Contributions to the government’s Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper can still be made up until 11.59pm on Monday 30th June. One of the support systems under review is Access to Work and if you haven’t already done so, it’s important you feed into this consultation.
You probably have plenty to say on this matter, but listed below are some key points that you might want to include in your feedback. Please feel free to adapt any of the points and put them in your own words.
- Interpreters provide deaf employees with access to business talk. People at work use language and jargon specific to their job. Using jargon and technical terms appropriately marks someone as knowledgeable about their speciality or topic and indicates they know what they are talking about. Workplace interpreters make it their business to learn the language of the deaf persons profession and use it correctly and at the right time.
- Interpreters provide deaf employees with access to relational talk (e.g. small talk, gossip, and humour). Not all talk at work is always about work. People at work also talk about what is happening in their personal lives, and with their families. They share their hobbies and interests with their colleagues. They discuss television programmes they have watched, sporting events they follow, and what is happening in the news. People engage in office gossip, teasing, and banter. It’s vital that interpreters convey all these aspects as this type of talk helps colleagues to bond with each other and fit into their workplace and teams. Without access to this form of talk deaf employees can be seen as stand-offish, moody, or not a team player.
- Interpreters can cue deaf employees into the cultural nuances of the workplace. All workplaces have their own culture and people have established ways of “doing business”. For example, in team meetings there are unwritten rules about how people take turns at speaking, who is allowed to interrupt and when, who can challenge the boss, and when it is appropriate to make jokes. Hearing people pick up behavioural norms informally, but language barriers can prevent deaf people from doing so. Interpreters can assist by providing access to some workplace cultural norms.
- Access to written material. English is often a second language for deaf people, which means written material such as memos, letters, emails, and policies and procedures can be inaccessible to a BSL-user. Interpreters can support deaf employees by translating written documentation into BSL and vice versa.
- Interpreting in the workplace is a highly skilled job. Interpreters can play a crucial role in supporting deaf people to access the workplace on an equal level with their hearing peers. It is essential that interpreting in this setting is provided by suitably qualified and adequately trained interpreters, who are registered with professional body such as NRCPD.
- The interpreter is there for everyone. Workplace support for deaf people could move away from a focus solely on the needs of the deaf employee and encompass the wider communication needs of the workplace where a deaf person is employed. A holistic work-based assessment could mean that the SLI is assigned to an office or team for all employees to access when needed.
Dr. Jules Dickinson, June 2025