r/spanishinterpreters

Exactamente lo que dice el título. Me ha pasado varias veces y generalmente solo es un momento de confusión y luego la llamada sigue como si nada pero acabo de tener una situación con la que no sé si ofenderme o sentirme halagada.

Un LEP se rehusó a seguir conmigo en la llamada porque estaba convencido de que yo era una computadora. Lo que pasa es que el LEP hablaba inglés, pero quería un intérprete para que su esposa también pudiera entender. No importó cuantas veces la client le explicó que yo era una persona real, ni que hable yo para "demostrar" que así era, el LEP decía "no, that's a computer" y que no iba a seguir con la llamada hasta no tener una persona que pueda interpretar. Nada, la client entre risas me agradeció por mi asistencia y dijo que iba a volver a llamar para que la conecten con otro intérprete. Weird.

Hoy una fue con el hijo al doctor porque segun ella el nene tenia el pene pequeño, pobre pibe...

Trabajo para Propio. La cliente era extremadamente grosera, me llamó “beanr”, no me dejó completar mis introducciones. Encima de todo me dice que me va a reportar. Tengo entendido que las llamadas no las graban de nuestro lado. Entonces, ¿qué pasa si en verdad me reporta y dice que fui incompetente o grosero o algo así?

Hola a todos! Recién empecé a trabajar en globo y hasta ahora solo he hecho llamadas de audio, nada de video. Quiero animarme a hacer de video pero de verdad no me gusta nada.

Me invitaron al shift program y quisiera preguntar, ¿mas o menos cuantas llamadas de video entran vs audio?

Porque si es un 80% audio-20% video, por decir, no está mal considerando que así pagan toda la hora y no es por minuto. Pero si voy a tener solo de video, no lo sé 🫠

Poco a poco iré soltándome pero me pone muy nerviosa ahora que acabo de entrar no tener el script enfrente (en audio siempre sale y solo vas leyendo)

Apreciaría mucho sus tips y experiencias!

Is no coincidence that most of the companies pay experienced interpreters $4-5/h. They all agreed to those wages, so they can exploit the interpreters and maximize their profit. In a free market there'd be a ton of different wages for every kind of experience, type of interpretation, and heap of other parameters.

For example in medical assistants' job market there's a bunch of different job posts depending on experience (2000-3000 a month), type of service (whether is for a hospital, an office, a clinic) and the workload; you can find 3000-4000/month job offers for experienced MVA managing heavy workloads.

Whereas 3 year-experienced interpreters with B2B and attending Medical, Legal, Community and 911 calls are getting $5-6/h at very jolly best. The higher rates are per minute and if it gets higher than 12 fucking cents, you're getting ONE call every 20 minutes.

Where are all the supposedly competitive capitalist companies that want to lure interpreters with higher wages and better jobs? There's none, because they're united to milk us like fucking starving money cows, while they charge 30 dollars an hour for OUR service.

I'm going to send my CV to every BPO I can find and try to get in touch with the most people I can to invite them to the strike, because most of interpreters doesn't have a reddit and have no idea about this.

Has anyone else noticed what I call "ghost calls"? These are calls that arrive with the timer already stuck at several hours, or ones where the timer doesn't move at all and the call ends on its own — no one connects, nothing.

This has been happening to me frequently, especially during peak hours ("Good Times"). The result is a 0-minute call followed by a forced 30–60 minute wait before the next one.

I believe this is being done intentionally to reduce our work time, since these calls still reset our wait timer.

I've been documenting this since March — including all the 1–2 minute calls that seem to be routed to us deliberately for the same effect. In my opinion, this practice should be highly illegal. While I don't have hard proof yet, I'm seeing a clear pattern, and I've been comparing notes with colleagues in the US and LATAM interpreters who are sharing their data with me.

Fortunately, an attorney from a major law firm came across one of my posts and reached out to me in April, asking me to formally document all of these findings. There are now 7 US interpreters actively working with them and providing similar data, as well as 3 LATAM interpreters who work through a third-party company that outsources for Propio — and they have been contributing as well.

I can't share details yet, but here's one number that says a lot: in May alone, those 3 LATAM interpreters earned more than 6 of the 7 US interpreters combined — despite earning only a third of the US rate.

We are not alone. Speak up US Interpreters !

Has anyone else noticed what I call "ghost calls"? These are calls that arrive with the timer already stuck at several hours, or ones where the timer doesn't move at all and the call ends on its own — no one connects, nothing.

This has been happening to me frequently, especially during peak hours ("Good Times"). The result is a 0-minute call followed by a forced 30–60 minute wait before the next one.

I believe this is being done intentionally to reduce our work time, since these calls still reset our wait timer.

