1. Definitions

‘Interpreter’ shall mean Catherine Hall, the person who has agreed to provide the British Sign Language (BSL)/English interpreting service. 

‘Client’ shall mean the party or intermediary who places an order for services to be provided by Catherine Hall and having responsibility for her remuneration. 

‘Assignment’ shall mean any booking of the Interpreter’s services for any one event or period whether for one or more days.

‘NRCPD’ shall mean the National Register of Communication Professionals working with deaf and deaf blind people which is the regulatory body for Registered BSL/English Interpreters. 

2. Services Provided

2.1 The services provided by the Interpreter shall comprise the interpreting services agreed in writing at the time when the assignment was accepted and/or those specified in these Terms and Conditions of Business. Emails are acceptable.

2.2 They shall not, without express agreement confirmed in writing at the time, include any additional services.

3. Contracts

3.3 All assignments shall be confirmed by a written contract between the Client and the Interpreter, which shall include any variants explicitly agreed. Emails are acceptable.

3.4 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. (In the case of bookings taken directly from Deaf clients, the assignment shall be entered into on the basis of a text message contract).

3.5 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: Remuneration of the Interpreter’s services, and reimbursement of any expenses incurred by the interpreter in connection with the assignment, whether the interpreting services are in fact provided or not. The Client shall be wholly liable for the remuneration of the interpreting services and expenses incurred, irrespective of any third party agreement that the Client enters into. 

4.Fees and Allowances

4.1 Fees agreed between the Client and the Interpreter at the time of the booking and confirmed, either verbally or in writing, shall be considered contractually binding. Additionally, unless greed otherwise and in writing, all Assignments shall incur travel expenses which shall be paid in addition to the fee agreed for the Assignment. 

4.2 All fees and allowances shall be freely negotiated and paid in full no later than 30 days following receipt of the invoice.In the event of late payment, there will be one reminder and if the invoice is not paid within 5 working days of the reminder, then a late payment surcharge shall automatically be applied of either £40, 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, or 15% of the total sum due, whichever is the greater.

4.3 In the case of overdue payment, additional charges may be incurred to cover expenses related to administrative time and costs, as well as loss of interest.

4.4 The Client is responsible for payment of the full fees, as invoiced, on time, irrespective of any difficulties or delays that they may experience in obtaining reimbursement from a third party. 

4.5 Where travel to and from the Interpreter’s normal place of residence and an assignment cannot be reasonably completed within the same day as the assignment, travel time will be remunerated at the same rate as the agreed hourly fee.

5. Working Conditions 

5.1 Where a minimum of two interpreters is agreed but, for whatever reason, not provided on the day, the Interpreter may cancel the booking at the cost of the Client. Should the interpreter agree to continue alone an additional surcharge of 50% of the agreed fee will be added to the Interpreter’s fee. 

5.2 If the Interpreter has agreed to work solo she shall be given adequate opportunity for breaks, ideally 10 minutes every 25-30 minutes. No demand shall be made on the skills of the Interpreter during rest periods or breaks. 

5.3 Where the Assignment exceeds a three hour period, the Interpreter shall be given a midday rest period of at least 40 minutes. 

5.4 If, during the course of the Assignment, it is found that the Interpreter’s services will be required for a longer period than was initially contracted, the Interpreter may be invited, but not obligated, to continue for a further period of which additional fees may be negotiated. 

5.5 The Client is responsible for providing the Interpreter with safe working conditions. 

5.6 If, for any reason, the Interpreter fears that the working environment is unsafe, the Interpreter may suspend their service. In this event, the Client will still be responsible for payment of the full agreed fee. 

6.Preparation Materials

6.1 The Client shall endeavour to provide the Interpreter with relevant information and preparatory materials in good time, preferably two weeks in advance of the assignment in order to ensure provision of a quality service. 

6.2 If it is not possible to provide preparatory materials, a briefing meeting between the Client and Interpreter should be negotiated as an acceptable alternative. This can be done on the day of the assignment if necessary.

