A study investigated "English-only" policies as they relate to workplace literacy and language use. Literature in four areas is examined and integrated: (1) court cases resulting from English-only policies of several companies; (2) requirements of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines for its interpretation; (3) workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy programs; and (4) human resource development literature that reports and interprets development relating to English-only for human resource professionals. It is concluded that a primary justification offered by companies for their English-only policies is the belief that American monolingual speakers of English experience negative feelings when they hear a foreign language, a testable hypothesis worthy of further research. If this claim could be substantiated, it would have important implications for future workplace ESL literacy programs, which could address this issue. Of the sampled workplace ESL literacy programs from the last decade, the great majority have paid little attention to needs assessment in program development. It is recommended that such programs must take a broader view of the workplace as a communication system and address all language-related factors. Contains 110 references. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)