I've been documenting this since March — including all the 1–2 minute calls that seem to be routed to us deliberately for the same effect. In my opinion, this practice should be highly illegal. While I don't have hard proof yet, I'm seeing a clear pattern, and I've been comparing notes with colleagues in the US and LATAM interpreters who are sharing their data with me.

Fortunately, an attorney from a major law firm came across one of my posts and reached out to me in April, asking me to formally document all of these findings. There are now 7 US interpreters actively working with them and providing similar data, as well as 3 LATAM interpreters who work through a third-party company that outsources for Propio — and they have been contributing as well.

I can't share details yet, but here's one number that says a lot: in May alone, those 3 LATAM interpreters earned more than 6 of the 7 US interpreters combined — despite earning only a third of the US rate.

We are not alone. Speak up US Interpreters !

Over the last few months, a lot of us in the interpreting industry have watched rates collapse while companies continue expanding and consolidating.

This is not a post attacking LATAM interpreters. Most of them are simply trying to survive and feed their families, same as U.S.-based interpreters. The real issue is companies using these wage differences to drive rates lower and lower across the entire profession while still charging clients premium prices.

Meanwhile:

• Experienced interpreters are burning out
• Qualified U.S.-based interpreters are leaving the field
• New interpreters are being normalized into slave wages and pay
• Clients often have no idea what interpreters themselves are actually earning

Whether you are in the U.S. or Latin America, we should be openly discussing:

• Rates
• Working conditions
• Unpaid waiting time
• Credential requirements vs compensation
• Per-minute structures
• Quality concerns
• Industry consolidation
• The long-term future of this profession

And these conversations should not stay hidden in private chats.

Talk about it on Reddit.
Talk about it on LinkedIn.
Comment professionally on company posts.
Discuss it publicly and respectfully.
Clients deserve transparency too.

Many interpreters are afraid to speak because they fear retaliation or losing work. If needed, use anonymous accounts and protect your privacy. But silence only guarantees things continue getting worse.

This profession matters. Courts, hospitals, asylum seekers, injured workers, and patients all depend on qualified interpreters every single day.

If we don’t start having honest conversations now, the industry will continue racing toward cheaper labor, lower standards, and burnout for everyone involved.

Its time we let the clients know what going on. It sees like it already started with interporeters from LSA.

https://preview.redd.it/pwqyxzgca42h1.png?width=440&format=png&auto=webp&s=487a29185b24c045e852bcea5840ab315590e043

https://preview.redd.it/1dd6xzgca42h1.png?width=452&format=png&auto=webp&s=95f13de61eb9b511b8b0879f076f31d43a76482c

Hey guys, just need to vent. I work remotely from Teleperformance, for LLS. My supervisor/team lead is based out of their hub in Colombia.

For the past couple of months, this guy has been on a total micromanagement power trip. He actually enforced a rule where if we use the bathroom (*bathroom breaks*), it gets counted against our "Hour Compliance" metrics. Taking a break for a basic human need literally tanks your score. Because of this artificial metric tightening, he marked my April productivity at 82% (target is 84%) and stripped me of my monthly performance bonus. I was furious, but kept my head down.

Then this past Sunday (May 17th), the client portal (InterpreterConnect) completely shit the bed. It was a massive, global system outage. The software kept throwing errors saying *"Our records indicate that you are not supposed to be working at this time"* and wouldn't register the softphone. It automatically kicked me out constantly, which tracked as 12 automated "Unavailable" status hits, and eventually the client's system locked my PIN.

I documented everything in real-time. Kept a detailed spreadsheet log, took screenshots of the errors, and sent it to him. His response? He blamed my internet. In an email yesterday, he actually tried to tell me my network's "jitter" was too low. Anyone with basic networking knowledge knows that low jitter means a *perfectly stable, high-end connection*. The guy is technically illiterate but desperately trying to transfer the operational risk of their broken software onto my paycheck.

Today, he drags me into a mandatory Zoom call. He’s super passive-aggressive, intimidating, and straight-up tells me he's issuing a formal written warning and docking my metrics for the PIN block. Little did he know, I recorded the entire meeting (which is 100% legal to use as evidence where I live if you are a participant in the conversation).

Here is where the story turns.

I am autistic (ASD). I've always kept it completely private because my psychiatrist told me I have a legal right to medical privacy and don't have to disclose it to employers, which is true. But after that Zoom call today, I realized it was time to play my hand.

In Chile, we have two incredibly powerful laws that corporate legal departments are absolutely terrified of:

1. Ley Karin (Workplace Harassment Law): This law strictly criminalizes supervisor bullying, verbal intimidation, and hostile work environments. Under recent updates, harassment doesn't even need to be "repeated", a single event (like his toxic Zoom call) is enough to trigger a federal investigation.

