1 DEFINITIONS

In this document, the words and phrases listed in the first column below have the meanings shown alongside them in the second column.

Word or phrase	Meaning
Booking	An arrangement made either orally or in writing between us and you at our invitation to provide interpreting services – at a specified location and start-time on a specified date; for an estimated (but not guaranteed) duration; and in relation to a specified language and/or dialect – in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in this document including without limitation those at 2.12.
Cancellation fees	The fees we pay you in accordance with the provisions set out in paragraph 5, should we cancel the booking.
Consecutive interpreting	The spoken transfer (by an interpreter on behalf of a speaker, for the comprehension of one or more listeners) of meaning from one language to another, either after the speaker has finished speaking, or during appropriate pauses in the speaker’s speech.
Minimum daily payment	The minimum payment, as shown in Table 3: minimum daily payments, due to you for the first part of each day’s attendance at a booking, where such first part is less than or equal to the minimum daily payment period.
Minimum daily payment period	One hour.
Sessional Contractor	There is no employer/employee relationship between you and us and you are self-employed. There is no guarantee that any, or any minimum number or duration of, bookings will be allocated to you. Any bookings offered and/or allocated to you will be on an occasional and fee-paid basis and shall not be construed by you or us as, or as forming any basis of, employment by us or an over-arching contract of employment by us.
Simultaneous interpreting	The spoken transfer (by an interpreter on behalf of a speaker, for the comprehension of one or more listeners, at normal voice levels) of meaning from one language to another, while the speaker is speaking. SpeakerThe person (having insufficient command of the English language to represent him or herself well) on whose behalf you are interpreting.
Translation	The transfer of meaning from one language to another in written form.
Our	As appropriate relative to “we”.
Us	As appropriate relative to “we”.
We	The organisation which makes any booking with you.
Whispered Interpreting	The spoken transfer (by an interpreter, on behalf of a speaker; at lowered but audible voice level; and usually for the comprehension, and directly into the ear, of a single listener) of meaning from one language to another, while the speaker is speaking.
You	The individual who acts as the interpreter for a booking.
Your	As appropriate relative to “you”.

2 GENERAL PROVISIONS

2.1 Binding effect

2.1.1 By accepting a booking, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

2.2 Prevailing terms and conditions

2.2.1 We reserve the right to supplement, change, amend or vary these terms and conditions at any time. We will make the prevailing version available at the following internet site address www.languageshop.org , unless technical or other reasons prevent us from doing so.

2.3 Breach

2.3.1 Any breach by you of these terms or conditions may result in the immediate cancellation of all your bookings and/or our barring you from working for us in future. Such barring shall be at our sole discretion without any right of appeal, and may lead to our notifying any appropriate organisation accordingly.

2.4 No guarantee

2.4.1 We do not guarantee that any, or any minimum number or duration of, bookings will be allocated to you. Any bookings offered and/or allocated to you will be on an occasional and fee-paid basis and shall not be construed by you or us as, or as forming any basis of, employment by us or an over-arching contract of employment by us.

2.5 Notification

2.5.1 You must notify us in writing:

(i) immediately, of any change of your fundamental details such as name and address; and/or

(ii) as soon as is practicable, of any reasonably foreseeable period of your unavailability for future bookings.

2.6 Freedom of Information Act

2.6.1 You acknowledge that we are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and agree to assist and co-operate with us, to enable us to comply with our obligations under that Act which arise in relation to this document and/or any booking we make with you.

2.7 Entire Agreement

2.7.1 The terms and conditions set out in this document shall contain the entire agreement between you and us with regard to the booking. These replace all previous negotiations, agreements, understandings and representations between you and us, whether oral or in writing, and shall take precedence over any standard terms submitted by you.

2.8 Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

2.8.1 Nothing in this document shall confer any legal benefit on anyone other than you and us.

2.9 Law and Jurisdiction

2.9.1 This document shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with English law and we and you both submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

2.10 Applicability and review

2.10.1 These terms and conditions apply to individuals providing British Sign Language interpreting for all professionals providing language support to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities including: Deaf Relay Interpreters; Lip Speakers; Palantypists; Sign Supported English; Deaf Blind Communicator Guides.

