From the perspective of newcomers to Canada, using English as an additional language (EAL), this study explores how newcomers' interlocutors might impede workplace communication. Six participants speaking EAL and with a variety of language backgrounds shared their workplace experiences. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, with anecdotes compiled, coded, and analyzed for emergent themes. CELPIP-General LS test scores were also obtained to provide a measure of the participants' general English language proficiency. Based on the anecdotes shared by the participants, affective tension, interlocutor language use, interlocutor understanding, time pressure, and their own perceptions played a role in inhibiting workplace communication. It appeared that their capacity to deploy the full range of their communicative competence in English often depended on their interlocutors. These findings point to how the attitudes and actions (real or imagined) of interlocutors may affect workplace language skills. Based on these findings, the potential of intercultural skills development for newcomers, their interlocutors, and the wider community is examined with the goal of facilitating workplace communication.