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                                                                        www.SignLanguageResourcesInc.com
                                                                Coordinator@SignLanguageResourcesInc.com

1607 Route #300, Suite #106                                                                                                     Mary Darragh MacLean

845-566-7951 Voice                                                                                                                    Kathleen P. Pilus

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SLR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES PACKET - ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Dear Interpreter,

I, _____________________________, have read, understand,
                    (Please print your name)

SLR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES PACKET

1.1 STANDARD BILLING - Rates charged by interpreters shall be negotiated individually with SLR, at the time of the assignment. Rates are often determined by the amount that SLR will be invoicing the client, depending on the nature of the work and the time of day. Interpreters who would like to negotiate an increase in their rates, shall negotiate the increase with SLR prior to contracting with SLR for work and prior to submitting any invoices reflecting this increase.

1.2 LATE ARRIVAL BY INTERPRETER - When an interpreter is late for an appointment, the interpreter needs to notify SLR of this as soon as possible, preferably while on route. Depending on the situation, the interpreter may be asked by SLR to bill less for the appointment, which will then be reflected in SLR's billing to the customer, in order to acknowledge the inconvenience placed upon all parties involved with this assignment.

2.1 One additional hour. In cases when the interpreter is expecting to travel 45 minutes or more to the work site, SLR and the interpreter can negotiate, on a "per-job" basis, one additional hour to be invoiced at the interpreter's regular hourly rate. This is an allowance toward the interpreter's expenses inclusive of time, tolls, parking and commuting fares, but does not necessarily reflect exact door to door "travel time". In cases of extreme travel time or distance, payment of more than one hour may be allowed. Both cases shall be negotiated in advance.

2.2 Mileage plus tolls. Some clients, such as schools, prefer to pay mileage plus tolls as opposed to one additional travel hour, and the interpreter shall be notified of this at the time of assignment confirmation. Immediately after completion of these assignments the interpreter shall inform SLR of actual mileage and toll costs.

2.3 Other travel reimbursements. Some clients, such as Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) in New Jersey, prefer to make other travel reimbursements. The interpreter shall be notified of the rate established at the time of the assignment confirmation.

3. CANCELLATIONS

3.1 Cancellation by SLR. Should SLR receive a cancellation from the client, SLR shall notify interpreters as soon as the information is received. The interpreter may or may not invoice for the contracted time based on the conditions below (see 3.1.1 - 3.1.4.3). If the interpreter has not yet begun the trip to the work site, then any travel time previously agreed upon is not billable to SLR.

3.1.1 Part day or one day assignments. Should SLR notify the interpreter of cancellation with less than 2 full business days notice from the date and time of the assignment, then the interpreter may invoice SLR for the hours of the assignment, less any negotiated travel reimbursement.

3.1.2 Two to four day assignments. Should SLR notify the interpreter of cancellation with less than 4 full business days notice from the date and time of each of the days of the assignment, then the interpreter may invoice SLR for any of the days when notice is insufficient, less any negotiated travel reimbursement. ** See also 3.1.4.1

3.1.3 Five (or more) day assignments. Should SLR notify the interpreter of cancellation with less than 9 full business days notice from the date and time of each of the days of the assignment then the interpreter may invoice SLR for any of the days when notice is insufficient, less any negotiated travel reimbursement. ** See also 3.1.4.1

3.1.4.1 Other requests after cancellation. If the interpreter is to be paid for canceled work, and other interpreting work is requested through SLR for all or part of the canceled hours, SLR reserves the right to ask the interpreter to perform the other work, under reasonable circumstances. The amount invoiced to SLR by the interpreter will be at least equal to that of the original assignment, but for invoicing purposes, may be divided into different jobs and job numbers.

3.1.4.2. Appointment participant no show. If the interpreter arrives at the assignment and either the Deaf consumer or any other party involved in this appointment does not and the appointment cannot proceed, the interpreter shall invoice SLR and advise SLR of such.

3.1.4.3 Inclement weather. If cancellation notification is given by SLR OR is ascertained by the contracted interpreter (contacted directly by the student, a radio announcement, a web site announcement,....) on the day of an assignment due to inclement weather, the contracted interpreter shall notify SLR immediately of this cancellation and billing shall be in accordance with the following:

a. Interpreter IS NOT notified in time: If the interpreter is not notified of the cancellation in time and leaves for the assignment, the interpreter shall invoice SLR.
b. Interpreter IS notified in time: If the interpreter is notified of the cancellation in time and does not leave for the assignment, the interpreter shall not invoice SLR.

3.1.4.4 Catastrophic Events. In the event of a cancellation due to a catastrophic event, such as that of September 11, 2001, the interpreter shall not invoice SLR.

3.2 Cancellation by the interpreter.

3.3 Cancellation same day as confirmed: In the event of an assignment being canceled with the confirmed interpreter within two hours of the verbal confirmation of a last minute request (two business days into the future), the interpreter shall not bill SLR for the cancellation.

4.2 Other Work. SLR believes that scheduling a consistent rotation of interpreters at on-going assignments is beneficial for most work environments. Interpreters, therefore, may be asked to share pertinent information with SLR and/or other interpreters scheduled for the assignment. SLR staff and scheduled interpreters will regard this information as highly confidential.

