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Interpreting as a profession

Qualified interpreters are much more than simply native speakers of the target language. In order to have the high level of skill required for interpretation work, interpreters must have a natural affinity and talent for language usage. In addition, they should have a university level education and ability in both their native language and English. For these reasons, those who translate and interpret are highly educated, skilled individuals. It is important that their compensation be commensurate with their abilities and their unique talent. If not, it is doubtful that truly competent individuals will remain in the field.

Compensation for interpreting and translating needs to reflect not only the high level of ability involved in performance, but also the vagaries of the profession. Interpreters act as independent contractors. They must train and maintain their skills at their own expense, pay self employment taxes, purchase benefits such as medical, retirement, etc. on their own and keep records and schedule their appointments on unpaid time.

In addition to the above-mentioned constraints, interpreters must work to keep their schedules full. This juggling act is challenging at best, impossible at worst. The general work population is paid for 8 hours of work per day. Interpreters are rarely able to schedule a full day of interpreting assignments. Often, an interpreter cannot accommodate more than one appointment for the morning and one for the afternoon, which means they only receive compensation for 4 hours of work in a day. In many languages, the opportunity to schedule two cases a day is rare.

While interpreters' hourly rates may sound extremely generous, when consideration is given to the limitations imposed by the profession, interpreters compensation is not exorbitant. In fact, it may be less than adequate. The inability to earn a full time living interpreting can discourage the few truly qualified individuals from remaining in the field.

Policies

Two-hour minimum

It may be helpful to think of the two hour minimum in the same way we think of a service call on home appliances, plumbing, etc. Servicemen have minimum rates, whether the repair takes 10 minutes or an hour. Minimum rates exist to cover the various expenses involved in sending a repair person on site. Included in these expenses are travel time, processing and billing time, etc.

In the same sense, it is necessary to charge a two hour minimum in order to make it cost effective for interpreters to appear on site. Interpreters commit to providing their services for two hours if needed. They also operate with an understanding that if their services are needed beyond the two hours promised and if their schedule permits that they will stay as long as necessary. This understanding works in favor of the court system because the courts' needs are covered without requiring more than two hours guaranteed payment.

Cancellation and reassignment

Cancellation policies exist for the same reasons that portal to portal or two hour minimums exist, to make it feasible for individuals to make a living as an interpreter. Most of us don’t need to be concerned that our boss will call us and say "we don't need you to come in the day after tomorrow" and thus leave us with no income for that day. This is the reality for interpreters who book time for an interpretation request and later have it revoked. Interpreters need protection from too many occurrences of lost work.

It is reasonable to expect that interpreters who have cases canceled but are still paid for the time remain available to interpret should another case arise for that time. One suggestion is to have the interpreter appear on site and be dismissed if the case has been canceled and there is no other need for their services.

This plan may be workable for languages for which there is a real possibility that interpreter services might be needed at the last minute. Otherwise, it seems a punitive policy to demand that interpreters appear when they could save the mileage and fuel expenses if their services will not be utilized. Formulating a fair policy regarding cancellations is another example of the need to address the unique nature of interpretation work in a reasonable manner.

Guaranteed hours

When interpreters are asked to book a half day, full day or multiple days in anticipation of a trial or another ongoing need, these hours must be guaranteed up front. This policy in no way reflects a desire to take advantage of the client or to charge unfairly. It acts as a protection for interpreters against the possibility of being left with no work and no compensation for an extended period of time.

If it becomes necessary to cancel an interpreter for a trial or some other long-term request, it is reasonable to ask that that interpreter be available for other needs which may arise during that time. There are various possibilities for arranging such a change. However, if the interpreter will be "on-call", a reasonable limit to the amount of scheduling and changing the agency is expected to make and a reasonable amount of lead time for the interpreter to make arrangements for transportation, etc., must be established.

Reasons for individuals to be considered unavailable included:

Failure of faculties. This may occur with age or other developments whereby a person’s abilities (i.e., hearing) are impaired.

Overestimation of their own competence. Some individuals study a language for a period of time and believe themselves to be completely fluent when in actuality they are not.

Unethical behavior. There are individuals who accept assignments thus committing themselves to appear and then renege on them if a better offer happens in the meantime. This policy cannot be tolerated by the agencies or the courts. We must be able to rely on an interpreter’s word that they will attend the assignments they accept unless there is an emergency.

The individual cannot be reached. Once a reasonable effort to reach an interpreter has been made and documented and that person has not responded, they must be considered unavailable. It is not possible to give interpreters unlimited time to respond and still operate efficiently for the benefit of all concerned. It is also unreasonable to expect the courts to assume the expense of rescheduling when a competent, qualified non-roster person is available.

A reasonable amount of time for interpreters to respond should be determined based on the amount of lead time available. Even if cases are scheduled well in advance, it is not workable for an interpreter to have unlimited time to respond. For example, an interpreter may be on a trip or a vacation during the booking period but back in town and free on the date of the appearance. Agencies must be able to operate efficiently in order to make it possible to stay in the business. It would be unworkable to wait until the last minute to fill each request.

The interpreter has declined the offer. Interpreters are free to decline cases for any reason. They may already be booked or have other business to attend to.

Next : Interpreter performance

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