2.11 These terms and conditions including the prevailing payment rates shall be subject to annual review on 1st April (or the nearest working day thereto) every year.

2.12 Multiple assignments within a booking

2.12.1 For the avoidance of doubt, a booking is made for (among its other characteristics) a specified estimated duration, rather than for a specific single assignment, case, or similar interpreting session (hereinafter referred to as an “assignment”), and attracts at minimum the minimum daily payment.

2.12.2 We may, according to our requirements as they arise, ask you to service one or more interpreting assignments, cases, or similar sessions, starting at any point during either (a) the booking’s specified estimated duration, or (b) the minimum daily payment period, whichever is the longer period. Any such assignments will not attract any additional payment except in relation to attendance time as specified in the following paragraph.

2.12.3 You may at your discretion choose whether to decline or accept any additional assignment (beyond the first) which would clearly result in an extension of the booking’s duration beyond that originally estimated. If you choose to accept any such additional assignment, any attendance time beyond the original time will be paid at the prevailing rates.

3 ALLOCATION OF BOOKINGS

3.1 We allocate bookings taking account of your skills, qualifications, suitability, cost, past and present availability, and other relevant factors.

4 SUBMISSION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS

4.1 We will make payment to you in respect of a completed booking in accordance with the requirement for an e-mail submission by you of a valid timesheet for payments. A separate claim must be submitted for each and every booking.

4.3 We will issue payment in full of the sums claimed (without interest), once approved by us, within 30 days of receipt of a valid timesheet, provided that the booking is satisfactorily and fully completed, that the timesheet has been received by e-mail within 24 hours after the assignment. If you have not received payment within 6 weeks of e-mail submission by you of a timesheet, you should contact the Language Shop Finance Officer.

4.4 The rates are exclusive of value added tax (VAT). VAT may be chargeable and/or payable by you, as applicable to your situation. It is your responsibility to ensure that you charge and/or pay the correct amount of VAT as appropriate and in accordance with prevailing regulations. If you are VAT registered you should inform us prior to accepting any booking and you should keep us informed of any subsequent change to your status in this respect.

5 CANCELLATIONS OF BOOKINGS

5.1 The Language Shop can cancel a booking at any time. If we are unable to offer you another booking for the same starting date and of equal or greater estimated duration you may:

a) Claim a sum, construed as a cancellation fee, equal to the minimum hourly rate that would have applied to the originally planned start-time for the booking. You should submit a separate claim using your relevant timesheet, in respect of each booking so cancelled, quoting in each case the reference number and other details identifying the cancelled booking.

b) Where you attend a booking which we cancel or terminate at or after its appointed start-time and before its originally estimated duration has elapsed, then you may claim cancellation fees at the prevailing rate for each cancellation.

5.2 You can cancel a booking at any time before it is due but you should note that time is of the essence and use reasonable endeavours, subject to force majeure, to give us as much notice as possible. We will monitor the number and frequency of short notice cancellations you make and will use this information to inform our assessment of your suitability for allocation of bookings.

6 SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

6.1 Accuracy

6.1.1 Your interpreting must be faithful and accurate throughout the booking. This means that you are required to convey the exact meaning of what is said without adding, omitting or changing anything; and to make explanation – always in accordance with paragraph 6.3.1.8 – only where a cultural misunderstanding may be occurring, or where there is no direct equivalent for a particular term. In exceptional circumstances a summary may be given instead, if requested by any party and consented to by all parties.

6.1.2 We fully understand and accept that you will sometimes need to take notes, for the purposes of ensuring accuracy, and we will fully accommodate such needs. Unless otherwise agreed with us, any such notes must be verifiably destroyed prior to leaving our customers premises at the end of the booking.

6.1.3 You should declare any difficulties you have with interpreting or technical terms, or with the environment in which you are required to work, that might affect your accuracy; and if these difficulties cannot be satisfactorily remedied, you should withdraw from the booking. We may cancel the booking in these circumstances, at our/or the officers discretion.

