If a job posting says “x language speaker required” i think it’s fair that the employee be requested to complete work in that language.
However, there are many times when multilingual employees are asked to translate work or complete special tasks that their teammates cannot because they speak their second language.
I often see these requests in client facing roles such as retail, finance, or law.
Should someone who speaks more than 1 language receive compensation because they are being requested to do work that requires their extra skills? What do you think?
If you do not push for this in the interview, good luck getting it implemented after the fact.
do you experience this yourself? how do you push for this in the interview?
No, not personally.
“You are looking for a bi-lingual person, what level of language proficiency is required?”
“I am sorry, but the job description did not specify translation, what compensation is being offered for a translator role?”
“I am sorry, but the job description did not specify translation, what compensation is being offered for a travelator role?”
i like this, will keep it for the future!
A very American/British problem lol. Here in Belgium everyone is bilingual, many people trilingual, a couple people at my work quadlingual. Here there would be no such compensation.
That being said, if you have to regularly do work outside of your job description/duties, then ask for more money/benefits/compensation.
It of course depends on the situation. Asking 1-2 times per year to check over a translated document or communicate with a client? That isn’t a big deal in my opinion. Asking it every day? Then it is a new duty and should be compensated.
Extra compensation simply knowing multiple languages while doing the expected work for their role, no.
Extra compensation for any responsibilities beyond the scope of their role, yes.
Extra compensation for any responsibilities beyond the scope of their role, yes.
yes this is what i meant
Yes
Si
Sorry friend, I can only afford to compensate your post with 1 upvote as we did not have an agreement beforehand for responses in multiple languages
We get an extra dollar an hour for a second language if we pass the test for it.
We get an extra dollar an hour for a second language if we pass the test for it.
!?!? is this real
I have a union. It’s really nice. I’m working on studying Spanish so I can get it. It’s on our base pay so 1.50 on overtime; the extra 3k a year would be pretty nice.
We also can call a translation line and have phones for Google translate.
To answer my post, I think work such as translation should be sent to a dedicated translation team or compensate an employee for using the extra skill (because they would be doing “extra” work for the same pay as their teammates).
I often see these requests made of Chinese speakers in North America/Asia, Spanish speakers in America, French speakers in Canada, and French/German/Italian in EU countries.
I was not hired as a translator and it is not in my job description.
I refuse to take on the legal risk any mistranslation may have on the company.
I am refuse to take on the legal risk any mistranslation may have on the company.
I agree with this!
I had an argument with someone who worked in medicine; they spoke french to a patient without requesting a translator although they did not have experience working in medical in french. I said that they should not have done this because they run the risk of mistranslation and there would be a heavy cost.
Always push back with the legal risk in situations like this.
If you are in a role and they brush you off, go to legal directly. They will love a middle manager deciding this without consulting them.
