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Ask most interpreters about the Equality Act 2010 and you’ll probably learn plenty about reasonable adjustments. They’re an important part of our work, but the law goes much further and provides protections on pay and discrimination for freelancers too.
Unlike most employment rights legislation, the Equality Act protects employment – rather than just employees. The important distinction for freelance interpreters is that the Act’s definition of employment 1 includes self-employed people who are ‘under a contract personally to do work’… That’s us! Self employed interpreters and translators are considered to be hired ‘personally’ whether they are sole traders, or run their own Ltd. company (as long as you aren’t accepting work and then subcontracting it to other interpreters).
Because of this, the companies we work for – interpreting agencies, local councils, VRS companies, and even those booking us directly, must honour the protections the Equality Act provides.
The Equality Act provides protections from harassment, victimisation (unfavourable treatment after raising a complaint, or whistleblowing), and of course requires reasonable adjustments for disability. Ensuring a workplace is free from harassment and victimisation is the responsibility of those engaging our services. Helpfully, we tend to be aware when we’re being harassed in the workplace, and in addition to calling this out, as freelancers we also have more flexibility than employees to leave toxic workplaces.
However, discrimination is not always obvious. It can arise in relation to different protected characteristics and take many different forms, meaning it may not be immediately recognised by the person experiencing it.
Historically, pay discrimination against women has been so prevalent that it is specifically addressed under the act. In 2017, legislation was introduced to mandate gender pay gap reporting for larger companies. However this legislation does not extend to reporting freelancers’ pay.
Fortunately, the Equality Act protects the rights of freelancers to compare their pay with each other in order to identify potential discrimination. 2 Pay comparison is permitted not only to identify discrimination based on gender, but on any of the nine protected characteristics.
While we hope that there aren’t any agencies working within our communities who are actively discriminatory…
We encourage members with differing protected characteristics to compare the fees they are being paid by agencies. While it can be difficult to determine whether differences are the result of discrimination – by comparing fees with each other, together we can build a picture of the landscape around us and identify any individual ‘bad apple’ which might exist.
For reference, protected characteristics under the Equality Act include:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender Reassignment
- Marriage and Civil Partnership
- Pregnancy and Maternity
- Race
- Religion or Belief
- Sex
- Sexual Orientation
A reminder: Freelancers are covered by elements of other employment laws when entering a workplace, such as the Health and Safety At Work Act 3 and whistleblowing protections of the Employment Rights Act 4. If you need any support or guidance, please contact us: communications@nubsli.com.
- Equality Act (2010) Part 5 Chapter 4 s.83(2a)
- Equality Act (2010) Part 5 Chapter 3 s.77(3)
- Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) Part 1 ‘General duties’ s.3(1)
- Employment Rights Act (1996) c.18 Part IVA s.43K