Hebe Vernon-Morris
RSLI

Definitions

i - ‘Interpreter’ shall mean Hebe Vernon-Morris - the person who has agreed to provide the British Sign Language (BSL)/English interpreting service.
iI - ‘Client’ shall mean the party or intermediary who places an order for services to be provided by Hebe Vernon-Morris and having responsibility for her remuneration.
iiI - ‘Assignment’ shall mean any booking of the Interpreter’s services for any one event or period whether for one or more days.
iV - ‘NRCPD’ shall mean the National Register of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People which is the regulatory body for Registered BSL/English Interpreters.

V – ‘VLP’ - Visual Language Professionals – An organisation for registered BSL Interpreters

VI - ‘NUBSLI’ – National Union of Sign Language Interpreters

Services Provided

i -The services provided by the Interpreter shall compromise the interpreting services agreed in writing at the time when an assignment is accepted and/or those specified in these Terms and Conditions of Business.

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

Contracts

i – All assignments shall be confirmed between the Client and the Interpreter, which shall include these Terms and Conditions. Any variants shall be agreed and included previous to the assignment.

ii – 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.

iii – Where an Interpreter’s services have been contracted, in accordance with either of the means specified above, the Client shall be wholly liable for the remuneration of the Interpreter’s services, and reimbursement of any expense incurred by the Interpreter in connection with the assignment whether the Interpreting services are provided or not.

Working Conditions

i – Unless previously negotiated, a working day shall comprise of no more than seven hours during which interpreting will be required.

ii – The Interpreter shall be given a midday rest period of at least one hour and, if working solo, the interpreter shall be given adequate opportunity for breaks. Ideally ten minutes every 30 minutes. No demands shall be made on the skills of the Interpreter during these rest periods and breaks.

iii – If, in the course of an interpreting assignment, it is found that interpreting services will be required for an additional period, after the period of work for which the Interpreter was initially contracted, the Interpreter may be invited, but not compelled, to continue for a further agreed period on that same day, or to continue for a further agreed period on subsequent days.

iv – If the Interpreter consents to the above, additional fees shall be paid at the agreed hourly rate.

v - 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.

vi - Should the Interpreter, at anytime, feel unsafe or that their Health and Safety is being compromised, the interpreter retains the right to withdraw from the assignment and charge the full fee plus any travel expenses incurred.

Preparation

i – The Client shall provide the Interpreter with the relevant information and preparatory materials in the form of background documentation in good time, preferably two weeks in advance of an assignment in order to ensure provision of a quality service.

ii - The Interpreter shall not disclose any information supplied within the preparatory materials to any third party and shall ensure that the given information remains safe and confidential and is returned to the Client or deleted, at the close of the assignment.

iii - If it is not possible to provide preparatory materials, a brief meeting before the assignment should be arranged, if requested by either the Interpreter and /or the Client, as an alternative.

Co-working

i – On the occasion that a co-worker, or co-workers, are booked for an assignment, the Interpreter must be informed of their name and qualification/registration status. The Interpreter retains the right to refuse to work with a co-worker for personal reasons or if the individual, or individuals are not registered with NRCPD.

Remote Working
i - The remote interpreting platform must be agreed to at the time of booking the Assignment.
ii - Unless agreed in advance, no recording of the Interpreter’s work is permitted
iii -  It is the Client’s responsibility to provide the Interpreter with a link to the remote meeting.

iv - Preparation materials must be emailed to the Interpreter before the commencement of the meeting and the Interpreter must have sight of all the documents that will be referred to in the meeting.
v - The Interpreter will require a briefing meeting of 5 – 10 minutes with the remote host, Chair and/or 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.
vi - 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.
vii – All participants must endeavour to position themselves in a quiet, well-lit space.  If there is external noise or interference that prevents the interpreter from being able to provide an interpreting service, the Interpreter reserves the right to request those not speaking to mute their microphones.

viii - If the quality of the remote technology renders it impossible to provide an interpretation, the Interpreter may suspend their service.  In this event, the Client will still be responsible for payment of the agreed fee in full.

Recordings
i - No recording of the Interpreter’s work shall be made without their prior consent, except where such recording is inherent within legal proceedings.
ii - 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.

