From the Municipalities to the State – A New Stage in the development of the Profession? : A study of sign language interpreters views of the new service system
Krook, Mirkka (2011)
Krook, Mirkka
Humanistinen ammattikorkeakoulu
2011
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2011121017924
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2011121017924
Tiivistelmä
The interpreting services have been reassigned from the municipalities to the State and The Social Insurance Institution of Finland now has the responsibility for organising the services. The aim of this Master’s Thesis is to learn how Sign Language interpreters’ profession in Finland has been affected by this transfer.
Throughout its brief history, the interpreting services in Finland have always been arranged based on disability and this is still the case after a new legislative amendment entered into force in 2010. Under the Act on Interpretation Services for Persons with Disabilities 133/2010, the responsibility for organising the interpreting services was reassigned from the municipalities to The Social Insurance Institution of Finland. In Finland, competitive biddings are regulated by the Act on Public Contracts.
If a service is outsourced and the employees of the municipality do not provide the service, then it has to be tendered if a certain price is exceeded. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland tendered the interpreter coordinating, interpreting services and the interpreter coordinating software, all separately. Based on the tender, five centralised interpreter coordinating agencies were established around the country and all the interpreting service providers in Finland were compiled on a list, with placing given based on the price and the quality score they had received. The interpreting assignments are given out to the service providers according to their placing.
The transformation of the service affected interpreters’ work in many aspects. The municipal interpreter centres were discontinued and working as a freelancer was also no longer an option. When the amendment entered into force, every Sign Language interpreter either had to have an employment in an interpreting service company or had to become a private entrepreneur. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland regulated the rules for the execution of the interpreting service strictly.
Transferring the interpreting services from the municipalities to the State has been the topic of discussion with the service providers and Sign Language interpreters. The target group of this thesis was Sign Language interpreters. Because this is a sensitive subject the data has been gathered in the form of diaries from ten randomly selected interpreters. In the diaries, the interpreters had the opportunity to discuss freely their thoughts concerning their work within the new service system. The data has been studied based on themes that arose from the data itself.
The results show that at the moment the transfer has both a positive and negative effect on interpreters’ work and development of the profession. The changes brought on by the new service system and the effects it has had occur frequently in the study material. For example, the effects of the national tender, the centralised coordinating agencies and the new coordination software, as well as the challenges it causes, arise from the material. However, when viewing the results it has to be remembered that the new service model has been in force only for a year now and practices tend to be shaped by experience. As with any change, there are bound to be initial objections to this one also. After the first three-year tendering period the results might be very different.
Throughout its brief history, the interpreting services in Finland have always been arranged based on disability and this is still the case after a new legislative amendment entered into force in 2010. Under the Act on Interpretation Services for Persons with Disabilities 133/2010, the responsibility for organising the interpreting services was reassigned from the municipalities to The Social Insurance Institution of Finland. In Finland, competitive biddings are regulated by the Act on Public Contracts.
If a service is outsourced and the employees of the municipality do not provide the service, then it has to be tendered if a certain price is exceeded. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland tendered the interpreter coordinating, interpreting services and the interpreter coordinating software, all separately. Based on the tender, five centralised interpreter coordinating agencies were established around the country and all the interpreting service providers in Finland were compiled on a list, with placing given based on the price and the quality score they had received. The interpreting assignments are given out to the service providers according to their placing.
The transformation of the service affected interpreters’ work in many aspects. The municipal interpreter centres were discontinued and working as a freelancer was also no longer an option. When the amendment entered into force, every Sign Language interpreter either had to have an employment in an interpreting service company or had to become a private entrepreneur. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland regulated the rules for the execution of the interpreting service strictly.
Transferring the interpreting services from the municipalities to the State has been the topic of discussion with the service providers and Sign Language interpreters. The target group of this thesis was Sign Language interpreters. Because this is a sensitive subject the data has been gathered in the form of diaries from ten randomly selected interpreters. In the diaries, the interpreters had the opportunity to discuss freely their thoughts concerning their work within the new service system. The data has been studied based on themes that arose from the data itself.
The results show that at the moment the transfer has both a positive and negative effect on interpreters’ work and development of the profession. The changes brought on by the new service system and the effects it has had occur frequently in the study material. For example, the effects of the national tender, the centralised coordinating agencies and the new coordination software, as well as the challenges it causes, arise from the material. However, when viewing the results it has to be remembered that the new service model has been in force only for a year now and practices tend to be shaped by experience. As with any change, there are bound to be initial objections to this one also. After the first three-year tendering period the results might be very different.