https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/court-interpreters-raise-grievances-over-new-booking-system/5120088.article
21 June 2024 by Monidipa Fouzder
Court interpreters
raise grievances over new booking system
Court
interpreters have raised a long list of grievances with language services
contractor thebigword after claiming a new booking system has made their lives
difficult.
According
to the document, seen by the Gazette,
once a job is accepted it disappears from the app, leaving interpreters without
access to critical information. Interpreters often find themselves in court
without a timesheet, reference number, or knowing where they need to go. A
‘confusing’ interface makes it difficult to distinguish between booked jobs and
offers.
Interpreters
say remote assignments lack timesheets, making critical information about job
timings and details difficult to obtain. Cancellations are misclassified as
curtailments, affecting interpreters’ income. Distance calculations and
payments are inaccurate, and the app appears to be draining phone batteries.
‘We
strongly request that, rather than delivering a downgrade that wasn't properly
tested before launch, improvements be made to the current app to mirror and
include the previous features,' the interpreters say in the document. At
present, 'the interpreter is burdened with resolving their issues, despite
[thebigword] creating problems that were not previously present.’
The
incident is the latest in a series of disputes between court interpreters and
government contract-holders over the past decade.
Interpreters say app issues are leaving them
without access to critical case information
A
spokesperson for thebigword said interpreters were given one month’s notice
before the app was released. User guides and FAQs were sent out in
communications, and one-to-one training was offered.
The
spokesperson said no AI is used in the app. ‘thebigword from time to time makes
updates, as we have recently done to our applications, to meet increasing audit
and security requirements. We do recognise that there have been some challenges
with these changes, however we believe that these are now resolved.’
A
timesheet functionality for remote assignments is being added and thebigword is
working to resolve any ongoing issues with confusing display information.
On
the app reportedly draining phone batteries, the spokesperson said extensive
testing was conducted internally and with a third party. Mileage calculations
were audited ‘and no cases of incorrect payments were found’.
Thebigword
reviewed the claim of misclassification of cancellations and found no cases
where the job was misclassified. ‘When data was migrated initially, there were
cases where two interpreters were allocated the same job when only one was
required. All interpreters in these cases will be compensated in line with
their contract,’ the spokesperson said.
The
spokesperson said thebigword met over 800 interpreters in person or remotely
over the last week, which is approximately half of all Ministry of
Justice-registered interpreters 'and we continue to listen to feedback and help
them resolve any issues'.
The
Gazette
understands a meeting was held on Monday but interpreters felt the meeting
failed to address their concerns.