Fees and Allowances

i – All fees shall be freely negotiated and paid in full no later than 30 days, following the date of receipt of the invoice.

ii – In the case of overdue payment, additional charges will be incurred to cover expenses related to administrative time and costs, as well as loss of interest. 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, debt recovery costs of £40 plus interest on late payments of 12.5% (i.e. the current reference rate plus 8%) will be charged.

iii – Fees shall be charged on an hourly basis following the terms of the booking; two hours, half day (four hours) or full day (eight hours), as per the NUBSLI Fee guidance structure. Where the Interpreter has been invited to continue for a further extension period, an agreed supplementary fee shall be charged, usually based on the hourly rate set out in the ‘Summary of Fees’ document.

iv -Where travel to and from the Interpreter’s normal place of residence and an assignment involves a total of more than four hours, travel time will be remunerated at 50% of the agreed hourly rate.

v- A supplementary fee for the working of unsociable hours may be charged, and negotiated in advance, for assignments between the hours of 6pm and 8am, at weekends or on public holidays.

vi- Where an Interpreter is required, from the outset, to work longer than an eight hour day, including lunch break, a supplementary fee shall be negotiated at an agreed hourly rate.

Travel and Accommodation

i – Travel arrangements, and accommodation if applicable, shall be the responsibility of either the Client or the Interpreter, as agreed before the assignment.

ii – Where travel arrangements are made by the Client, they shall ensure that the Interpreter arrives sufficiently rested to fulfil the assignment to the expected standard.

iii – Where travel arrangements are made by the Interpreter, the Interpreter shall ensure an adequate time of arrival before the commencement of the assignment and shall not leave prematurely, unless under exceptional circumstances.

iv - Where the travel arrangements are the responsibility of the Interpreter, she shall seek to obtain travel, and accommodation, at a reasonable cost compatible with the satisfactory performance of the assignment. The Client shall reimburse any expenditure incurred by the Interpreter, within 30 days of receipt of the invoice. If any such arrangements made by the Interpreter have to be varied or cancelled, any reimbursed sums recovered by the Interpreter shall be immediately repaid to the client.

Cancellation

i – In the event that an assignment is curtailed or cancelled 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.

ii – Any expenditure incurred, as agreed at the time of booking and any additional expenditure incurred, as a result of the cancellation shall also be reimbursed.

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

Cancellation under 7 days notice – Full fee payable

Cancellation period of between 8 – 14 days notice – Half fee payable

Cancellation of 15 or more days notice – No fee payable

Unavoidable Circumstances

i – The Interpreter undertakes to notify the Client at the earliest possible opportunity, if she is prevented from undertaking an assignment or if performance is frustrated by unavoidable circumstances.

ii – In giving such notice, the Interpreter shall relinquish any right to remuneration for the uncompleted part of the assignment, with the exception of expenses already irrecoverably incurred.

iii – Should the Interpreter be unable to fulfil her obligations, she will endeavour to find a suitable replacement.

Substitution of Interpreter

i – Substitution shall only be permitted in agreement with the Client and in such circumstances, the Interpreter shall make every effort to find a suitable replacement registered with NRCPD.

ii – The Client shall reasonably accept this substitute, who shall be engaged on the same terms as the Interpreter had previously agreed.

iii – The Client shall notify any other parties, as appropriate.

iv – Acceptance of the substitute by the Client shall discharge the Interpreter from any further liability.

Responsibility and Liability

i – The interpreting task shall be carried out by the Interpreter using reasonable skill and care and in accordance with the provisions and spirit of the Code of Professional Conduct of the NRCPD.

ii – The Interpreter shall use her best endeavours to interpret to the best of her ability, knowledge and belief.

iii – The interpreter shall undertake to comply to the processes required under GDPR when handling and storing data for each assignment. Personal Data from the Data Subject, such as date and time of appointment, venue address, Client name, name of professional, type and content of booking, possible Health or Social care information, will only be used for the authorised purpose of the Assignment. Once the Assignment is complete, appropriate measures will be taken to safeguard the information. The interpreter will keep the booking information in a paper based format for seven years, for accounting purposes and will then destroy it securely.

iv - If the interpreter receives a request from a Data Subject to disclose the information held on them, the Interpreter will inform the Data Controller within 48 hours of receiving the request.

v - The interpreter will inform the Data Controller, within 48 hours, if there has been a breach of the interpreter’s Security processes.

Complaints and Disputes

i – Any complaint or dispute in connection with the interpreting work carried out, shall be notified to the Interpreter by the Client, or vice-versa, not later than one month from the date of the Assignment.

ii – If the parties are unable to agree, the matter may be referred to the NRCPD. If possible, such a referral should be made no later than six weeks from the date in which the original complaint was made.

Acceptability and Integrity

i – The Terms and Conditions of Business shall be construed jointly with the NRCPD Code of Conduct in order to be complete and effective.

Assurances
i - The Interpreter is a fully qualified and registered NRCPD Interpreter (RSLI).
ii - The Interpreter holds a clean DBS (Enhanced) Disclosure certificate which is available to view, on request.
iii – The Interpreter holds Professional Indemnity Insurance up to the value of £250,000.00