6.3 Prepared lyrics of video scripts or copies of videos to be played must be given to the Interpreter a minimum of 3 days in advance, unless agreed otherwise. Failure to do so may result in the Interpreter refusing to undertake the translation/interpretation. In the event the Interpreter needs to withdraw from the Assignment due to lack of preparatory material, the Client shall still be responsible for the payment of the Interpreter’s fees and any expenses actually incurred. 

7. Cancellation

7.1 If an accepted assignment is curtailed or cancelled by the Client, 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, according to clause 7.5

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

7.3 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 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.

7.4 Travel costs will not be charged on a cancellation unless a journey to the assignment has already commenced, or the travel costs have already been incurred (e.g. non returnable deposits).

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

7 days or less notice Full fee

8 to 14 days notice Half fee

15 or more days notice No fee

8. Unavoidable Circumstances

8.1 The Interpreter undertakes to notify the Client at the earliest possible opportunity if she/he is prevented from undertaking an assignment, or if performance is frustrated by unavoidable circumstances. The Interpreter will not be responsible or financially liable for any losses or inconveniences in the event of unavoidable travel delays. 

8.2 In giving such notice the interpreter shall relinquish any right to remuneration for the uncompleted part of the assignment; and the reimbursement of any expenses, except those already irrecoverably incurred, or necessarily incurred in returning the interpreter to her/his normal place of residence by suitable means.

8.3 Should the Interpreter be unable to meet her agreed obligations, she will make every effort to find a suitable replacement.

8.4 The Interpreter will not be responsible or financially liable for any losses or inconveniences in the event of sudden illness. 

9. Remote Working

9.1       The remote interpreting platform must be agreed at the time of booking the Assignment.

9.2       Unless in accordance with section 10 (Recordings), no recording of the Interpreter’s work is permitted

9.3       It is the Client’s responsibility to provide the Interpreter with a link to the remote meeting.

9.4       Preparation materials must be emailed to the Interpreter before the commencement of the meeting (See also Clause 6.1).  Further the Interpreter must have sight of all the documents that will be referred to in the meeting.

9.5       The Interpreter will require a briefing meeting with the remote host or meeting chair for at least 10-15 minutes before the start of the arranged Assignment.  Every effort must be made to accommodate this request in order that the Interpreter can obtain required information and to articulate any necessary accommodations to facilitate a successful Assignment.

9.6       If additional costs are incurred, e.g.  phone call charges to any other party, the cost of these will be added to the agreed fee.

9.7       All meeting participants must endeavour to position themselves in a quiet well-lit space.  If there is any external noise interference the meeting chair should ask them to reposition themselves and/or to mute their microphone.

9.8       If the quality of the remote technology renders it not possible to provide an interpretation, the Interpreter may suspend their service.  In this event, the Client will still be responsible for payment of the full agreed fee.

10.Recordings /theatrical performances 

10.1 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.  Recording which are intended for broadcast or publication may incur an additional fee. 

10.2 Under no circumstances whatsoever can the Interpreter’s work be published, broadcasted or livestreamed without their previous consent which must be agreed in writing before the commencement of the booking. Where permission is granted an additional fee may be negotiated.

11. Complaints and Disputes

11.1 The Interpreter shall use her best endeavours to interpret to the best of her ability, knowledge, and belief.  However in the case of complaint or dispute in connection with interpreting work carried out, the Client should notify the Interpreter (or vice versa) no later than one month from the final day of the assignment.In the event of a dispute or complaint about the work, the liability of the Interpreter shall be limited to the value invoiced by the Interpreter. Consequential damages and liability are expressly excluded. 

11.2 If the parties are unable to resolve the issue the Client may have recourse to the NRCPD Professional Standards Panel. If possible, the referral should be made no later than six weeks from the date on which the complaint was made.

12. Liability 

12.1  The Interpreter shall not be liable under contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise for any loss of profits nor for any indirect or consequential loss, damage, cost or expense of any kind whatever and however caused arising out of or in connection with any act or omission relating to the Services or otherwise.

13. Severability 

13.1     If any part of the Contract is found by a court or other competent authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable then such part will be severed from the remainder of the Contract which will continue to be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

16.       In receiving these Terms and Conditions of Business and in the absence of any further communication in respect of their contents, it will be assumed that you accept the Terms and Conditions in their entirety.