Deaf Workers Face Job Losses

Deaf employees could be forced to give up their jobs because of government guidelines that affect their access to sign-language interpreters. Around 45 employees of deaf charities in Central Scotland are worried that they could be forced out of jobs because from 1 September they will no longer be able to use the interpreters that their own organisations employ. Instead they will have to spend their working hours trying to locate freelance interpreters for meetings that they wish to attend with hearing colleagues, despite the fact that there is a shortage of registered freelancers in Scotland.

Four Scottish charities have written to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) asking for it to reconsider guidelines for Access to Work (AtW) – the government fund that provides support services to disabled people in work.

The fund is supposed to cover the cost of any assistance disabled people need to enjoy the same rights and conditions as non-disabled staff, including sign-language interpreters. However, deaf employees say that they cannot find freelance interpreters to work for AtW rates or to put up with its slow payment history and could be forced to use “cowboy” workers.

Edinburgh-based Deaf Action and Glasgow-based Deaf Connections employ 45 deaf staff between them and around 20 interpreters. As well as charity work supporting deaf people they act as agencies for interpreters. But from next month they will no longer be able to provide interpreters for their own staff.

AtW claims the charities have have been making a profit from the practise and so will no longer meet the full cost of the staff.

Kevin Geddes from Deaf Action said: “The idea that this organisation has been making a profit from this is ridiculous, we don’t make a profit from anything, we are a charity. Interpreters are so scarce a resource in Scotland, there’s more work than we are able to cover at the moment.  Deaf employees’ jobs are under threat if they can’t secure interpreters and if they spend too much of their time doing so, then obviously they can’t be doing the job that they are employed to do.”

The charities, which also include the Scottish Council on Deafness and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, are also complaining to the DWP that AtW does not cover the full travel expenses of interpreters and, as a rule, expects them to work longer hours than the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters (SASLI) recommends.

Frankie McLean, an employee of Deaf Action, said: “As my job is one in which clear and correct communication is crucial at all times, I require fully qualified, SASLI registered sign language interpreters. This is so that I can receive a high quality, professional, ethical and accountable service.

“By booking through Deaf Action, I receive more safeguards as I can then use Deaf Action’s complaints and quality assurance procedures in addition to SASLI’s.

“The majority of SASLI registered freelance interpreters are refusing to undertake AtW assignments. I have no desire to use cowboy communication support workers at sweat shop factory rates that would provide a poor quality and unaccountable service.”

In Scotland there are less than 50 interpreters registered with the SASLI. Only 20 are working freelance, and in Edinburgh there are only two professional freelancers.

Margaret Aitken, community development manager with Deaf Connections and has been with the organisations and using AtW for 13 years. She says she is no longer being granted meetings with her AtW adviser and believes that deaf people in her organisation may leave their jobs if they have to spend too much time looking for freelancers.

She said: “AtW is supposed to help us with our jobs to make us equal to our hearing counterparts, but we feel it will no longer allow us to do that. It will create stress, not only to us but also to our employers as they may start having second thoughts about taking a deaf person on in the future.

“Freelance interpreters are not keen to work with someone who is claiming through AtW because of the amount of time it takes to pay invoices. This is going to be a huge problem for many of us.”

A spokesperson for the DWP said that the guidance which was sent out to deaf people in central Scotland is not new, but that until now some people have been paid too much for sign-language interpretation.

The spokesperson said: “There is no new guidance. Deaf clients who apply for AtW are being written to, in order to make sure that they are aware that if their organisation will no longer be providing interpreters then they’ll have to make other arrangements.”