6.2 Contextual awareness

6.2.1 You are required to be familiar with the general social culture and political background affecting people.

6.3 Ethical and Professional Conduct

6.3.1 You should act ethically and professionally during bookings and inform the official presiding over any booking of any relevant ethical and/or professional issues in connection with your providing interpreter services for that booking. In this regard, and without limitation, you should:

6.3.1.1 dress in an appropriately professional manner while in attendance at a booking;

6.3.1.2 behave in a professional manner while in attendance at a booking;

6.3.1.3 say so immediately at the start of a booking if you feel there is a conflict of interests or any prejudicial effect arising from your involvement in it, such as (but not limited to) any business, financial, family, personal, or other interest which you might have in the matter being interpreted, or in any parties to the booking;

6.3.1.4 declare the fact immediately at the start of a booking if the person for whom you are interpreting, or any member of that person’s immediate family, is known or related to you, and if so in what capacity;

6.3.1.5 disclose any information, including (but not limited to) any previous or pending:

6.3.1.5.1 charge, conviction, or caution for any criminal offence; and/or

6.3.1.5.2 professional or other disciplinary proceedings; and/or

6.3.1.5.3 removal (otherwise than by normal consent) of your name by any public body from its list of public service interpreters, this may make you unsuitable for any booking;

6.3.1.6 respect confidentiality at all times, agree and sign our Confidentiality Agreement shown on page 19.

6.3.1.7 not give advice, legal or otherwise, to any person taking part in the booking;

6.3.1.8 apart from ensuring language comprehension and to ascertain relevant details in relation to the assignment the interpreter is not to enter into discussion or other communication with any person taking part in the booking, whether before it, during it, or after it, otherwise than (i) for the purposes of properly carrying out your role as an interpreter, and (ii) – during the booking – to confirm points of understanding of language. In all cases, you should conduct each corresponding discussion or communication in a transparent manner, so that those present clearly understand the nature and relevance of that discussion or communication;

6.3.1.9 not seek to take advantage of any information disclosed to you during, or at any time in association with, the booking;

6.3.1.10 not accept any form of reward (whether in cash or otherwise) for your interpreting work at the booking, other than correspondingly due payments from us;

6.3.1.11 not act in any manner likely to bring us into disrepute; and

6.3.1.12 not be under the influence of any intoxicating substance at any time during a booking.

6.4 Impartiality

6.4.1 You are required to be impartial at all times.

6.5 Intervention

6.5.1 You should intervene only:

6.5.1.1 to ask for clarification;

6.5.1.2 to point out that a party may not have understood something;

6.5.1.3 to alert the parties to a missed cultural reference; or

6.5.1.4 to ask for due accommodation for the interpreting process, such as (but not limited to) a necessary pause for note-taking or other purposes.

6.6 Breaks

6.6.1 If at any time you feel the need for any type of break, whether through fatigue; or the need for refreshment; or for any other reason that might affect your ability to act as an interpreter, you should ask for a break and we will not unreasonably decline any such request.

6.7 Mobile phones, pagers, and similar devices

6.7.1 You are required to switch off your mobile phone(s), pager(s), and similar devices (including but not limited to communications and/or entertainment systems of all kinds) when entering the booking location.

6.8 Period of availability for a booking

6.8.1 When you accept a booking you agree to keep the whole of its estimated duration and travel time (as specified by us when the booking is made) free from any other work or other commitments.

6.9 Qualification criteria

6.9.1 In order to be booked by us as an interpreter, you must at all times be registered on our approved British Sign Language Interpreter Register, unless we specify any alternative qualification criteria.

6.9.2 You must hold a valid (less than 12 months old) Enhanced DBS Check.

6.10 Quality Assurance

6.10.1 We will observe the quality of your provision of interpreting services to us, to assure the requisite quality and standards of service, in the following circumstances:

(i) at each of the bookings you undertake for us, and

(ii) where a complaint has been received with regard to your performance.

