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thebigword claim

Leigh Day is acting for thebigword interpreters and translators who may be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation.

What is the claim about?

Currently thebigword interpreters and translators aren't protected by the same employment laws that protect other workers in the UK. This includes:

  • Access to the National Minimum Wage
  • Ability to claim holiday pay 
  • Ability to claim sick pay

Leigh Day believe this is wrong and are bringing a group claim on behalf of interpreters and translators to help get them the workers' rights and compensation they deserve.

Why should I join the claim?

We are urging interpreters and translators to join the workers' rights claim against thebigword because:

  • There's strength in numbers, the claim will have a better chance of success if more claimants join.
  • Access to compensation, only those who join the claim will be eligible to receive compensation. This could be thousands of pounds for some interpreters and translators.
  • Ensuring workers' rights for future interpreters and translators. By joining the claim you will help put a stop to unfair working arrangements.
Am I eligible to join the claim?

Anybody who has provided language services to thebigword within the last 10 weeks may be eligible to join the claim.

This includes whose who deliver face-to-face or telephone services.

Complete our short form to check if you're eligible.

Complete our short form
Join the thebigword claim

We believe thebigword interpreters and translators should be protected by the same employment laws that protect other workers in the UK. This includes being paid the National Minimum Wage and holiday pay.

thebigword interpreters and translators are currently classified as self-employed independent contractors. Our argument is that due to the reality of their working arrangement, they should be classed as workers, rather than independent contractors.

There are several ways in which, rather than being genuinely independent, the interpreters and translators are integrated into and work as part of the thebigword’s business, including:

  • There is a recruitment process, with interpreters and translators required to provide documents showing their suitability to work and be qualified to carry out the work;
  • Each interpreter and translator is assigned their own specific photo ID badge;
  • thebigword fix the rate of pay interpreters and translators receive for providing services in person and over the telephone; and
  • thebigword generate the invoice for each interpreter and translator.

We will fight your corner throughout the legal battle to claim the compensation you are entitled to.

Find out if you're eligible

Who can join the claim?

Any individual who has provided language services to thebigword within the last 10 weeks may be eligible to join the claim.

This includes whose who deliver face-to-face or telephone services.

Please note that the Tribunal can only order that you are a worker and entitled to back pay if you are part of the legal claim.

Join the claim today!

What our clients say

We estimate that thebigword interpreters and translators are likely to be entitled to compensation worth up to thousands of pounds. We are claiming compensation for:

  • Unpaid holiday (going back to when the interpreter / translator first started providing language services for thebigword).
  • Compensation if the interpreter / translator received less than the National Minimum Wage
  • Compensation for failure to provide a written statement setting out the particulars of the interpreter / translator’s employment.

The level of compensation will depend on your individual circumstances, such as the number of hours and length of time you’ve worked for thebigword.

If your claim is successful, you will receive a sum of compensation. Find out more about this in our FAQs section. From that, you’ll need to pay the agreed fee of 25% (plus VAT) for the services we have provided.

What happens if you win or lose?

If your claim is not successful, you will not need to pay anything under our ‘no win no fee’ agreement, provided you keep to the terms of the agreement.

FAQs

thebigword interpreters and translators are likely to be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation. The level of compensation will depend on your individual circumstances, such as the numbers of hours and length of time you’ve worked for thebigword.

We are claiming:

  • Back pay for unpaid holiday;
  • Compensation if you received less than the National Minimum Wage; and
  • Compensation for failure to provide a written statement setting out the particulars of your employment.

We will calculate your compensation using documents such as your weekly payment statements, tax returns/accounts, bank statements and receipts.

If your claim is successful, we will deduct 25% plus VAT from your compensation for our legal fees. The funding documents sent to you will provide a full explanation as to how the claim is funded.

If you lose, you should not have to pay thebigword’s legal fees, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as if you behave in a vexatious, abusive, disruptive or otherwise unreasonable manner, or ignore an order of the Tribunal.

We are bringing claims for translators and interpreters who have worked for thebigword in the last 10 weeks.

If you have not provided language services for thebigword in the last 10 weeks, please register your details on the sign-up page as you may be able to join the claim in the future.

You can join the claim if you have provided translator or interpreting services for thebigword in the last 10 weeks. This includes both telephone and in-person services.

If your account has previously been deactivated or if you took a break from working as a translator or interpreter for thebigword, this may impact upon the amount of compensation you are entitled to. We will calculate your compensation based upon your individual circumstances.

We cannot predict how thebigword will respond to the claim. However, all translators and interpreters have legal protection from thebigword acting to your detriment if you bring a claim.

If thebigword did deactivate your account or remove your work in response to joining the claim, we can bring an additional claim on your behalf arguing that thebigword should pay you compensation for removing your work. We believe that there would be a good case for arguing that the deactivation of your account was unlawful, which would entitle you to additional compensation for your losses.

No. This claim is about your employment rights, in particular your right to receive holiday pay and national minimum wage. You can be both a worker with employment rights and self-employed for tax purposes.

We are not challenging the fact that you are self-employed for tax purposes. We recognise that many linguists may prefer to remain self-employed.

Our claim is that you are a worker based on your current working arrangements, and to make sure that thebigword recognise that you are a worker and pay you holiday pay and the National Minimum Wage.

You do not need to have a fixed working pattern or a set number of working hours to succeed with a claim for worker status.

No, you do not need to provide any documents to find out if you are eligible to join the claim.

In order to calculate the compensation that thebigword owes you, we will of course request documents from you to assist us with this. You may also be required to provide documents by a Tribunal order as the claim progresses, and we will provide you with advice on the retention of documents if you do join the claim. We will only request documents that you have in your possession. An example of documents that will be helpful for us in calculating your compensation are your weekly payment statements received from thebigword.

When we require documents from you, we will be in touch with further information.

To find out if you’re eligible or to join thebigword claim, get in touch with our expert employment lawyers.

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Michael Newman
Discrimination Employment Group claims

Michael Newman

Michael Newman is a discrimination and employment law specialist

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Gabriel Morrison
Employment

Gabriel Morrison

Gabriel Morrison is a senior associate solicitor in the employment department.

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