5. PAYMENT SCHEDULE. SLR shall pay invoices submitted by interpreters 30 days (Net 30) from the date that SLR receives the invoice. The exception to this is IBM. IBM work will be paid in Net 45 days and therefore needs to be separated from regular billing.

6.1 INVOICES. Interpreters shall submit invoices on their own letterhead. Invoices shall include the following information for each assignment. (see Figure 3 for a suggested format)

SLR shall be notified by the interpreter(s) via phone and e-mail of any changes to an assignment from the original confirmation on the day of that assignment. These changes include, but are not limited to:

7.2 Exclusivity of assignment acceptance. While SLR is under contract to provide interpreting services, the interpreters who go to those contracted job sites shall not accept work from those job sites/consumers directly. SLR is to be contacted by the requester if they would like the interpreter to return to their job site. An SLR business card can be given to SLR's on-site point of contact by the interpreter with the interpreter's name written on the line provided on the card.

8. INSURANCE

8.1 Disability insurance. Interpreters with disability insurance shall provide a copy of their current policy, to be kept on file at the SLR office. The copy of the policy shall be provided annually or upon renewal of the policy. Interpreters without disability insurance shall sign a "Hold Harmless" agreement (see paragraph 9).

8.2 Malpractice insurance. Interpreters with malpractice insurance shall provide a copy of their current policy, to be kept on file at the SLR office. The copy of the policy shall be provided annually or upon renewal of the policy. Interpreters without malpractice insurance must sign a "Hold Harmless" agreement (see paragraph 9).

8.3 Automobile insurance. Interpreters with cars shall furnish SLR with proof of current automobile insurance, to be kept on file at the SLR office. The copy of the policy shall be provided annually or upon renewal of the policy.

9. "HOLD HARMLESS" AGREEMENT. A "Hold Harmless" agreement, when signed by an interpreter,

11. CERTIFIED INTERPRETERS. Interpreters certified by either RID, NAD,or NIC shall provide proof of certification, to be kept on file at the SLR office. The copy of proof of certification shall be provided annually or upon renewal of the certification.

12. CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS (CEU'S). SLR is an approved RID Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) sponsor and is authorized to offer CEU's through workshops and independent studies. Interpreters will be charged processing fees fro these CEU’s. Interpreters should go to SLR’s web site at: www.SignLanguageResourcesInc.com to find out how to contact the SLR CEU administrator.

13. CONFIDENTIAL DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT. The IBM corporation requires that interpreters contracted to work at IBM sites shall sign a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). The CDA shall be signed every two years.

14. PRO BONO ASSIGNMENTS. Although SLR does not require payment for coordinating what SLR terms "pro bono" assignments, payment may be negotiated between the interpreter and the consumer.

15. REQUESTS FOR INTERPRETING SERVICES. Formal requests for interpreting services must come directly from the client to SLR, and not through the interpreter. Interpreters and clients may discuss their availability for a subsequent or follow-up assignment, but a formal request shall be made by the client and a confirmation e-mail sent to the requested interpreter, in order for the assignment to be official.

16. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

16.1 VESID assignments.

16.1.1 Rates. Rates for VESID assignments are set by SLR's contract with VESID, are billable from start time to end time, and do not allow billing of travel expenses. This is a non-negotiable item.

16.2 RETAINER FEES. A retainer fee is most often used by courts and hospitals in order to guarantee interpreting services by having an interpreter on call for multiple days. Retainer fees are negotiated on a per job basis between SLR and the requestor. Interpreters, who contract with SLR for work that includes time when they are to be "on call", need to negotiate with SLR regarding their retainer fees.

16.3 HOSPITALS. Hospital rates vary based on time blocks of 8AM to 5PM ("Day"), and 5PM to 8AM ("Night"). Rates for emergency calls shall be negotiated on a per request basis.

16.4 COURTS. Court rates vary based on time blocks of 8:00AM to 5:00PM ("day"), and 5:00PM to 8:00AM ("night"). Rates for emergency calls shall be negotiated on a "per request" basis. Only interpreters certified by RID, NAD or NIC shall provide services to courts. Interpreting teams shall be used when necessary, including Deaf and "Native ASL" interpreters as needed.

16.4.1 COURT APPEARANCE FEE. SLR contracts with courts for a minimum appearance which, depending on the court, is either 2 hours or 3 hours. It is expected that the interpreters who accept court work from SLR, will be available for the full minimum appearance time.

17. INFORMATION.

17.1 SLR LIBRARY. Interpreters may borrow from SLR's library of interpreting-related and deafness-related materials. As with the public library, borrowed materials shall be returned on the agreed upon date.

17.2 SLR NEWSLETTER. SLR publishes a semi-annual newsletter, "SLReport," and is available either hard copy or on-line. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep interpreters and consumers up-to-date with news related to SLR and the interpreting field. Readers are encouraged to contribute to this forum at any time.

17.3 ADVISORY COUNCIL. SLR has established a Consumer Advisory Council, for the purposes of adding Deaf perspective to our management of the agency, and to ensure that SLR acts in ways that best serve the Deaf community.