6.10.2 Where such observations are carried out, we will on written request provide you with details of the outcome.

6.11 Security clearance

6.11.1 You may at any time be subjected to security-clearance procedures carried out by us or an agent acting on our behalf. Such procedures may be carried out with or without your knowledge. In the event that such procedures fail to establish satisfactory security clearance for you, we may bar you from working for us. Such barring shall be at our sole discretion without any right of appeal or explanation of the reasons for it.

6.12 Translation

6.12.1 You should refuse any request made during the booking for you to carry out translation of documents if you consider that you are unable to perform the translation adequately, either at all, or in the time allotted.

6.13 Types of Interpreting

7 ATTENDANCE and PUNCTUALITY

7.1 You must recognise that time is of the essence, arrive for the booking and be ready to commence interpreting by the start-time set for the booking, and remain present throughout its specified duration, subject to force majeure.

7.2 On arrival at and departure from the booking, you must produce your timesheet and your I.D. must be visible to identify yourself. The presiding official must record your actual times of arrival and departure on your timesheet prior to you leaving the assignment.

7.3 When the interpreting services required by the booking appear to you to have been completed, or if you withdraw from the booking for any reason (whether in accordance with paragraph 6.1.3 or otherwise), you must advise the official presiding over the booking accordingly, who will inform you as to whether you (i) are required to remain at the location for a further period, or (ii) can be released for the remainder of the time booked and should consequently depart (iii) prior to departure the official presiding over the booking must sign your timesheet and any alterations to the times must be verified by an additional signature, of the presiding official, next to the alteration.

7.4 Provided that you fulfil the condition at paragraph 7.1, your attendance time at the booking (for the purposes of payment as specified under paragraph 4.2) shall be construed as the period:

(a) from the start-time set for the booking,

(b) until the time of your departure from the booking, as recorded in accordance with paragraph 7.2. and signed by the official presiding over the booking.

Otherwise, your attendance time at the booking (for the purposes of payment as specified under paragraph 4.2) shall be construed as the period from the time of your arrival, as recorded on the Language Shop database (or such other system as we may use from time to time), until the time of your departure, as similarly recorded.

7.5 If you are going to be late for or have to leave early from a booking, you must – as soon as is reasonably practicable, and in any event before your due time of arrival – telephone or otherwise notify the Language Shop team to advise them of your estimated time of arrival and/or departure and the reason for your lateness and/or early departure. If, however, you are too late to carry out your interpreting role the Language Shop may not be able to pay you.

7.6 In the event that you arrive late for, or depart early from, a booking, we may at our sole discretion accordingly adjust or withhold the associated payments that would otherwise have been due to you. We shall not act unreasonably in this respect.

8 YOUR LIABILITY

8.1 Confidentiality

8.1.1 You must not disclose to any other organisation, public body or individual, nor use in contravention of the Data Protection Act 1998; Official Secrets Act 1989; or any other applicable legislation, any information that you acquire through your provision of interpreting services to us, including without limitation any names, addresses, personal details, or other information about proceedings, documents, staff, appellants, judiciary, interpreters, or any other individuals.

8.1.2 Paragraph 8.1.1 shall not apply to information which:

8.1.2.1 is, or becomes, public knowledge, other than through breach by you of these terms and conditions; and/or

8.1.2.2 you possess or acquire legitimately (without any disclosure restrictions), for a reason unconnected with the booking; and/or

8.1.2.3 you are under a legal obligation to disclose.

8.1.3 You will indemnify us against any costs, claims, losses, or expenses which we incur as a result of a breach by you of paragraph 8.1.

8.2 Equal Opportunities

8.2.1 You agree to behave in a manner that treats everyone equally regardless of colour, race, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or any other irrelevant characteristic and you shall not unlawfully discriminate against or harass anyone with whom you come into contact during a booking and/or at any time whilst you are on our premises. Also both in the assignment and at all times when representing the Language Shop you must not use language that is considered disrespectful, offensive or discriminatory in any way.

8.3 Fraud, corruption, or misuse

8.3.1 If during your work for us you become aware of anything that you genuinely suspect indicates fraud, corruption or misuse on the part of any person directly or indirectly involved in any aspect of our work, including without limitation anything connected with the booking, you should notify us in writing accordingly. Your notification should be addressed and given or sent to an appropriate, named individual who permanently works for us and should set out the details of the circumstances that gave rise to your suspicions. You should keep a copy of your notification, together with a note of (i) the date on which you provided it to us, (ii) the method by which it was so provided, and (iii) the name of the individual to whom it was addressed.

