Code of Professional Conduct, Ethics and Interpreter Role:
It is MasterWord’s expectation and requirement that all certified and qualified interpreters strictly maintain an interpreter role in all interpreted encounters and uphold the guidelines and spirit of the professional standards of conduct and interpreter ethics as outlined in the guiding principles applicable to the encounter, including without limitation:
- The NCIHC National Standards of Practice for Interpreters in Health Care
- The NCIHC National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care
- The ATA Code of Ethics and Professional Practice
- The IMIA Code of Ethics
- The CHIA Standards for Healthcare Interpreters
- The NAJIT Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibilities
- Federal Standards for Performance and Professional Responsibility for Contract Court Interpreters
- Other applicable professional, state or national guidelines.
Dress Code and Identification/Badges:
Dress Code:
Interpreters must adhere to a business professional dress code and wear closed-toe shoes for in-person assignments, while maintaining a professional appearance for virtual assignments. They are also required to wear a MasterWord-issued ID badge and carry a state-issued photo ID. Failure to meet dress code or identification requirements may result in non-compensable assignments. Please view the DRESS CODE POLICY for full details.
Minimums:
In-person assignments: MasterWord agrees to compensate you for the actual time worked or a minimum, whichever is greater, for each completed in-person assignment as defined in your Language Professional profile on lpportal.masterword.com and/or as stated in the Interpreting Assignment Confirmation Form.
Virtual assignments: regardless of your standard minimum, due to remote nature, virtual interpreting assignments have a 1-hour minimum, with the exception of some client accounts for which a minimum is ¼ hour (or 15 minutes). You must carefully review availability request notifications and accept assignments only if you agree to the defined minimum.
Cancellation Terms:
A cancellation fee applies to services cancelled by the client within four (4) hours of the scheduled start time of the requested service and is paid in accordance with an established minimum as outlined in the scope of work or Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form. Cancellations occurring four hours or more before the start time of the assignment are not compensable.
*Note that assignments cancelled as a result of Force Majeure are not compensable regardless of the length of notice given.
Force Majeure:
If either party is prevented from performing any of its duties and obligations in a timely manner by reason of any act of God, strike, labor dispute, flood, public disaster, or power failures, or any other reason beyond reasonable control, such condition shall be deemed to be a valid excuse for delay of performance or nonperformance of any such duty or obligation for the period during which such condition exists. Any scope of services cancelled, as a result of an Event of Force Majeure, by MasterWord or any MasterWord clients resulting in the inability to perform services will be considered non-compensable, including any pre-established minimums as outlined in the scope of work or Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form.
Attendance, Reporting and Escalation Protocol:
On-Time Delivery of Service:
It is MasterWord’s expectation that all interpreters assume diligent responsibility for the confirmed services. Continued dependability, quality and integrity of service are core operational principles of MasterWord. Failure to uphold commitments can cause the non-delivery of services, impact the level of effective communication between MasterWord’s clients and their consumers, and possibly result in a violation of inalienable consumer rights. Therefore, MasterWord established an on-time delivery of services expectations for Language Professionals. Please view the ON TIME DELIVERY POLICY for full details.
Running late:
For in-person assignments, interpreters are expected to arrive to the assignment at least 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time. If running late to an assignment for any reason, interpreters must call MasterWord to advise about possible tardiness.
For virtual assignments, interpreters are expected to log into the virtual meetings at least 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start time to ensure connection and avoid delays due to technical issues. If unable to join the virtual meeting on time for any reason, interpreters must call MasterWord to advise about possible tardiness.
Wait Time:
For in-person assignments, if after reporting to the assignment, the client is not there for more than 15 minutes after the scheduled start time or you are asked to wait by client for more than 15 minutes, you must call MasterWord.
For virtual assignments, if after joining the virtual meeting, the other participants are not there for more than 15 minutes after the scheduled start time, you must notify MasterWord by calling our office at 281.589.0810 or, if using your phone to connect to the virtual meeting, by emailing MasterWord at [email protected].
If you do not notify MasterWord about the prolonged wait time and/or the client does not show to the appointment, MasterWord may not be able to reimburse your wait time post factum. You must contact MasterWord after a 15-minute wait.
Check-in/Check-out for In-Person Assignments:
You must carefully review and follow any applicable check-in and/or check-out instructions as may be outlined in the Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form based on the client facility protocols.
Cancelling Out of an Assignment:
You must contact MasterWord immediately if you need to cancel out of a confirmed assignment by calling our office at 281.589.0810. Please note that a cancellation may be recorded in your Language Professional profile depending on the length of notice given, validity of a reason for cancellation and number of previous cancellations. Please view the ON TIME DELIVERY POLICY for more details.
Issue Escalation:
You must report any complaints, disputes or issues to MasterWord by calling our office at 281.589.0810 option 1. Do not attempt to resolve issues directly with MasterWord’s client.
Time Keeping, Assignment Extensions and Hours Worked:
Interpreting Assignment Confirmation Form:
All pertinent assignment details, including date and time of assignment, service location for in-person assignments or virtual meeting login or dial in information for virtual assignments, point of contact information, special instructions, as well as confirmed rate and minimum, and any other applicable compensable costs are listed in your Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form. The Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form serves as a binding agreement between you and MasterWord of your service rate, minimum, and other pre-approved fees, where applicable. It is your responsibility to carefully review the Interpreting Assignment Confirmation and inform MasterWord immediately (and prior to the assignment start time) if any adjustments or corrections need to be made. No adjustments shall be made to the approved rates, minimums, and terms after the assignment start time.
