Language Competency Pay Program

Policy

Date of Last Review 5/7/07
SME: Director of Personnel Systems Management

UTHCPC provides additional base salary compensation to classified employees who qualify to use their bilingual skills to enable the hospital to better serve the needs of its customers.

Purpose: To attract and retain qualified employees with language competency skills.

Languages to be compensated

The Language Competency Pay Program is limited to the following languages:

Spanish

	Vietnamese
	Korean

American sign

Who may apply

The following table indicates those who are and are not eligible to apply for the program:

Eligible Employees	Ineligible Employees
Full-time classified employees both clinical and non-clinical 50% (or more) part-time classified employees both clinical and non-clinical	Faculty Employees who are on a disciplinary or probationary status

Changes to the program

The Language Competence Pay Program is reviewed on annual basis by UTHCPC administrative leadership to determine if changes are needed, including:

Changes in compensation

Elimination of the program

Add or delete languages

Change the skill level required to pass the language test

Notice of changes: Written or electronic notice of changes in the Language Competency Pay Program will be made available to all employees.

Translation services

For instructions on how to use UTHCPC translation services, see Interpretation Services.

Program participation requirements

Employees must meet the following requirements to be eligible to receive additional language competency pay:

Position responsibilities require the fluent use of Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean or American Sign on a continuing and frequent basis in order to meet the service responsibility of the department; or

In cases where Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean or American Sign are not used on a continuing and frequent basis, the employee's unique bilingual skill enables the hospital as a whole to better serve the needs of its customers.

Provide translation services anywhere in the hospital. The number of times employees may be contacted varies upon the need.

Complete proper forms in compliance with UTHCPC policy and procedure

Pass a bilingual competency exam

Application process

These are the steps in the application process for applying to the program:

Step	Action
1	Employee completes the Language Competency Pay Application and submits to her/his supervisor for signature. Note: In case of a departmental transfer, it is the employee's responsibility to obtain the new supervisor's approval to participate in the program.
2	Department manager completes a Personnel Action form and submits to the Director for signature.
3	Department manager submits the completed application for language competency pay, and personnel action form to Personnel Systems Management for processing.
4	When Personnel Systems staff receive the appropriate forms, they contact the employee to arrange for testing. See Testing and evaluation. Note: The cost of testing is paid for by the hospital.
5	The employee: Contacts the testing center to arrange for a testing time Takes the test
6	The testing company faxes the results to Personnel Systems Management.
7	Personnel Systems notifies the employee of the test results. See Passing levels
8	Does the employee pass? If yes, Personnel Systems begins additional compensation with the next available pay period as follows: Full-time employee (1.0 FTE) receives $2,000.00 to be added to base salary Part-time employee (.50 FTE) receives $1,000.00 to be added to base salary If no, the employee is eligible to re-test after a 12-month period.

Testing and evaluation

Language tests are given and evaluated by a qualified and designated external vendor with suitable expertise in the language to be tested, for example:

Vietnamese

	Spanish
	Korean

The certification test required by the Texas State Commission for the Deaf and Hearing is used to determine proficiency in American Sign Language.

Passing levels

The following table indicates the minimum skill level required to pass the each test:

Retaining program participation

To retain participation in the program, the employee agrees to:

Complete competency requirements

	Be consistently available to translate
	Participate in a peer review twice a year
	You will be observed by a peer interpreter, using the Interpreter Peer Observation Form, as well as offer observation of another interpreter

Translation services survey

The UTHCPC Translation Services Survey (English) and Translation Services Survey (Spanish) forms serves to ensure that all participants are able to competently perform the translation services. The process is as follows:

Step	Action
1	Persons utilizing in-house interpreters are asked to complete the Translation Services Survey.
2	The forms are submitted to the program administrator for translation services.
3	The program administrator sends the surveys containing negative remarks to the Competency Committee for review and investigation.
4	If an employee receives two or more unsatisfactory surveys within 1 year, the Competency Committee may: Interview the individual who completed the survey for further information Interview the participant Review previous surveys for the participant to see if previous surveys resulted in positive or negative comments Interview individuals who previously worked with the participant in obtaining translation services
5	The Competency Committee may determine if an employee is incompetent and therefore discontinue their participation in the program.

Losing program membership

The employee may be terminated from the program by any of the following:

Consistently failing to be available or failing to provide services more than 5 times in a month

Upon recommendation of the Competency Committee

Senior Hospital Aide Language Competency in Spanish

In an effort to better communicate with our Hispanic patients through the use of conversational Spanish,
Senior Hospital Aides are requested to take "Spanish for Healthcare Providers Levels I-IV". This
is an accelerated language program consisting of 128 contact hours or 12.80 continuing education
units provided by the University of Houston and paid for by UTHCPC. Those who complete this
training will receive a 1.5% salary increase provided the increase does not cause their salary to exceed
the maximum of the Senior Hospital Aide salary range. Those Senior Hospital Aides that currently
participate in the Language Competency Pay Program are not eligible for the 1.5% increase.

Related Standard

The Joint Commission : Management of Human Resources

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