8.4 Human Rights Act 1998

8.4.1 You must ensure that you are aware of and adhere to any applicable requirements of this Act during a booking and/or at any time whilst you are on our premises.

8.5 Income Tax and National Insurance

8.5.1 For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this document shall act to create an employer/employee relationship between you and us and you agree that you are self-employed and shall be fully responsible for and shall keep us indemnified in respect of any assessment or claim by HM Revenue and Customs or any other authority in respect of income tax and National Insurance Contributions arising from or payable in connection with bookings under these terms and conditions. You shall further indemnify us against all reasonable costs and expenses and any penalties or interest incurred or paid by us in connection with or as a consequence of any liability arising out of any related assessment or claim other than where such liability arises out of our negligence or wilful default.

8.6 Insurance and Legal Protection

8.6.1 You shall obtain and maintain adequate insurance and/or legal protection cover for risks that you may incur in the course of your work including without limitation accident, injury, liability, loss, and damage. If we request them, you shall provide us with details of such cover.

8.7 Official Secrets Act

8.7.1 You agree to abide by the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989 and to exercise corresponding care in the use of information you acquire during the course of your duties.

8.8 Other Government Departments and Agencies

8.8.1 From time to time we may provide details of the interpreters we use to other government departments and/or agencies and/or public sector bodies requiring interpreter services. If you do not want us to pass on your details to such entities you must notify us accordingly in writing.

8.9 Professional Indemnity Insurance, Legal Action, and Costs

8.9.1 You may be held personally liable where you through negligence in the course of your interpreting or in any other manner cause any delay to or error in administration. You must ensure that you have adequate professional indemnity insurance cover and that you are properly certified as self-employed by HM Revenue and Customs.

8.10 No partnership

8.10.1 Nothing in this document shall act to create a legal partnership between you and us.

The Language Shop British Sign Language Interpreter Procedures

In addition to the TERMS and CONDITIONS for individuals providing BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING SERVICES all Interpreters must follow the procedures outlined below, any variance from these procedures may lead to late payment, non-payment, removal from the approved register and/or a reduction in the quality of services provided. During the periods that you are engaged you will be responsible to the Head of The Language Shop.

• You will receive notification or an officer from The Language Shop will contact you when a request for interpreting is received for British Sign Language.

• An officer from The Language Shop will contact you when a request for interpreting is received for your approved language.

• If you are not booked by an officer of The Language Shop or notified of the booking by The Language Shop, you will not be paid by The Language Shop.

• Where possible a timesheet will be forwarded to you prior to the assignment date, please inform an officer of The Language Shop if you do not receive your timesheet. On short notice bookings it may not be possible to send a timesheet, in this instance you may use a blank timesheet which can be requested from the Language Shop Administration team in advance.

• On completion of the assignment you are required to ask the officer to complete and sign your timesheet. In cases where you have not been provided with a timesheet, the officer must record the times of attendance on either headed paper, or on note paper if headed paper is not available, and sign the record.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will not delegate/sub-contract assignments they have accepted without the consent of the Head of the Language Shop nor will they accept delegated work without the Head of the Language Shop’s consent. If you cannot attend a session then you must inform The Language Shop as soon as possible.

• Interpreters are responsible for managing their own diaries and are not to accept bookings that coincide with other appointments or assignments. When you accept a booking ensure that you write down all the relevant assignment details to reduce the chance of double booking.

• When booked for an assignment within the customers' home you are required to wait for the officer outside the premises. At no time are you to enter the home or building alone.

• If your booking is longer than the duration on your timesheet and you are able to stay, please do so. If, however, you are due to attend another assignment you must leave and ensure sufficient travel time to arrive on time for your next booking.

• It is advisable that Interpreters obtain adequate insurance to cover any claims arising from the service they are providing.

