[stolson]

I have an intern at a fitness club who is a very hard worker. On paper, he meets all of the qualifications for a job opening except for his ability to communicate well to customers because he has a heavy Asian accent. How do I tell him that his communication level disqualifies him from the job without sounding like the company is discriminating based on ethnic origin?

[joypulv]

You prove it. You set up 5 minutes of scenarios that each job applicant must go through, talking to you as though you are a customer. For instance, a new customer wants to know how many pounds of weights he can lift to start. Maybe two or 3 other questions too.
I would have 1 or 2 other people listen to answers too, so that you aren't the only judge.
It's somewhat subjective. I can usually understand phone reps speaking heavily accented English when other people can't. If he's a hard worker, I'd probably hire him anyway. He might be a good source of new customers.

[Fr_Chuck]

Is the communication listed, has he been warned about this in his current position, has he been talked to before about it, Or has all of his current reviews been good ?

Has there been any customer complaints, and were they docujmented.

Next why not offer him some english as second language or other training to make him a better employee