We are aware that some agencies are requesting interpreters to provide quotes as part of so-called “mini-bids”, particularly in relation to VRS work. Businesses who are already listed under a framework get to compete for specific or time-limited further lots – a mini-bid.
We only need to look at what has happened in social care to see where this leads.
Care workers were once paid hourly rates. Over time, their work has been eroded into tightly unitised visits — in some cases 15-minute slots per client. The result?
- Inadequate care for service users
- Unsustainable working conditions for staff
- A race to the bottom driven by procurement and agency cost-cutting
This did not happen overnight. It happened through gradual concessions that seemed small at the time.
We cannot allow the same process to take hold in the interpreting profession.
Requests for “Mini-Bid” Quotes (VRS and Other Work)
NUBSLI’s position is clear:
Members should not provide individualised quotes outside the structure of NUBSLI fee guidance.
Instead, you should direct agencies to the published NUBSLI fee guidance. Whether work is VRS or face-to-face, the professional fee structure remains the same. VRS work brings its own significant mental and physical demands and should not be treated as lower-value or “bite-sized” labour.
The guidance has been created and refined over a number of years in deep collaboration with working interpreters. Rates are provided in Full and Half Day increments, because this is how the majority of interpreters structure their fees.
Despite requests for guidance on hourly fees from agencies – we have continued to follow the fees interpreters provide to us, rather than be led by the interests of non-members.
Talk to Colleagues
Please have conversations with fellow interpreters about this issue. The example from social care is a powerful and very real illustration of what happens when professions become fragmented into smaller and smaller paid units.
This is not scaremongering — we have seen it happen.
We also encourage members to read and share our Dossier of Disgrace, produced in 2017 in response to the emergence of framework agreements. Many of the risks identified there are now materialising.
What About the Deaf Community?
Some interpreters worry that maintaining proper fee structures could negatively impact Deaf people’s access. In reality, the opposite is true.
We have seen a number of agencies using the ‘short-duration’ fee to try to erode interpreters’ pay. This is done with claims of longer and longer periods to which they believe ‘short-duration’ ought to apply. This happens despite very clear caveats that:
a ‘short duration’ fee may be charged if an assignment is local to the interpreter and short in duration at the interpreter’s discretion.
When this is ignored, agencies have won contracts on bids which assume that all interpreters will work for short-duration fees, despite the fact that most of us don’t live within a hop, skip, and a jump of every hospital, GP surgery, and Job centre at which we work.
Bidding on the exception rather than the rule. This results in agency booking co-ordinators unable to cover their bookings as interpreters fill their diaries with work that pays an appropriate fee, and the Deaf community left without access.
NUBSLI was founded to protect the BSL interpreting profession, because a sustainable, respected profession is essential for reliable, high-quality access for Deaf people. When interpreter pay and conditions are eroded, access becomes unstable, inconsistent, and ultimately poorer.
Protecting our profession is part of protecting Deaf access.
Stand With Us
NUBSLI is strengthening its foundations and preparing for further campaigning work. This is a critical time for our profession.
If you are not yet a member, now is an important time to join. Unite is also reviewing support for freelance members and broader member benefits.