• The scope in the provision of Interpreting Services is continuously extending and you will be required to undertake assignments at various locations. Please ensure that you are aware of the route to your destination before leaving home.

• No unauthorised adults or children are to be taken to the assignment.

• All staff (sessional and in-house), service users and providers have the right to be and will be treated by you with courtesy and respect and vice versa.

British Sign Language Interpreters Code of Ethics

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will facilitate in-depth communication between the service provider and the Deaf or Hard of Hearing client. The quality of service you provide will affect the perception of the type of service provided by The Language Shop.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will interpret accurately to the best of their ability between the parties without anything being added to or omitted from the interaction. You will remain impartial, neutral and communicate directly the statements made by the interviewing officer or the service provider. You will not favour either party. If you do not fully understand a statement, you must seek clarification, and you must make it clear to both parties what you are doing.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will treat any information obtained during the course of an assignment as CONFIDENTIAL. You will not discuss the individual circumstances of the interpreting session outside of the interpreting session.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will only undertake work that they are competent to accomplish to a high standard and which achieves customer satisfaction. You will only work in the language in which you have informed the service of your competence, been assessed and for which you have been added onto the approved register.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will always be punctual, arriving at the assignment venue at least 5 minutes prior to the start time, ensuring they are ready to start work at the booked time.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will not take any personal advantage of any information obtained in the course of providing the interpreting service.

• Interpreters engaged by The Language Shop will not accept any form of reward for interpreting assignments other than the payment for the service.

• Interpreters will dress appropriately and professionally at all times, i.e. no trainers, jeans or t-shirts and maintain an acceptable level of physical and oral hygiene.

Interpreters Payment Procedure

• Your fees will be paid on a monthly basis for the hours worked.

• Fraudulent claims will not be paid

• Claiming for the same time twice will be considered fraudulent and may result in one or both claims not being paid

• Any evidence of fraudulent claims will lead to removal from the Language Shop register and to possible criminal charges

• Each British sign Language Interpreter shall have the status of a self-employed person and shall not be entitled to receive any pension, bonus, or other fringe benefit from The Language Shop and it is agreed that you shall be responsible for all income tax liabilities and your National Insurance or similar contributions in respect of your fees and you agree to indemnify The Language Shop against all demands for any primary Class 1 national insurance contributions and any income tax, penalties, interest in respect of your services and against The Language Shop’s costs of dealing with such demands.

• Bank details must be accurate and not in any other person’s name. Any inaccurate details will delay payment. *The name used must be the same name as entered on page 17.

• Your National Insurance number must be submitted prior to admittance to the Language Shop register.

• The Language Shop will not be responsible for any payments to you for assignments that have not been requested by an officer of The Language Shop.

• Any interpreter that is turned away from the booking by the presiding officer for failure to produce their Language Shop I.D. badge and/or are in breach of these terms and conditions will not be paid.

Travel Payment

• If you have travelled to your assignment using public transport you must attach the proof of travel (i.e. Oyster journey breakdown, travelcard, tickets etc) to your timesheet as no travel payment can be made without this.

• Mileage must be noted on the time sheet clearly and a fixed payment will be added to your total pay.

• For long distant journeys by car (over 50-mile round trip) payment can be negotiated with an officer of The Language Shop and details of the agreed fee must be written on your timesheet by that officer.

• Parking fees and any penalties will not be paid.

• Congestion charge payments will only be paid in exceptional circumstances i.e. train strikes, and then only with prior agreement from an officer of The Language Shop and noted on your timesheet by that officer. Proof of payment must be attached to your timesheet.

• Taxi fares will not be paid without prior agreement from an officer of The Language Shop and a valid receipt attached to your timesheet.

Information for Interpreters

Smoking & drinking policy

• Smoking is not permitted in any place where you may be undertaking an interpreting session.

Change of circumstance

You are to inform The Language Shop when

• Your contact details change e.g. addresses, telephone number etc;

• Your availability changes;

• You acquire additional skills e.g. linguistic qualification;

or any other change of circumstances detailed within these Terms and Conditions.

