People have been raising concerns regarding the Dynamex ruling and its consequences for Language Service Providers. It certainly doesn’t seem to be heading in the correct direction. A bill that was passed recently in the California Legislative Assembly reclassifies interpreters and translators in California as employees for clients. Both interpreters and translators work for different clients as independent contractors. Hence, there can be bad consequences for the bill that is about to be passed. It not only puts an additional administrative and financial burden on the interpreters and translators but also makes it difficult for language service providers when hiring them. The overall impact puts a lot of strain on the interpreting and translation industry as a whole.
As per Lorena Gonzalez, the proposer of this bill, the intent is to prevent large corporations to take advantage of their employees by hiring them as independent contractors. The cost of hiring a contractor is relatively cheaper as it saves employers from paying worker benefits. Although the bill offers the required protection for some cases, the consequences can make things difficult for translators and interpreters. The reason they work as independent contractors is the duration they work for different clients. It is shorter due to the complexity and nature of the interpreter assignments. It is complicated to earn decent money by working for a single-language service provider. In case the bill is passed without exempting the interpreters, they would be forced to act as corporations. It will eventually add considerable administrative, reporting, and financial duties and severely affect their income.
On the other hand, the cost to hire interpreters for rare assignments will also shoot up. There can be a twofold negative outcome meaning lesser business for the LSPs and interpreters and less inclusive language policy in social services, hospitals, and courts. The bill exempts lawyers, doctors, accountants, architects, real estate agents, insurance agents, marketers, engineers, and HR Professionals. However, both translators and interpreters have not been included in the list.
In a scenario where the bill is passed by the Senate and eventually signed by the governor without exempting translators and interpreters, it can put a lot of pressure affecting the livelihood of all the interpreters and translators. The livelihood of California LSPs will also be affected to an extent. California has been known to be the legislative trendsetter in the country and if the bill gets passed, it is possible that the same bill might be passed across the country. Hence, we urge all translators and interpreters to sign the open letter to Assemblywomen Lorena Gonzalez and explain why it is important to exempt language professionals from the bill.
In an attempt to make people aware of this cause and ensure things work in favor of the Language Service Providers, we would love it if people could contribute their bit by spreading the message. Let us know how you feel about the proposed law in the comment section. Follow us on social media to share the message and attract more people to help with this cause.
