Able Translations Ltd

I started working for Able Translations in July as an interpreter (more than 3 months ago) and I haven't received my first paycheck.
The problem is not only that they don't pay. They are extremely rude and disorganized.
I don't think they are aware of the important job that the interpreters do. My training consisted of a half hour talk over the phone. They didn't even bother to make sure that I spoke Spanish.
Once, I arrived to an appointment only to find out that another interpreter from another company was already waiting to interpret to the same person as me. I called Able to clarify, and they just said "it seems that you were assigned to this appointment, and then you weren't". I later emailed to ask for an explanation and never received any.
I once emailed to ask a question about the form of payment. Instead of simply answering my question, they wondered if I had bothered to read the manual. Never in my professional life had I been given a hard time for having a question about my salary! Much later, when payment didn't arrive, I decided to quit. A day later they called to ask me not to quit, and when I mentioned that the employee manual said that I should expect payment after two months, they said that the "employee manual is wrong"!!
This is all too bad, I enjoyed the job. I felt happy about being able to help a lot of people.

This company has an extremely bad reputation in their industry - both BBC and The Toronto Star have completed investigations of dozens of interpreters whose payments were vastly delayed or not paid at all. They have actually been blacklisted from many online industry sites.  

I worked for this company last year and went through a nightmare of trying to get paid. I was constantly pushed to contact other people, was often ignored completely, and after countless emails and phone calls, I STILL have five outstanding payments. Able is manipulative, exploitative, and completely unethical in this regard - they have broken all their promises and hurt workers who depend on them for a living. They are highly unprofessional, disorganized, and treat their workers poorly. 

Please do not work for Able or use their services, as it may only encourage their practices. You can see the results of the aforementioned investigations here: https://beta.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/10/29/translators-say-getting-paid-an-uphill-battle.html and https://slator.com/industry-news/canadian-interpreter-pay-dispute-gets-national-media-attention/

Try to avoid working for this company- They never pay you for your work and still asks you to work , a shameless company.

Pros : You get to meet someone who speaks your language and feels great giving a hand. You dress formally and translates to the doctor, using first person way of speech.

Cons : You never get paid, no training like other professional interpreters, after your job is done they say it takes a typical 2 - 4 months...but then they keep asking you to work...so if money is not an issue, you will have lots of volunteering opportunity.  

Bottom Line: You do get a lot of practice in translation, however the experience you had will never be accredited for any professional hours. You do get to select your hourly wages, I had not experience and they said 25 will work. Started working and never got a dime from them ever since. They still call me occasionally but I will not work for them until they decided to pay me.

Go get some training and work for the government instead.

I have been a contracted interpreter for over 7 years but they ALWAYS have problems of payments and it takes more than 3-4 months, sometimes up to 6 months. In reality, issuing payments do not take this long. They intentionally try to use interpreters for free and try not to pay! How many times they have given me hard times?  Every time I ask for payments, they give us excuses not to pay, and waiting for us to give up on the payments. They are NOT reliable and not doing the right jobs and they should not run the business. I am still struggling to get paid for the work I did  3 months ago and still not getting paid. I do not know how long it will take to get paid. DO NOT Take any assignments from them, Do not work for them. You will have a lot of troubles getting paid, and you will never get paid!!!

After seeing a job advertisement, I called them and they advised me to apply for an interpreter and translator role although I actually called for a different position. When I asked them if they pay to their interpreter or not, as so many interpreter complained about not getting paid after doiing their job. They did not answer my question rather told me I have the choice not to apply for the position if I don't like to. I then, threatened to take them to the court for misleading people and not providing correct information. Then the staff transfer the line to her manager but the manager declined to make any comment and refused to talk. Looks like this is a dozzy company who does not want pay to their employee.

As an admin clerk a typical day at work involved a wide variety of tasks. Although most work was routine, there were many opportunities where we were called elsewhere to do other work. My job included filing, database entry and sorting, voiceovers in french, assisting in managing tax receipts and financial accounts, and on some instances customer service. That kind of office environment taught me important skills such self-regulation and time management. The hardest part of the job was sometimes the redundancy of work, otherwise nothing else. The most enjoyable part was the warm atmosphere within the office, and my department, where everyone was very welcoming and inviting.

I stopped working for them in 2015 due to numerous requests to be paid for my work, months after assignments were completed. I took the same avenue other interpreters did, contacting Ministry of Labour, to no avail. Regretfully, I accepted another assignment this summer, thinking that they fixed their "accounting problems" and they pay on time, as I was assured that they do. It was a lie. I cannot believe I was conned again. I tried calling them and, sure enough, I left a message for the same person in Accounting as in 2015. So nothing changed. It is very sad that in 2018, in Canada such a company still exists, despite the well deserved negative publicity.

They will not pay interpreters, you will definitely waste your time, money and nerves.. and unfortunately get nowhere. They will not pay you. Ministry of labour cannot do anything, the only option is taking them to court, which a lot of people cannot afford. 
They prey on vulnerable immigrants who interpret for them. According to recent articles, they will probably be out of business soon, as CRA is investigating them for unpaid taxes and will seize their assets. It is unbelievable that they were even able to operate this long by lying and scamming people.

Do not even think of working as an interperator for Able Translations, they will not pay you without even telling the reason. Ministry of Labour will reject your complaint as you would not be an employee of Able but in doing so Ministry of Labour will take many months. You will not have the money or time to pursue your matter in Small Claims court, even if you pursue it would take many many hearings costing lots of court fees and yet they will not pay despite telling the court that they will pay you.
They are a scam, avoid them

There's an item in their contract that says they don't need to pay you. I'm serious. The period of pay is inconsistent. You get paid one every 4-6 weeks. But if you give two-weeks notice to resign, then the last check you received becomes your last paycheck, even if it was 4 weeks ago. So you work another 2 weeks and they won't pay you for that. I did not sign their contract by mistake (they didn't follow up either). It took several months for me to get my last paycheck, but only after escalating it to a government agency. 

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