Equal opportunities

During your engagement as a Sessional Contractor you are required to adhere to the Councils Equal Opportunities policy. A copy of which can be supplied on request.

Conflict of interest

Where possible, you must declare assignments involving relatives or friends to an officer of The Language Shop at the initial point of contact. At times, you may not be informed of the client’s name beforehand, where this occurs you must notify the interviewing officer and the decision rests with the officer and or the client whether or not they wish to continue the interpreting session.

Identity cards

Once all the necessary checks are completed you are then required to bring in a passport-sized photograph of yourself that will be used for your identity card and inserted onto your timesheets. Once this has been issued to you, your name and details will be added to The Language Shop’s approved register of interpreters. Your identity card must be worn at all times whilst engaged on an assignment for The Language Shop.

Data protection

The rules

Anyone processing personal data must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and particularly the eight enforceable principles of good practice. Data must be:

• Fairly and lawfully processed

• Processed in accordance with the data subject's rights

• Processed for limited purposes

• Secure

• Adequate, relevant and not excessive

• Not transferred to countries without adequate

• Accurate protection

• Not kept longer than necessary

Personal data covers both facts and opinions about the individual.

(Extracted from 'Data Protection Act 1998 - An Introduction').

Your details will be held within The Language Shop and passed to our Finance Department for payment. If we receive a request from a third party for your details we will not disclose them without verbal and/or written consent from you.

Comments and Complaints Procedure

Our aim is to resolve problems as promptly as possible. As the first step we would ask you to discuss your complaint directly with the Head of The Language Shop. The Language Shop wants to give good quality customer service at all times.

Disciplinary Procedures

If The Language Shop receives a formal or informal complaint from a customer (service user or service provider) it will need to investigate the matter. The following steps will be taken.

• Receive formal or informal complaint.

• The Language Shop will investigate complaint.

• Interview you.

• If the complaint is considered to be gross misconduct, you will be temporarily removed from the Sessional Contractor register whilst further investigations are undertaken.

• If the complaint is considered to be a minor infringement you may still be engaged on assignments.

• If the matter cannot be resolved or if it amounts to gross misconduct you will be removed from the Sessional Contractor register.

• The Language Shop will inform you of the final decision.

• There is no right of appeal.

Our commitment to you

References

You also have the right to request a reference when applying for other assignments. Please note that references can only be issued to those who have been on The Language Shop’s register of Sessional Contractors for a minimum of twelve months and provided in excess of 200 hours of services.

Training

Interpreters will be offered the opportunity to attend training sessions organised by The Language Shop and their partners in order to develop their skills in interpreting and knowledge of the structure and functions of the various public/private sector organisations. If Interpreters acquire any relevant and/or additional qualifications, please notify The Language Shop. In addition to this, The Language Shop will offer guidance/support for relevant learning and development.

Further opportunities

Confidentiality agreement

THIS is an agreement made between the Language Shop (hereinafter called the “Council”) and the UNDERSIGNED (hereinafter called the “interpreter”) for the provision of interpreting and/or translation services (“the service”) in return for the payment of a fee by the Council.

The Interpreter agrees to treat as secret and confidential and not at any time for any reason to disclose or permit to be disclosed to any person or persons or otherwise make use of or permit to be made use of any information relating to the Council, its customers, its affairs or finances or any such information of a confidential nature where knowledge or details of the information was obtained by him or her in the course of carrying out the service.

The obligations of confidence referred to in the above paragraph shall not apply to any confidential information which:

A is in the possession of and is at the free disposal of the Sessional Contractor is published or is otherwise in the public domain prior to the receipt of such confidential information by the Sessional Contractor:

B is required to be disclosed by law;

C is or becomes publicly available on a non-confidential basis through no fault of the Sessional Contractor

D is received in good faith by the Sessional Contractor from a third party who, on reasonable enquiry by the Sessional Contractor claims to have no obligations of conference to the Council in respect of it and who imposes no obligations of confidence upon the Sessional Contractor.

The obligations of confidentiality shall survive the removal of the Sessional Contractor from the Sessional Contractor register for whatever reason.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

All DBS disclosures must be Enhanced and less than three years old.