Posted by Nilufer on December 18, 1999 at 05:21:43:
A company contacted me in September this year and
hired me instantly as a telephone interpreter, promising
a lot of great things, including a retainer for my
availibility. They didn't even test my interpretation
skills, which I found a bit weird, then again, they seemed
to have a great demand for my languages and it seemed they
had already checked my references and were satisfied with
the feedback they had gotten.
But guess what...
I am getting calls on/off, however no paychecks. More than
2 months passed, and I have not been payed at all yet. Yes,
I called them, and at first glance it seemed to be only a
technical error. Now they are telling me they are "behind"
with payments from their clients and need to wait until their
clients pay in order for me to be paid. Some of their clients
are VERY big and should have really no cashflow problems. I
am still interpreting for them, wondering what their problem
is.
What do you think is going on ? How can I make them pay me ?
Am I in trouble ? The company and their clients are very reputable.
Should I just refuse interpretations until they pay? (They hired
even my twin sister, who isn't even an interpreter/translator, but
a psychologist. "She is excellent" they told me. Complicates things
more, especially as I am not close to her actually. Never had such
odd things with a company, including my twin's sudden qualification
for this demanding job. I wonder what therapy methods she'll use on
herself when she notices that she hasn't been paid yet.
