Interpreting and Interpreters have been waiting for January 1, but the date came and went without any fruitful results. Still, interpreters and interpreters are not exempted from the AB5 bill. As per the bill, all independent contractors are reclassified as employees in California. The interpretation and interpreting community protested for many months but Lorena Gonzalez, an Assemblywoman and the sponsor of the bill seem to ignore everyone’s concerns.
Effect of a bill on Interpreters’ Job
The bill AB5 has widely affected the interpreter fraternity and California-based many interpreters are losing business. It is a challenging situation for not only California-based LSPs but also for the language service providers present in different parts of the world. It is because most of the interpreters are listed with several agencies at the same time. Interpreters, on Twitter, have shared with agencies that they cannot further work with them. California based. Interpreters have three options to choose from: move to another state, close up shop or restructure their business. Restructuring a business is an expensive deal in which interpreters themselves essentially become an LSP. None of these options is perfect. In many cases, AB5 may offer required protection but for interpreters, this bill is doing the opposite.
Effect of Bill on LSPs
Language service providers are losing business because hiring full-time interpreters for various languages does not make financial sense. Now LSPs cannot further work with California-based interpreters, and thus same services cannot be provided resulting in a loss of business.
In the case of remote interpreting, interpreters outside of California can be hired to fill the gap. However, this will be against the independent contractors for whom AB5 was designed.
The Strain on Language Access
In the case of language access, AB5 does not give a good effect on California residents with less English proficiency. The present administration is not working in its favor and this bill is making the situation worse. LSPs cannot offer the same services as before. Courts, hospitals as well as schools cannot provide services in other languages. It must be noted that these institutions must do so as per law so this bill is putting an additional burden on LSPs in the US.
