An Auckland cafe is facing a social media firestorm after a customer snapped a picture of a "racist" sign.https://t.co/ETWgoaVSWF
— nzherald (@nzherald) May 27, 2020
On its website, the New Zealand Human Rights Commission states that: “The right to use one’s own language is an internationally recognised human right, which is mentioned in a range of human rights treaties and declarations.
“It would be hard for an employer to justify a total ‘English only’ policy when the reason for that was to create ‘workplace harmony’ or because it was part of ‘company culture’.”
However, the commission also points out that such a policy could be appropriate if “an employer has a valid reason for it” such as health and safety.