Multilingual Certification Program

To assist County residents with Limited English Proficiency in accessing our governmental resources and services, the Multilingual Certification Program offers County departments the opportunity to leverage the language skills of their employees who interact with the public on a daily basis. Employees who become multilingual-certified are compensated for their certification in the form of a pay differential. As available, multilingual-certified employees can be called upon to provide their language skills inside or outside of their service area or department.

To become certified, employees must first apply online and receive approval from their supervisor and director. The supervisor and department director will ensure the position meets the criteria for multilingual certification. If approved, the employee must then pass a language certification exam for one of the approved languages identified as the predominant languages used by County residents. Please read below for program details and how to apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Approved Languages

What are the approved languages?

Employees can be certified in one of the languages identified as the predominant languages used by County residents:

American Sign Language
Amharic
Chinese
French
Korean
Spanish
Vietnamese

Note: FOP members are not restricted to the above languages.

Eligibility

Who can apply to become language-certified?

An employee who is fluent in English and a second language can apply if they also meet the following criteria:

Basic:
- Work in a front-facing position that interacts with County residents on a daily basis.
- Provides multilingual interpretation at least weekly to County residents who have Limited English Proficiency who would otherwise be prevented from meaningful access to County services.
Advanced:
- Provide written translation of official government documents on at least a weekly basis into the target language.
Expert:
- Are a member of the FOP bargaining unit and has mastery in the target language for use in interrogations, investigations and legal proceedings.

How to Apply and Become Certified

What is the process for becoming language-certified?

Here's how it works:

Employees log on and complete their request via the online system. (See the Resources section below for the system link and System User Guide, which contains instructions for accessing the system.)
The request is automatically routed to their supervisor for review and approval.
The supervisor approves or denies the request* (or returns it to the employee for corrections).
If approved by the supervisor, the request is then routed to the employee’s director (or designee) for review and approval.
If approved by the director, OHR coordinates the online scheduling, testing and rating processes.
Employees take the language certification exam at a scheduled date and time.
Once the exam has been completed and reviewed, employees and their supervisors are notified of the results and effective date.
Employees who pass the exam and become language-certified receive a multilingual pay differential. They may be called upon to provide their language skills inside or outside of their service area or department.

*Departments and offices are responsible for funding their employees’ multilingual pay differential, so they should ensure there is a need for multilingual employees to serve Limited English Proficiency (LEP) group(s) before approving a request. See Guidance for Departments in the Resources section below.

Certification Levels

What are the language levels available for language certification?

Basic Level – Those skills primarily required for signing or for oral communication and comprehension, such as those used in conversation with clients and citizens, in a language other than English.
Advanced Level – Those skills required for written and oral communication and comprehension, in a language other than English.
Expert Level (only for members of the Fraternal Order of Police ) – Requires mastery of both basic and advanced skills in a second language necessary for comprehensive use in interrogations, investigations and legal proceedings.

Note: IAFF members are eligible for Basic Level only.

Multilingual Pay

How are language-certified employees compensated?

Language-certified employees receive a differential for all hours worked.

MCGEO Employees and Non-Represented Employees:
Basic: $1.00 per hour
Advanced: $1.50 per hour

IAFF Employees
Basic: $1.00 per hour

FOP Employees
Basic: $1.00 per hour
Advanced: $2.00 per hour
Expert: $3.00 per hour

In what circumstances should a language-certified employee no longer receive the multilingual pay differential?

Department Directors must ensure that the County stops paying the multilingual differential to a language-certified employee who:

Transfers to, or assumes, a position for which the multilingual skills are not approved;
Was certified to provide multilingual services that are no longer needed;
Is no longer needed by a department to provide a specific language skill;
Is no longer able to provide the multilingual services;
No longer wishes to provide the multilingual services;
Refuses or fails to provide requested multilingual services in a satisfactory manner; or
Fails to renew the multilingual certification as required.

What is the process for discontinuing the multilingual pay differential?

For instructions regarding how to remove the multilingual pay differential, follow the steps in the Guidance for Departments document, located in the Resources section of this webpage.

Language Certified Employees Database

What is the Language Certified Employees Database?

The Language Certified Employees Database is a data bank of bilingual County employees who have been tested and certified at either the basic, advanced, or expert level to provide language assistance to departments and staff, or to directly communicate with customers in other languages. Certified employees can be used by other departments if needed.

Resources

Questions

If you have further questions about the Multilingual Certification Program, please email [email protected].

This webpage provides general information about Montgomery County Government’s Multilingual Certification Program. If there is an inconsistency between the content of this webpage and any other documents, the applicable document will prevail (e.g., the law, regulation, procedure, or collective bargaining agreement). Please consult appropriate references, such as the Montgomery County Personnel Regulations and collective bargaining agreements for additional information.

Multilingual Certification Program