2. Ley TEA (Autism Inclusion Act): This legally forces employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" for neurodivergent employees and strictly bans rigid metrics that cause emotional distress or affect an autistic person's health (like penalizing bathroom breaks, which I use for sensory regulation).

If a company fires or retaliates against an autistic worker after a formal disclosure and a harassment report, they face insane punitive damages (an extra 6 to 11 months of full salary). But the real kicker is that the company gets hit with a 2-year automatic blacklist from bidding on any government contracts. For a massive corporation like TP, landing on that blacklist is a financial catastrophe.

So, right after the Zoom call, I went to our internal HR portal bot (Tipi) and filed a formal Ley Karin harassment claim. I then fired off a massive, legally-worded email to Teleperformance’s corporate Legal department in Chile, CC'd HR, attached my actual medical certificate, and updated my open case with our federal Labor Board (Dirección del Trabajo).

To top it off, I replied to my supervisor's email chain, CC'd Chile's Legal team, and basically told him:

"I have officially notified Corporate Legal and HR of my Autism diagnosis. Under federal law, your bathroom restrictions and threats over platform bugs constitute direct discrimination against a neurodivergent worker. My lawyer has the Zoom recording. Talk to Legal."

I honestly cannot wait for compliance in Santiago to call this dude in Colombia and tell him he needs to sit down, shut up, and undo every single metric penalty he gave me if he wants to keep his own job.

Know your local labor rights, people. Sometimes the law gives you a bazooka, you just have to learn how to aim it.

I'm so glad to see so many people striking against the interpreting companies. Don't lose momentum! Destroy them until you get a living wage! In just one day of protests, they'll lose millions. Never give up!

First of all, sorry I am a Mandarin Interpreter, not a spanish one, but we all face the same issue. So please listen to me and do not delete this post. Thank you

Globo recently has been lowering rate by a lot in all languages and we have to either accept or leave.

As freelance remote contracters, it is really hard to organize and fight against them, but we cannot just let them do this.

I've been following a page called Interpreters Voice on linkedin(https://www.linkedin.com/company/interpreters-voice/posts/), what they are doing is quite inspiring:

https://preview.redd.it/gxtd6k65d42h1.png?width=584&format=png&auto=webp&s=7289f0490af599c8f4d4b8df0e73e0f56a3162ae

And they have already caused some attention:

https://preview.redd.it/p36mrnzgd42h1.png?width=582&format=png&auto=webp&s=c375da4a1f221ba762b00f161d2c183c3d8a0639

We can do the same to Globo

I created a discord server https://discord.gg/bEjgYSqtp

Hope all of you will join me and help me collect all the information we need to fight against them.

We can achieve at least 2 things:

1. Collect Globo's client information and explain to them what is happening.
2. Organize a strike day to let them know that we are more organized than they knew.

If you still care about your career as an interpreter, please join and spread the information. This is for you, for me, for all of us.

Thank you for reading this.

Hola. Hace unos días les comenté que alguien me dijo que ella trabajaba para propio pero con una empresa tercera que no tiene ni informaicon y hasta me hizo firmar un contrato y pensé que era cierto hasta que me aclararon chicos de aquí que eso era mentiras y que ella simplemente me estaba haciendo trabajar en nombre de ella y no me daba ni la mitad. Alguien podría reportarla por favor?

Me llamaron de una con horario fijo (Multilingual) y otra con horario flexible pago por minuto (LBS). Tengo entendido que las dos tercerizan para Propio, entonces no sé si se puede eso?

Yo elegí la de horario flexible porque soy fan de poder hacer otras cosas además de trabajar, pero desconozco cuántos minutos voy a poder hacer en un día ($), por eso pensaba tenerla como respaldo, y si el call flow es bueno entonces pasaría a ser mi trabajo a tiempo completo. Caso contrario me quedo con la de horario fijo sabiendo que tengo el mismo ingreso de dinero asegurado todos los meses.

No sé si será muy arriesgado o si me pueden suspender. Alguien sabe? Estoy en LATAM

Hola, solo pongo esta info acá porque veo que el tema está complejo para los intérpretes. Ojalá puedan mejorar sus condiciones!

Hi [mi nombre]
To ensure you receive a high volume of calls we are pausing additional onboarding at this time. The good news is that Propio is a rapidly growing organization and we do not expect this pause to be permanent.

We will continue to hold on to your resume and profile and have someone from our onboarding team reach out as quickly as possible when our call volume allows the need for more contractors. We look forward to additional conversations and working with you soon!

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Do you have native fluency in your language and a perfect command of English? We are looking for you to help connect communities and break down language barriers.

