I am moving to Cambridgeshire this Friday (25th) and so will be unable to work with the lovely people of the South West any more (unless you need me for remote work…!)
It has been a delight and an honour to work with the Deaf Community and the interpreters of Devon and Cornwall (and beyond) and I will miss everybody a great deal.
You mumble,
I fumble.
I was asked for my thoughts on what to charge for interpreting online as opposed to face to face…
Ultimately we only need to think about what is different. In terms of a fee reduction:
Travelling time
Mileage.
That’s it.
Well obviously I’m not charging mileage…
And if travelling time is the only thing that justifies a fee reduction, then what things balance that equation that are not already overheads?
Needing a more expensive than normal broadband package. Normal domestic broadband is asymmetric, meaning you get faster download than upload speeds.
Being limited to a hardwired ethernet connection because wifi varies in quality and is always significantly lower speed than ethernet. (A quick check of mine, at my desk, shows 41Mbps on wifi compared to 215Mbps for ethernet.)
Having nobody else using your internet when working.
Having to secure a private and confidential area of your house.
Having to create a professional, plain, environment in your house.
Having reduced opportunity for co-worker brief, debrief, and even support on the job.
Online interpreting being itself a specialism.
BSL on screen being significantly harder to receive than face to face.
If interpreters charge less, agencies will push irresistibly for more jobs to move online, even where that is not appropriate (as we’ve already seen, only more so). There needs to not be a financial incentive for that shift.
Increased domestic power consumption.
And if interpreters earn less, more interpreters will be unable to sustain that and will leave the profession, reducing availability, and, in economic terms, consequently driving prices up further for clients.
So, in my opinion interpreters ought to charge more for online work, and the fact that I intend to stick to NUBSLI recommended minimums reflects increased value for money.
I am now set up to offer interpreting via videoconferencing such as Zoom.
Now the Governmental mandate to remain at home has been issued, I will not be charging cancellation fees on bookings made before 23/03/20 for dates thereafter, up to whatever date the restriction is lifted.
I understand the limitation to apply to BSL interpreting except for assignments at vital exempted services.
While Governmental advice regarding the novel coronavirus is advisory, I intend to maintain the Terms and Conditions as detailed on this page.
However, once mandatory advice is issued that impacts upon my assignments, I intend to do the following:
Not charge a cancellation fee for jobs cancelled after the advice becomes mandatory.
Not attend jobs that are not cancelled but ought to have been according to that advice. In those circumstances I would always contact the booker in advance.
Accept or turn down requests according to that advice.