Human resource management professionals are careful to avoid discriminating against job applicants based on national origin, especially since such discrimination is prohibited by U.S. law. They need to know—to what extent is assessing the language proficiency of job applicants or employees from non-English-speaking countries allowable? 

Fortunately, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides clear guidelines on when such testing is allowed and appropriate. In brief—

• English language proficiency requirements may lawfully put in place so long as the requirements are based on the level of English needed for effective performance in a specific position
   
• On the other hand, employers should avoid English language proficiency requirements that are used uniformly across widely different types of positions, since not all jobs require the same level of English skills
   
• Similarly, accent can only be a factor in employment decisions if the accent materially interferes with performance of the person's specific job duties

Using TOEIC testing is ideal for ensuring that you are in compliance with the law and for being able to document that compliance. Some advantages of these tests as compared with other English language assessments include the following: 

• TOEIC test scorers are trained and monitored so that test taker accents will not count against them. Only pronunciation difficulties that significantly interfere with understanding will lower scores.
   
• TOEIC tests are used worldwide and meet international standards for fairness, validity, and reliability. While decisions based on some other measure, such as an employer interview for instance, could be challenged as subjective and biased, a TOEIC test score provides an inarguably objective assessment.
   
• ETS has conducted extensive research to determine how TOEIC scores match with specific skills that are needed for various types of positions, and their research is documented through "Can Do" tables, score descriptors, and other studies.
   

If you would like help determining how to set TOEIC score minimums for particular positions at your organization, or are interested in starting to use TOEIC tests, please contact us at toeic@amideast.org.