All interpreters and LSP’s accepting work from Interpreting Matters shall abide by the NRCPD or their registering body Code of Conduct at all times. Interpreters shall always conduct themselves in a professional and courteous manner when undertaking work for Interpreting Matters. If at any time it comes to our attention that the interpreter or LSP has broken their Code of Conduct, we shall first contact the interpreter to resolve the issue and if the matter remains unresolved we shall report it to the appropriate registration body.
At no time is a freelance interpreter considered to be an employee of Interpreting Matters. Interpreters accepting assignments from Interpreting Matters are responsible for their own National Insurance contributions and Tax payments. The bookings are offered out to freelance interpreters by Interpreting Matters and it is the freelance interpreters’ choice to accept the booking and to them let us know what their charges will be. There is no contractual obligation on the freelance interpreters to accept a minimum amount of bookings from us, likewise Interpreting Matters has no contractual obligation to provide assignments to the freelance interpreters.
When an interpreter accepts an assignment from Interpreting Matters they are not permitted to pass it on to another interpreter without consulting with IM first. When this occurs, the original interpreter must contact the Interpreting Matters office explaining why they are unable to fulfill the confirmed assignment and informing us of who they have found that has offered to cover the assignment for them. We will then contact the alternative interpreter, if they are appropriate for the booking, to confirm the booking with them.
Whilst we accept that interpreters work for a huge variety of clients we would not expect interpreters to accept work from a booker direct in a deliberate or accidental attempt to solicit work from Interpreting Matters. This includes interpreters giving their or other interpreters contact information or business cards to a booker when on an Interpreting Matters assignment. It is acceptable for an interpreter to inform the booker of their availability, but the booking must still be made through Interpreting Matters. If we discover that any interpreter has “benefitted unfairly from any information learned whilst they are working” we shall not hesitate in reporting them to their regulating body and we may cease to use their services in the future.
As above, we know that interpreters work for a wide variety of clients. However, if IM is the introducing factor between the interpreter and client, the interpreter is not permitted to accept direct bookings from the client for a period of 6 months from the date of the last booking.
Whichever transport the interpreter deems most suitable shall be quoted for at the time of booking. Once this has then been agreed within the confirmation it cannot be changed without prior consent. Mileage shall not be charged for at a cost of more than 45p per mile and car parking will be payable at cost.
Interpreting Matters will follow and honour the standard Sign Language Interpreting professions recognised cancellation period as stated below – unless suitable alternative work has been offered by IM and refused by the interpreter, in which case no cancellation fee will be paid for the fee of the offered alternative booking. The interpreter will attempt to find alternative work when they have been cancelled by IM and will then reduce the cancellation fee to IM by the amount of the alternative work found.
15 days’ or more notice - no charge
8-14 days’ notice - 50% of interpreting fee
7 days’ or less -100% of interpreting fee
Travel expenses shall not be paid on a cancellation unless the ticket for travel has already been bought and a refund is not available or if the journey has already been fully or partly undertaken.
In the event of a client cancelling a booking made through Interpreting Matters directly with the interpreter, the interpreter should inform the client to contact Interpreting Matters directly. In any event, the Interpreter must contact Interpreting Matters as soon as this happens as there may be alternative work that can be offered. In circumstances where this procedure is not followed, and alternative work is available, Interpreting Matters may decline to pay any cancellation fee that is invoiced.
At the time of responding to an advertised assignment we would expect the interpreter to provide us with a quote for their interpreting fee, an estimate of travel costs as well as VAT if applicable. Once the booking is confirmed, the agreed fee will not be changed unless the job or duration of assignment changes. If the assignment time decreases a cancellation fee may apply to the cancelled part of the assignment.
On rare occasions it may be possible to negotiate a fee for travel time if it is deemed the length of travel time is over and above a reasonable time, this must be agreed at the time of booking and will not be open to negotiation after confirmation of the booking.
Interpreting Matters shall pay all invoices within one calendar month of receipt. Interpreter fees and travel expenses shall be discussed and agreed at the time of booking. Interpreters will do their upmost to submit invoices to Interpreting Matters within 14 days of the assignment. To reduce cheque clearance time, payments will be made via direct bank transfer where possible.
By the client
If the client has failed to attend and the booking cannot go ahead, the interpreter shall wait for a period of time to allow for travel problems. This will usually be between 20 – 40 mins depending on the assignment and length of booking. Before leaving the interpreter must always try to inform the organiser/booker of their departure. An exception to this failure to attend could be a large public event where delegate registration is not compulsory, and it is impossible to know if there are Deaf people in attendance, in these circumstances we would expect the interpreter to stay and provide an interpreting service – unless they have been dismissed by the organiser. If the interpreter does leave due to someone else’s failure to attend, the full fee will be payable only if they have contacted the Interpreting Matters office and been given permission to leave.
By the interpreter
If the interpreter is unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances, such as illness, they must inform Interpreting Matters by email using office@interpretingmatters.co.uk as soon as possible, so that effort to find an alternative interpreter can start immediately. If the interpreter knows of an available alternative equal interpreter, it would be useful to inform the IM office of this when informing them of your inability to attend the booking.
Co workers
Interpreting Matters will not knowingly book people who are not regulated\registered with the NRCPD or RBSLI. Likewise, would not expect our interpreters to work alongside interpreters booked via other means that are not NRCPD or RBSLI regulated/registered. If this situation occurred, we would expect interpreters booked via us to approach the organiser with professionalism and explain the importance of registration and request the organiser contact the office so that IM can deal with the situation. We clearly state in our terms for bookers that it is not acceptable for interpreters booked through us to be working alongside unregistered interpreters. If the situation could not be resolved, the IM interpreter reserves the right to refuse to continue the booking and leave with full payment. If the situation came to this, we request that the interpreter contact the office to inform us of the situation so that we can try to resolve it.
If an assignment is over 2 hours we would usually book 2 or more interpreters, unless the nature of the booking only requires one interpreter.
Please see our Data protection Policy for more information.
Whenever possible IM will do its best to source and provide preparation material for the interpreters. This may be provided either electronically or printed.
These terms will be considered to have been accepted once a confirmation is made with the interpreter by Interpreting Matters Ltd unless informed otherwise.