IW 114: InterpreTips: Can "Interpreter Pay" Buy Happiness?

"Can't buy me love! Love! ...."

Well, they say money can't buy you happiness, but we have to have money in order to prove that theory. So, today's InterpreTip is all about sign language interpreter pay. How much do we get paid? How much should we get paid? Who decides? And why?

It's a sensitive subject with many perspectives and opinions. Here's mine. Tell me yours. Let's find some focus together.

LINKS mentioned:

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Transcript

IW 114: InterpreTips: Can Interpreter Pay Buy Happiness?

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 ONLY TIM IS SPEAKING IN THIS EPISODE

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go to interpretersworkshop.com.

00:00:28 

Let's start talking... interpreting.

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

00:00:34

And now the quotes of the day. The first one is by Susan B Anthony, a US leader of women's rights.

00:00:45

“I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on Earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet.”

00:00:59

And the next Tyler Perry, an American author and film producer.

00:01:04

“It's not a bad thing to demand that everyone that comes into your life meet you at your worth, and I ain't talking money.”

00:01:15

And the last quote by Spike Milligan, Irish writer and comedian. “All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.”

00:01:27

Each of these quotes applies to us as interpreters and to everyone else that wants to earn a living. We should all have the security, the independence of making our own way, not only getting paid for the value we bring, but also being perceived as valuable to this situation and we do want to prove that we know how to handle money. So please give us some more.

00:01:55

In today's episode, we talk seriously and all around that touchy subject, that political thought of how much we should get paid. If you're ready to open your eyes, open your mind, to think about how to solve this. And you can have the discussion in your local area or send me your answers, your replies send me a text message or voicemail or an e-mail. Just check out the links in the show notes.

00:02:26

So, let's pay it forward. Wait… Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:02:36

When I first started interpreting in the US, I was starting my second career. I already knew the value of money and time, and I needed to know what I should charge as a freelance interpreter. But there was a stigma when talking about how much we should get paid.

00:02:56

And at that time, it was an hourly rate only and sometimes we might get a minimum of an hour and a half maybe. But the stigma was…

00:03:07

We couldn't really talk about it because legally that means we might be price fixing if we all agree to charge one price, and that was against the law. So, I had to come up with what am I worth? Well, I didn't necessarily have to do that because I negotiated a contract with an interpreting agency.

00:03:28

So, I would contract with them, they would be contacted about jobs and then offer it to all of the contracted interpreters and all I had to worry about was invoicing my agency. But the agency kept my negotiated price in a range that they knew they could handle, so they kind of set the standard.

00:03:51

In a way, if I was in the range, I would get more jobs if I was above the average, I would probably have less jobs.

00:03:59

So, I was stuck in the middle as we all are wondering how do I negotiate when I can't talk about what is normal, what is average, what is standard. So, you would always have to have those private conversations with people so nobody knew you were really talking about it. That's very interesting to me, when because there are several fields that are freelanced as well, that have their own business, the sole proprietors.

00:04:26

And they set their own prices. They decided how much they were going to get paid, and you could actually ask how much that might be. Hmm. And now I live in a different situation. I now mostly do international interpreting using IS International sign. And here I don't use an agency.

00:04:46

Most of my jobs are word of mouth, and while there is a standard,… and while there is a standard of a full day rate or half day rate, I still negotiate sometimes at an hourly rate for those specific online moments or for a situation where I'll be working long term with this particular company or organization and therefore I can negotiate a different price for them for regular gigs.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:05:20

So how do we measure what we're worth? Well, the things we need to consider would be our years of experience, the range of situations that we are experienced in, the education we have, the fluency of our languages.

00:05:36

Is it a community level? A local level interpreting assignment? Or is it an international assignment. We have to understand that as a freelance interpreter, we definitely need to consider we pay our own taxes, our own health insurance, our own costs and expenses.

00:05:56

So, our time is valuable. If we are traveling for half a day, it means we cannot work during that time. So, we lose money. Do we charge for that? Do we not charge for that? How much do we charge for that? How do we get our clients? Is it just word of mouth? Do we advertise?

00:06:17

I've not seen that much. Hmm. And then we have to think about currency because not all countries use the same currency.

00:06:26

Duh. [lightly chuckles]

00:06:28

So, we have to think of the exchange rate. How much am I losing money on in fees and exchange rates? What type of bank account do I need? Will that cost me more money? Do I need particular software, or cameras, or backdrops, screens, a larger monitor, all of those things for online interpreting. We have to consider all of the costs as we know, but sometimes we forget those little details.

