NASHVILLE (AP) - The Senate has passed a bill that would allow employers to require English be spoken in the workplace.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Jack Johnson, a Brentwood Republican, would continue to permit workers to speak other languages while on break or off the clock.

Johnson also emphasized that that it would up to the employer to decide whether to require English.

"If an employer wants to allow all their employees to speak Japanese all day long, they certainly can," Johnson said.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously following a state attorney general's opinion that the requirement would be constitutional.

The companion bill has been assigned to a House subcommittee.

Read SB2849 on the General Assembly's Web site at: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us

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