RETAINER FEES A retainer fee shall be a reduced rate and can in most cases be equal to four hours at the Sign Language interpreter's hourly rate to hold a full day. This service is most often used by courts and hospitals in order to guarantee Sign Language interpreting services by having an interpreter "on call" for multiple days. This is often used when the consumer can't be sure when or how long the interpreter will be needed. Such is the case for jury duty or a medical patient under critical care. There are many instances where some part of the time will be cancelled when the exact need becomes clear.

Retainer agreements can have any variety of arrangements to be negotiated before the Sign Language interpreter is confirmed, and below is a typical scenario:

A juror is summoned, the court calls SLR, and two interpreters are booked, usually for a week. The first day or two might be billed at the regular work time (perhaps 7 or 8 hours) and the remaining three days are the “retainer” portion. These are billed at a ½ day rate or 3 hours. Should the interpreter actually be called in to work one of these days, the interpreter is paid for the full day, even if only there for only one hour, and if traveling 45 minutes or more from home to the job location, one additional hour of travel is added.

Example #1: If the arrangement is made to have two interpreters present in court on the first two days, and on retainer for three days, and the juror is selected to be on a case for the duration of a week, the interpreters are paid for 7 hours (if 9:30-4:30) or 8 hours (9:00-5:00) each day plus one hour of travel if distance from home allows.

Example # 2: If the arrangement is made as in Ex. #1, and the juror is NOT selected on the first day he/she may be told to call in each night with a juror number to verify if attendance is needed the following day. During the nighttime phone call it is discovered the juror need not report. In this case the juror and interpreters are present for the first day only, then payment will be as follows:

  Day one: Full day fee (plus negotiated travel)
  Day two: Full day fee (no travel)
  Day three: 3 hour or ½ day fee
  Day four: 3 hour or ½ day fee
  Day five: 3 hour or ½ day fee

Please note: The Sign Language interpreter sub-contractor is committed to the court for the duration of the week. There are times in the beginning of the week that the court knows for sure that the juror will not be needed. Should another need arise in another department, the interpreter is expected to be available. See cancellation policy.

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