During the past few months, some employees at FreshDirect, a Long Island City-based online company that delivers food throughout the city, have been going to work earlier or leaving later. They are not an overworked staff - they are immigrant employees who are paid to attend English as a Second Language (ESL) classes so they can perform better on the job and advance their careers.
About 60 workers whose duties range from cutting fish, poultry and meat, entering shipping data, sorting the food and preparing the 40,000 weekly orders at FreshDirect attend their two-hour English classes twice a week.
To encourage workers to participate in the ESL course, which started in July and will run through October 23, FreshDirect pays them an hourly rate. Students attend classes before or after work. For example, an employee whose eight-hour shift begins at 6:30 a.m. takes a class from 4:15 a.m. to 6:15 a.m.
“The classes are helping me communicate with the people and managers I work with. I would like to continue,” said Martha Asmal, a beginner student.
“A simple thing like calling in sick is a problem for someone who is unable to communicate the situation. This language barrier has to be addressed,” said Tim Rucinski, director of the Center for Corporate Education at LaGuardia Community College, which is providing the instructors for the ESL program.
“These tailored classes are designed to help our employees advance in their careers at FreshDirect and take these skills beyond the classroom,” said Senior Vice President of Business Affairs at FreshDirect Jim Moore.
FreshDirect is the latest company to use LaGuardia’s resources in
English language training. Over the past four years, the institution has provided
English language instruction to the membership of labor unions and to workers in the transportation and insurance industries.
