Miranda Ellis

BSL/ English Interpreter

NRCPD Registered (RSLI) ASLI Licensed (MASLI)

Terms and Conditions of Business for Interpreting Services

Services Provided

i -The services provided by the Interpreter shall compromise the interpreting services agreed in writing at the time when an assignment is accepted and/or those specified in these Terms and Conditions of Business.
ii – They shall not, without express agreement confirmed in writing at the time, include any additional services.

Contracts

i – All assignments shall be confirmed between the client and the Interpreter, which shall include these Terms and Conditions.

Any variants shall be agreed and included previous to the assignment.

ii – If an interpreter is commissioned for an assignment and there is no time to enter into a written contract, the assignment shall be entered into on the basis of an oral contract only and these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to apply.

iii – Where an Interpreter’s services have been contracted for in accordance with either of the means specified above, the client shall be wholly liable for the remuneration of the Interpreter’s services, and reimbursement of any expense incurred by the Interpreter in connection with the assignment whether the Interpreting services are in fact provided or not.

Working Hours

i – Unless previously negotiated, a working day shall comprise of no more than seven hours time during which interpreting will be required.

ii – The Interpreter shall be given a midday rest period of at least one hour and, if working solo, the interpreter shall be given adequate opportunity for breaks. Ideally ten minutes every 30 minutes. No demands shall be made on the skills of the Interpreter during these rest periods and breaks.

iii – If, in the course of an interpreting assignment, it is found that interpreting services will be required for an additional period, after the period of work for which the Interpreter was initially contracted, the Interpreter may be invited, but not compelled, to continue for a further agreed period on that same day, or to continue for a further agreed period on subsequent days.

iv – If the Interpreter consents to the above, additional fees shall be paid at the agreed hourly rate.

Fees and Allowances

i – All fees shall be freely negotiated and paid in full no later than 30 days following the date of receipt of the invoice.

ii – In the case of overdue payment, additional charges will be incurred to cover expenses related to administrative time and costs, as well as loss of interest. In accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Interest Act 1998, as amended to incorporate the European directive 2000/35/EC by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002, debt recovery costs of £40 plus interest on late payments of 12.5% increased by monthly increments (i.e. the current reference rate plus 8%) will be charged.

iii – Fees shall be charged on an hourly basis following a minimum booking of three hours, as set out in the ‘Summary of Fees’ document. Where the Interpreter has been invited to continue for a further extension period, an agreed supplementary fee shall be charged, usually based on the hourly rate set out in the ‘Summary of Fees’ document.

iv -Where travel to and from the Interpreter’s normal place of residence and an assignment involves a total of more than four hours, travel time will be remunerated at 50% of the agreed hourly rate.

v- A supplementary fee for the working of unsociable hours may be charged, and negotiated in advance, for assignments between the hours of 18.30 and 08.00, or at weekends or public holidays.

vi- Where an Interpreter is required, from the outset, to work longer than an seven hour working day, a supplementary fee shall be negotiated at an agreed hourly rate.

Co-working

i – On the occasion that a co-worker, or co-workers, are booked for an assignment, the interpreter must be informed of their name and qualification/registration status. The Interpreter retains the right to refuse to work with a co-worker for personal reasons or if the individual, or individuals are not IRP registered or are not members of ASLI at Associate or MASLI level.

Travel and Accommodation

i – Travel arrangements, and accommodation if applicable, shall be the responsibility of either the client or the Interpreter, as agreed before the assignment.

ii – Where travel arrangements are made by the Client, they shall ensure that the Interpreter arrives sufficiently rested to fulfil the assignment to the expected standard.

iii –Where travel arrangements are made by the Interpreter, the Interpreter shall ensure an adequate time of arrival before the commencement of the assignment and shall not leave prematurely, unless under exceptional circumstances.

iv – Where the travel arrangements are the responsibility of the Interpreter, she shall seek to obtain travel, and accommodation, at a reasonable cost compatible with the satisfactory performance of the assignment. The Client shall reimburse any expenditure incurred by the Interpreter within 30 days of receipt of the invoice. If any such arrangements made by the Interpreter have to be varied or cancelled, any reimbursed sums recovered by the Interpreter shall be immediately repaid to the client.

Cancellation

i – In the event that an assignment is curtailed or cancelled either wholly or in part, or performance of the assignment is frustrated for reasons, which the Client or the Client’s principal are responsible, the client shall be liable for payment of a cancellation fee.

ii – Any expenditure incurred as agreed in the contract and any additional expenditure incurred as a result of the cancellation shall also be reimbursed.

iii – If, at the time of cancellation, the client is able to offer an alternative assignment of a similar type under comparable conditions and circumstances for all or part of the period of the original assignment, the Client’s liability to the Interpreter in respect of cancellation fees shall be reduced by the amount of the fees payable for the alternative assignment.

iv – Any cancellation fee shall be agreed between the parties prior to the acceptance of the assignment and shall be determined in relation to the time between notification of cancellation and the start date as follows:

Cancellation under 7 days notice – Full fee payable Cancellation period of between 8 – 14 days notice – Half fee payable Cancellation of 15 or more days notice – No fee payable

Unavoidable Circumstances

i – The Interpreter undertakes to notify the Client at the earliest possible opportunity if she is prevented from undertaking an assignment or if performance is frustrated by unavoidable circumstances.

ii – In giving such notice the Interpreter shall relinquish any right to remuneration for the uncompleted part of the assignment except expenses already irrecoverably incurred.

iii – Should the Interpreter be unable to fulfil her obligations, she will endeavour to find a suitable replacement.

Substitution of Interpreter

i – Substitution shall only be permitted in agreement with the Client and in such circumstances, the Interpreter shall make every effort to find a suitable replacement.

ii – The client shall reasonably accept this substitute, who shall be engaged on the same terms as the Interpreter had previously agreed.

iii – The Client shall notify any other parties as appropriate.

iv – Acceptance of the substitute by the client shall discharge the Interpreter from any further liability.

Preparation

i – The Client shall provide the Interpreter with the relevant information and preparatory materials in the form of background documentation in good time; preferably two weeks in advance of an assignment in order to ensure provision of a quality service.

ii – The Interpreter shall not disclose any information supplied within the preparatory materials to any third party and shall ensure that the given information remains safe and confidential and is returned to the Client at the close of the assignment.

iii – If it is not possible to provide preparatory materials, a brief meeting before the assignment should be arranged, if requested by either the Interpreter and /or the Client, as an alternative.

Recordings

i – No record of an Interpreter’s work shall be made without the Interpreter’s prior consent, except where such recording is inherent within legal proceedings. Recordings, which are intended for broadcast or publication, may incur an additional fee.

Responsibility and Liability

i – The interpreting task shall be carried out by the Interpreter using reasonable skill and care and in accordance with the provisions and spirit of the Code of Professional Conduct of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters.

ii – The Interpreter shall use her best endeavours to interpret to the best of her ability, knowledge and belief.

Complaints and Disputes

i – Any complaint or dispute in connection with the interpreting work carried out shall be notified to the Interpreter by the Client, or vice-versa, not later than one month from the final of an assignment.

ii – If the parties are unable to agree, the matter may be referred to the Chair of the Independence Registration Panel or the Standards Panel of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters. If possible, such a referral should be made no later than six weeks from the date in which the original complaint was made.

Acceptability and Integrity

i – The Terms and Conditions of Business shall be construed jointly with the Association of Sign Language Interpreters Code of Professional Conduct in order to be complete and effective.