Report: Interpreters Question Part of NLRB Ruling Requiring Reclassification as Employees

Monday, May 14, 2018 | 1

Interpreters are questioning part of a National Labor Relations Board order requiring a government contractor to classify as employees the interpreters it provides to federal immigration courts, according to a report by an industry publication Slator.com.

Barry Slaughter Olsen

The NLRB in March ordered SOS International to “take whatever steps are necessary to reclassify” its interpreters who work at Executive Office of Immigration Review locations throughout the country. The board also ordered the company to reinstate six workers and pay them back wages.

Barry Slaughter Olsen, associate professor of translation and interpretation at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, told Slator that the decision is good in all respects, except for the part requiring interpreters to be reclassified as employees.

The problem, according to Olsen, is that the decision wrongly suggests that treating the contractors as employees is a viable solution when it is not. Requiring all interpreters under contract with SOS to be classified as employees would “break the system,” he said. Companies can’t justify employee status for all interpreters when demand for a given language fluctuates, he said.

The California Workers’ Compensation Interpreters Association said in a statement to Slator that the decision could be good for court-certified interpreters who want to be employees of the court, or interpreters who want staff interpreter positions in hospitals. But most interpreters want to be contractors, according to CWCIA.

Independent contractor status allows interpreters to set their own schedules and rates, and take advantage of tax write-offs. Making contractors employees of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board would likely lead to a decrease in income and limit their ability to take on other jobs.

“As you know, variety is the spice of life, and for interpreters, being able to do medicals, medical-legals, depositions, trials, hearings, conferences, etc., is more attractive than sitting in one location all day,” CWCIA said.