Job advertisements published in foreign languages in themselves do not constitute discrimination

The Ombudswoman dealt with the matter concerning potentially discriminatory practices in case of advertising job offers only in a foreign language.

It follows from her Opinion that job offers made by companies only in a foreign language in themselves constitute neither discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, nor denial of the right to employment on the grounds of language. Exclusive use of the Czech language in public space is not required under any law. Moreover, the language is only one of the set of factors determining ethnicity. For any difference of treatment on the grounds of language to raise concerns regarding indirect discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin, it has to adversely affect people of a certain ethnicity.

However, the requirement that an applicant should be fluent in a certain language to win a certain job must be reasonably justified. If the use of a specific language were to create a workforce homogenous in terms of ethnicity (nationality) or to exclude persons of a certain ethnic origin (or nationality), this would constitute inadmissible discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin/nationality and an infraction with regard to the right to employment.

The labour inspectorates are therefore obliged to examine the further stages of recruitment procedures in specific companies and make sure that the conditions of equal access to employment are met.

The full version of the Opinion is available here