English For Office Work
Learning Business English vocabulary is essential for the modern workplace. Even without knowing lots of vocabulary or English grammar, knowing these phrases will help you cover the basics. Of course, these fifteen are just a starting point. If you really need to speak business English fluently, reach out to a few online Business English tutors on Preply or opt for corporate English training with Preply Business.
english for office work
When speaking with office colleagues in English, it is important to remember that Brits and Americans often use words like please, thank you, excuse me and sorry. In many languages, words like these are not as important, but in English, they are!
We like to think of ourselves as an "interactive online textbook" with a built-in "certification engine" that can be used in either remote or physical classrooms. The course is delivered through a standard web browser and will work on any desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone with an Internet connection.
Being unsure of what to say in new situations can feel intimidating. However, with a strong idea of what English office phrases and words to use you can feel confident in your interactions at work every day.
There are six official languages of the UN. These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The correct interpretation and translation of these six languages, in both spoken and written form, is very important to the work of the Organization, because this enables clear and concise communication on issues of global importance.
The Department of Global Communications has established language days for each of the UN's six official languages. The purpose of the UN's language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization. Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the Organization's six official languages. Language Days at the UN aim to entertain as well as inform, with the goal of increasing awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community. The days are as follows:
For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safeguards the rights of workers to safe and healthy working conditions by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. Fluent in a variety of languages, OSHA's multilingual staff ensures that programs and services are effectively communicated to all workers and employers. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) enforces federal labor laws, including laws concerning the minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, and migrant workers. WHD strategic initiatives focus on industries that employ vulnerable workers, including those with limited English proficiency. In order to meet the needs of these individuals, over 60 percent of WHD's investigators are multilingual, providing support for nearly 50 different languages.
As an employer that promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce, DOL recognizes that employees who speak languages other than English may wish to communicate in another language outside of performing their job duties, such as in casual conversations with coworkers or while engaged in personal matters.
EEOC Regulation 29 C.F.R. 1606.7(a) provides that a rule requiring employees to speak only English at all times in the workplace is a burdensome term and condition of employment. Such a rule is presumed to violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, a speak-English-only rule that applies to casual conversations between employees on break or not performing a job duty would be unlawful.
A workplace English-only rule that is applied only at certain times may be adopted under very limited circumstances that are justified by business necessity, as stated in 29 C.F.R. 1606.7(b). Such a rule must be narrowly tailored to address the business necessity. Situations in which business necessity would justify an English-only rule include:
Business English has its own vocabulary and expressions that you will need to use and recognise in order to communicate successfully with your work colleagues, give instructions and understand your boss!
Business English also extends to the kind of language you use in the office to talk to colleagues. At work, we often use more formal English than at home. Here are some examples of phrases to use in formal situations at work:
Initial investigations identified three employees who were admitted to different hospitals and clinicians treated all cases as community acquired pneumonia (CAP) leading to limited microbiological testing and empirical treatment. A lack of microbiological diagnosis meant these cases had not been notified to PHE through routine surveillance systems, and an epidemiological link between cases had not been established. An interview with the office manager established that there had previously been problems with pigeons nesting on the building and in the internal roof space. These issues had been resolved several months prior to the outbreak, however Chlamydia psittaci was subsequently included as a potential causal organism and psittacosis among our list of initial differential diagnoses.
This study represents the findings of a public health investigation into a suspected infectious disease outbreak. The investigation was carried out by Public Health England and the Local Authority within the statutory framework for public health in the UK. Therefore, the investigation was not subject to ethics approval. Investigators had access to patient identifiable data to facilitate investigations and provision or public health advice. Public Health England base our use of information on adherence to the UK Data Protection Act 1998, the law for notifiable disease and section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 (originally enacted under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001). Data relating to infectious disease outbreaks are therefore processed legally without consent under Regulation 3di of section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 ( ). Verbal consent for each patient was collected by clinicians in the public health team who were following up cases. It was recorded in the clinical records held for each case as part of the public health investigation.
We used staff sickness records and worked with office managers of all three occupied office buildings to undertake case finding at the businesses. Initial case definitions were designed to identify cases of self-reported pneumonia or lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) (confirmed from medical records) working in or visiting the office or adjacent buildings from July 2015 onward.
Once microbiological results established a diagnosis of psittacosis we supplemented case finding with searches of statutory clinical and laboratory notification data and updated our case definitions. We defined confirmed cases as those with a diagnosis of pneumonia or LRTI, working in or visiting the office or adjacent buildings, between 1 July and 1 September 2015 with PCR confirmed C. psittaci infection or C. psittaci antibody titre consistent with infection (defined as 1:512 for the purposes of this investigation). Probable cases were those meeting the criteria above without positive PCR results and inconclusive serological results.
Following identification of psittacosis cases were asked explicitly about exposures to birds, feathers or guano. Case 1 (index) reported indirect contact at his home when disposing of a dead pigeon, using a long-handled garden tool, approximately one week before onset of symptoms. The three other cases reported no contact with birds, feathers or guano in the 28 days prior to onset at work or anywhere else.
Cases did not live close to one another, did not socialise together, and comparison of travel histories did not identify any commonalities and workplace was the only epidemiological link identified. Two cases (Case 1 and 4, Table 1) reported sitting at nearby desks and working together in the office, but otherwise there were no reports of close contact at work. Attendance records identified only four days between 13 July and 23 July 2015, during the incubation period, when the four cases were present together at the office, suggesting a ten day window of exposure. Estimates of the incubation period in this outbreak ranged from a median of 10 days (range 6-12 days from the latest date in the exposure window), up to a median of 21 days (range 17-23 days from the earliest date in the exposure window).
The environmental investigation at the site did not identify any specific issues with the office building. Several months prior to the first psittacosis case pigeons had infiltrated the internal roof space. Netting and anti-bird devices had been installed on the office roof at this time (prior to incubation period) and appeared to be effective after visual inspection.
The building ventilation system had two separate external air inlets located on the roof suggesting a potential zoonotic transmission pathway, however anti-bird netting was in place over inlet areas and there was no evidence of nesting or infiltration of birds (e.g. guano or feathers) near inlets. Mapping of ventilation systems also showed that cases were seated in different areas of the office fed by separate inlets on the roof. Ventilation systems in the office were shut down as a precaution during the investigation, and the system underwent a deep clean and all air filters were changed. It was not possible to collect environmental samples from the ventilation system prior to it being cleaned.
During the site visit it was reported that workers from nearby offices (non-cases) often fed the birds which had attracted large numbers of pigeons. This had caused historical problems with guano on the pavements surrounding the office to the extent where cleaning of pavements was undertaken. This prevented environmental sampling of bird guano from around the building. The car park was adjacent to the office, but the staff did not report a particular problem of guano on cars, and no cases reported contact with guano. Feeding of birds was subsequently stopped. 041b061a72