00:06:57

And the worst thing is the people we are contacting and the people we are in communication with in that interpreting situation, they are not the ones usually paying for our services. They are not the ones deciding how much they will pay us or how much they want to pay us or what the budget is.

00:07:15

So we have to negotiate with someone different who does not see the results of our work. Therefore, they have less of an understanding of what we're doing and how we make things better than the people involved in the situation.

00:07:32

We also have to be the ones who negotiate the conditions for our working environment. How many breaks do we get? How long are the breaks? Do you have materials? Who are the speakers? Who are the clients? Who is my team? Do we know the languages of the clients?

00:07:52

All of these questions we need to answer before we can start deciding how much we should be paid, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:08:01

And here is my negotiation for the value of this podcast. What do you think it's worth one, two, 20, 30, 100 coffees? You tell me. Check out the links for Buy Me A Coffee in the show notes.

00:08:16

Thank you so much for your laughter. I mean, coffees. Let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:08:22

Let me talk a little bit about being an international sign interpreter. Many times, I've been told that the standard of pay is a full day or half day, because if you only work for an hour, you still have a lot of work involved to make that hour productive, you have to prepare, you have to set up. You have to arrange your schedule all around that one hour.

00:08:49

And you're working with communication, emails back and forth, Zoom meetings back and forth, trying to get materials, trying to get an agenda, trying to negotiate your price all of those hours included just to interpret for one hour. So that makes sense. The standard rate of half day or full day.

00:09:11

But what is that standard rate? One country might be willing and able to give the full rate, but another country on a totally different budget would be surprised or shocked at those rates. I find myself regularly negotiating the prices.

00:09:31

Even if I try to stick to the standard, which is a high standard and supports all of us who are freelancers, I still see the need for those countries and those organizations who are willing to open up access, who don't have a high budget, who are not used to such a budget.

00:09:51

And therefore, even though they are willing to be involved with the deaf group, neither of these groups, whatever it may be, neither have the capacity to handle such a rate. So how do I answer them?

00:10:06

Is it right for me to fulfill my obligation to the profession to keep the high standard for all of us, to make sure we are paid for the value that we bring? Or should I negotiate to support the journey of this deaf individual or group gaining more and more access as they should and have a right to?

00:10:30

But I also know the more we negotiate down and continue to keep that same perspective going, they will never understand that they need to increase their budget. It's a fine line. It's a practical line, and it's also a human rights line.

00:10:51

I don't have all the answers, but I know that it's a struggle with many freelancers even today.

00:10:56

Because this also influences and impacts local communities. When we have an international event in a local community, well, obviously it's in some local community. But when it's in that local community where the rate that interpreters are paid is relatively below average in the quote “Western” world, that local community has to bear the brunt of international interpreters - that standard.

00:11:24

And they have to pay that. That puts stress on the whole system in that local community. While it's a good thing that we are showing that the value of interpreters is high, does it truly impact in a positive way for that community?

00:11:45

Does it show that, “Well, these international interpreters are much higher quality than our local community interpreters because they are getting paid much higher”.

00:11:57

And then we have the other side, an international interpreter coming from a country which is below average paid. They are now getting the higher international rate or should be, but never quite are. They should be getting that international pay and standard even in international events that are happening in their area.

00:12:20

But because they're from that area, they have to negotiate in a different way because they know they have that stress of being a “budget item”.

00:12:32

The organizations say, “Well, it's not really in our budget and you're from here.” And so, they have that added stress of how do I negotiate with those in my area when I normally get paid this? And now I'm asking to get paid this. Uff. Where is the stability? Can we fix this?

00:12:52

How do we fix this? How do we communicate that with each other and with those who we work for on an international level or on a community level? We can't always say it's because of education. We cannot always say because of certification, because that's different in every country.

00:13:12

While international work is not as in high demand as everyday community work is in a local area, it means that international work is paid a little bit more. It is very demanding mentally, but it is also less regular.

00:13:30

There are so many factors we need to consider. We need to think about, and we need to think about is our perspective coming from one of privilege, what we are used to, what we think we should have or what is truly what everyone should have. I would love to hear your thoughts.

00:13:51

I would love to hear more discussion, especially if someone else has an answer.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:14:03

Thank you so much for indulging me and listening to my ramblings about pay and our worth. What are we worth? I think we need to reconsider who we are. We are experts. We are language professionals.

00:14:19

We are interpreting professionals, highly skilled, highly adaptive, very focused and very flexible in what we do. We allow for others to have communication access, something that should be highly valued and rewarded.

00:14:38

We have the right to be given the opportunity to prove once and for all if money… can… buy… happiness. So, until next time, keep calm. Keep selling your interpreting. Hmm. I'll see you next week.

00:14:58

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:15:36]