Interpretation services at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) are set to be affected by cuts to the terms of freelance translators, the association representing many of those involved has said.
The warning comes as a new contractor takes over co-ordination of the work.
Under previous arrangements, the interpreters, who usually provide services in cases involving workers originally from overseas, would be paid in full where cases were adjourned for procedural or other reasons after short hearings. This has now been changed, the Association of Translators and Interpreters Ireland (ATII) says.
Under the new arrangements, it says, bookings cancelled 24 hours in advance are not paid at all while those cancelled at short or no notice involve a payment of just 30 minutes at the hourly rate agreed.
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Where cases go on but are adjourned after a short period, the minimum payment provided for is said to be just one hour. Interpreters say they have been told they will be paid by the minute after that.
The payment of a travel allowance to cover expenses has also been discontinued, they say.
The association and members who have spoken to The Irish Times say that while the receipt of payment in full for cancelled jobs is regarded as good practice rather than the norm across the sector, the arrangements at the WRC had been arrived at with previous contractor Context due to the unpredictable nature of the work.
The interpreters, many of whom have specialist training and qualifications, argue that once they accept a booking for a number of hours they are essentially committed to that for the day and can be left with little or no income if the job is postponed or quickly adjourned.
The rate of cancellation is estimated to be up to 50 per cent by some of those involved, making the work uneconomic to take on, they say, if there are not adequate fees guaranteed.
The need for interpreters has grown considerably at the WRC in recent years with their services required on 529 occasions in 2023, up from 358 times the previous year, figures in the commission’s annual report showed.
They are commonly used in hospitals, Garda stations and courts. Those involved say the standard required in these formal settings is high because of the importance of the work. They argue more experienced interpreters will now walk away from WRC work so they can take jobs involving more reliable income.
“Many of these interpreters are highly experienced with decades of experience and they are totally taken aback by the sudden change to their conditions without consultation,” Mary Phelan, who chairs the ATII, says.
“They are not particularly well paid and are under pressure to line up enough work. So it can hardly be right for someone with a solid day’s work booked in for the WRC to find it’s cancelled that morning and they will be paid for just 30 minutes.
“What this is going to mean is the well qualified interpreters, the ones who are in demand, will move on, so it will likely lead to a decline in the quality of the service and I think that would be a huge loss.”
Translit, the company that was awarded the new contract, did not respond to questions sent to it.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which has responsibility for the WRC, said “a procurement exercise was conducted in line with public procurement procedures and managed via the eTenders platform”.
“The WRC can confirm that it is a condition of the contract with any successful tenderer that all legal requirements and employment legislation are fully complied with,” it said.