Verification of Services:
For in-person assignments, you must bring an Interpreting Services Verification Form or another client specific form that was provided to you at the time of assignment confirmation. It is your responsibility to present the Interpreting Services Verification Form to a designated client representative for endorsement at the completion of your assignment and to follow other applicable check-in and check-out procedures. An Interpreting Services Verification Form or another client specific form serves as a documented evidence of time worked and must be submitted to MasterWord in order to received payment for performed services.
For virtual assignments, unless otherwise instructed in your Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form, upon completion of the assignment, take a screenshot of the meeting duration and submit it along with your Interpreting Services Verification Form as proof of service. IMPORTANT! FOR CONFIDENTIALITY CONSIDERATIONS, DO NOT TAKE SCREENSHOTS OF THE PARTICIPANTS OR ANY INFORMATION THAT IS OR CAN POTENTIALLY BE CONSIDERED SENSITIVE OR CONFIDENTIAL! No client signature is required on your Interpreting Services Verification Form for virtual interpreting assignments if you have a screenshot of the meeting/call duration. PLEASE NOTE: For some web conferencing platforms, once the meeting host closes the web meeting, the meeting window will close automatically for all participants. Therefore, you would need to take a screen shot of the meeting duration prior to the host closing the session. We recommend that you advise the client at the start of the meeting to allow you to take a screen shot of the meeting duration before the client exits the virtual session.
Assignment Extensions:
If you are requested to stay longer than the estimated duration of your assignment as indicated in your Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form, the client must contact MasterWord by calling our office at 281.589.0810 to request time extension. Upon confirmation with MasterWord, your Interpreting Services Verification Form must be notated (by client representative if an assignment is in person) with an extension in the applicable section of the form.
If you do not obtain approval for assignment extension following these guidelines, the extended duration of the assignment is not approved and therefore will not be paid as time worked.
Time Worked:
You will be paid for the actual time worked beyond the confirmed minimum as documented in your Interpreting Services Verification Form, provided that the hours worked do not exceed the estimated duration of the assignment unless an extension was approved as per assignment extension terms above.
Record Submission and Payment Terms:
Record Submission Policy:
A properly completed Interpreting Services Verification Form must be submitted within two (2) business days after the completion of each interpreting assignment. If an invoice is not provided to MasterWord within two (2) business days, due to MasterWord’s clients’ billing policies untimely invoiced services no longer qualify as billable hours and we are unable to bill the client in the next cycle. Therefore, untimely submitted invoices will be paid at a reduced rate of $5.00 USD per each hour of untimely invoiced rendered interpreting services. No additional expenses will be paid on a late invoice. Additionally, any invoice submitted after net thirty (30) days of service completion is not compensable and will not be accepted for payment.
Record Submission Procedure:
For in-person assignments, upon completion of your assignment please have a client representative or designated contact person write in your start and finish time and sign your Interpreting Services Verification Form or another client specific form documenting the time worked. Please do not write your rate of pay or other fees on the Interpreting Services Verification Form. If a record correction is required, you should correct the information by drawing a single line through the incorrect data and requesting the designated client representative to initial the change. MasterWord cannot accept records that have been altered without the client approval or any corrections that have been made using correction tape or liquid paper “white out”. Verification forms with obvious unapproved alterations will not be accepted and the payment for services will not be issued. Any additional expenses must be pre-approved in writing in your Interpreting Assignment Confirmation Form. You must submit itemized receipt(s) or another valid documented evidence for all pre-approved compensable expenses, such as parking, upon completion of your assignment. Notwithstanding the pre-approval, undocumented expenses will not be reimbursed. It is your responsibly to ensure MasterWord receives a copy of your Interpreting Services Verification Form by uploading the form, applicable receipts and other supporting documentation to MasterWord’s Language Professional Portal at https://lpportal.masterword.com/ within two (2) business days after the completion of each interpreting assignment. No other method of record submission is accepted at this time.
For virtual assignments, upon completion of your virtual interpreting assignment please notate your Interpreting Services Verification Form with the start and finish time and sign it. Please do not write your rate of pay or other fees on the Interpreting Services Verification Form. No additional expenses are approved for virtual interpreting services (unless otherwise indicated on your Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form). It is your responsibly to ensure MasterWord receives a copy of the screen shot with a virtual meeting/call duration along with your Interpreting Services Verification Form by uploading the document to MasterWord’s LANGUAGE PROFESSIONAL PORTAL within two (2) business days after the completion of each interpreting assignment. No other method of record submission is accepted at this time. Note that only one file is allowed for upload on LP Portal. Therefore, please combine the Interpreting Services Verification Form and screen shot into one single PDF document or image before uploading into the portal.
NOTE: Some client accounts require submission of a special form as verification of services. Please carefully review your Interpreting Assignment Confirmation form for any special instructions.
Record Retention:
You should retain a copy of all documents for your records.
Payment Terms:
Payments for services and eligible pre-approved expenses are processed net 30 days from the receipt of an approved Interpreting Services Verification Form or other valid documented evidence as verified and accepted by MasterWord’s Accounting Department. Please note any records submitted after 5pm CST will be counted as the next business day’s submission.
For more information, please read: PAYMENT TERMS
HIPAA/FERPA/Confidentiality:
As a language professional, you may have access to information that is federally protected under either the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act. Therefore, all language professionals providing services to or on behalf of MasterWord must adhere to all federal and other regulatory privacy laws and policies. For more information please review HIPAA and FERPA guidelines.
Additional Guidelines for Virtual Interpreting:
For any virtual interpreting assignment, interpreters are expected to review and follow MasterWord’s virtual interpreting guidelines. Please visit VIRTUAL INTERPRETATION TERMS for full details.