, cultural or linguistic characteristics associated with a national origin group.
English-only rules. A blanket requirement applying at all times, including breaks, is generally presumed unlawful. A rule limited to specific circumstances may be justified by business necessity — safety communications, cooperative work assignments, customer interaction, supervisory monitoring for quality — and must be narrowly drawn and communicated.
Accent. An employment decision may be based on accent only where effective spoken communication in English is genuinely required for the position and the individual’s accent materially interferes with it. Assessments should be made by those with a basis to judge, and documented.
Fluency requirements must be job-related and no more demanding than the position requires.
Citizenship and work authorisation. Immigration law prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring and verification. Requesting more or different documents than required, or specifying which documents to present, is document abuse and is separately actionable.
Harassment based on national origin includes ethnic slurs, mockery of accent and derogatory references to immigration status, assessed under the usual severe or pervasive standard.
Practical control. Standardised verification procedures, trained interviewers, and job descriptions stating genuine communication requirements.