🌍 Languages Needed (Interpretation into English):

• 🧏 Sign Language: American Sign Language / Latin American Spanish Sign Language
• ⚖️ Spanish: General and Legal (Spanish - Legal)
• 🌏 Asian Languages: Korean / Vietnamese
• 🇪🇺 European Languages: French / Italian / Russian / Ukrainian
• 🕌 Middle Eastern Languages: Arabic
• 🦁 African & Other Languages: Somali / Bembe / Haitian Creole / Tadim / Zomi / African Indigenous Languages

✨ What we are looking for:

• Advanced, professional fluency in English.
• Responsibility and excellent customer service skills.

💼 What we offer: 100% remote work (Work from Home) and pay per minute worked.

Cortito y al grano. Igual no es la primera vez que me toca un LEP asi, sino mas bien la primera vez en mucho tiempo, y es bien curioso porque estos LEP son bien brutos y groseros sin razón alguna. Cuestión que fue literalmente la primera llamada del día y ya tenia que lidiar con eso, y ademas la señora gritaba "I NO ASK FOR INTERPRETER I NO ASK FOR INTERPRETER I NO ASK FOR INTERPRETER" y era basicamente ella sola gritando. Apenas se calló le dije a la clienta "she no ask for interpreter :)" porque ya estaba hasta los ovarios, primera llamada del dia uf

Pagan por minuto interpretado y vos manejás tus horarios. Por un lado me viene bien poder tomarme descansos para evitar el agotamiento mental, pero por el otro lado no quiero encontrarme con que de 8 horas frente a la computadora solamente estuve trabajando 3 o 4 horas.

Pagan poco, así que, según estuve leyendo, debería tener B2B ya que nos mandan las llamadas a los que tenemos un pay rate bajo.

(Propio no me respondió, por favor no me sugieran que aplique directamente con ellos)

También me contactó Multilingual Int, leí acá que son la misma empresa pero cambian de nombre cada tanto, tienen información sobre eso? Ellos pagan por hora interpretada y el shift es fijo.

Gracias!!

Hola a todos, tengo entrevista con Propio el miércoles, alguna recomendacióñ? ☺️

Tons, llevo solo 3 meses trabajando con propio, corriganme si estoy mal sobre esto, un amigo de un familiar me hizo trabajar por el durante sus llamadas, me pagaba una miseria y pues me avente a yo mismo postular como interprete a Propio, llene mi primer cv en mis 19 años, lo traduci a ingles y lo subi, cuestión que me aceptan y todo normal 0.12 que a muchos que leo aca para ser el promedio. Cuestión que le llamo pa pedirle un consejo y me pregunta si ingrese a propio Perú, pero le digo q me metieron desde el que esta en ingles y hasta me celebra, solo tengo un triste b1 y algo de experiencia ayudando a mi tio en su empresa cuando llegaba un extranjero pero nunca trabaje como interprete seriamente en mi vida, lo estube haciendo bien ultimamente, con un rating de 84-95% Si me da cosa que no puedo gozar de las horas de surge aunque ya sea dorado por minimo rating de 97 pero wue. Cosa que, ahora que las cositas se mejoraron un poco, ya ingrese a la universidad y ya medio esta mas estable las cositas en casa, creo que podria retomar la idea de postular a c1. Me postule de b1 el 2018 pq estaba el chance y pues lo tome, desde ahi lo unico que aprendi de ingles a lo largo de los 8 años fue en clase, jugando, llamadas largas con gente q habla ingles en discord, toa una weada asi. Supongo q tendre q quitarle el polvo a mis viejos libros de ingles y todo esop pero tmb creo que estoy en la posibilidad de cursar y certificar en ambos certificados en ingles(ambos por decir los unicos q encontre que existen) y pues, tengo la platica y la disposición de hacerlo todo, pero aqui pregunto Vale la pena?

Le pregunte a lord chat gpt y decia weas en plan, sisi certificate a c1, sacate ambos certificados y magicamente ganaras de un dolar a dolar inmedio por llamada xd. Pero weno, tonces muxaxos. Ustedes q dicen? Vale la pena los masomenos 2000 dolaricos y mas de 100 horas q ni se como cuadrare durante el trabajo y estudio? Chat gpt me ta vendiendo humo? Y si alguien cree q los cursos de Udemy q toy leyendo deberas me serviran en algun momento?

No llego del todo a los tres meses de experiencia y me está costando encontrar alguna que contrate con menos de 6 meses.

Me contactó una que ghosteó a medio sub de intérpretes y otra que no parecía legítima por cómo fue la entrevista. Después Multilingual, pero no me tengo mucha fe (no por el assessment en sí).

Busco hacer entre 6 y 8 horas por día, depende cuánto paguen la hora, yo hacía 32 dólares por día (🫠). VRI no me incomoda. Lo único que no quiero es tener cero descansos entre llamadas, mi salud mental no la cambio por nada, así que el call flow para mí es muy importante.

Gracias <3