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Does anyone have recommendations for getting plan materials (SPD in particular) translated into Spanish?

A quick search doesn't seem to turn up any firms focused on translating or providing ERISA documents in particular, but I thought familiarity with plan concepts would probably help provide a more accurate substantive translation.

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3 minutes ago, EBECatty said:

Thanks. We tried our document provider, FIS/Relius. They didn't have any full-document translations, but recommended us to a few outside services. 

That shocks me. I would have sworn they provided Spanish versions of the participant material. Wow.

William C. Presson, ERPA, QPA, QKA
bill.presson@gmail.com
C 205.994.4070

 

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55 minutes ago, Bill Presson said:

That shocks me. I would have sworn they provided Spanish versions of the participant material. Wow.

Why would this shock you? If you can't speak English how are you even working?? You might as well have translations in every language, lol! 

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1. It shocks me that Relius doesn't have it available because FTW does and I thought most of the document providers would.

2. I wasn't aware that speaking English was required to work. /sarcasm off

3. There are requirements for appropriate notices in a language if the plan covers a large enough group that is literate only in that language.

William C. Presson, ERPA, QPA, QKA
bill.presson@gmail.com
C 205.994.4070

 

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53 minutes ago, Bill Presson said:

3. There are requirements for appropriate notices in a language if the plan covers a large enough group that is literate only in that language.

To be clear, Relius does provide the notice, but it simply directs the participant to the plan administrator to get help with the other language. 

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50 minutes ago, EBECatty said:

To be clear, Relius does provide the notice, but it simply directs the participant to the plan administrator to get help with the other language. 

Understood. But FTW actually provides a Spanish version SPD. I thought Relius did as well. 

William C. Presson, ERPA, QPA, QKA
bill.presson@gmail.com
C 205.994.4070

 

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16 hours ago, Bill Presson said:

1. It shocks me that Relius doesn't have it available because FTW does and I thought most of the document providers would.

2. I wasn't aware that speaking English was required to work. /sarcasm off

3. There are requirements for appropriate notices in a language if the plan covers a large enough group that is literate only in that language.

I am pretty sure that if you don't speak a word of English it's going to be very hard to get hired, say for instance, at a TPA, so yeah, it kind of is a requirement to work here. As my husband says, This is America, Jack from Coming to America...

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1 hour ago, Riley Britton said:

I am pretty sure that if you don't speak a word of English it's going to be very hard to get hired, say for instance, at a TPA, so yeah, it kind of is a requirement to work here. As my husband says, This is America, Jack from Coming to America...

I'm not sure if you have just misunderstood the question here or if there is more to it on your end.

If you think that not speaking or understanding english is going to prevent people from finding employment, you need to seriously reconsider.  As Bill points out above, the plan is required to post notices in other languages if there are enough employees who need it in order to understand the notice.  You cant just say "sorry, you need to learn english!"

Maybe it's a product of where you live and work.  I'm in the Southeast, and non-English speaking employees are just not uncommon here.  In my immediate practice are, we have large communities of Spanish, Creole, and Tagalog speakers. 

Also consider the employees who are studying to learn English but still only have limited understanding of the language.  It may be your clients responsibility to put things in a language that they do understand.

 

 

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We have used a local high school Spanish teacher for translation services for many things.  We use the built in translator in word for a bulk of the translation and then have the Spanish teacher clean it up from there.  We contract the service by the hour.  You could contact a local high school, college or a tutor and probably find someone who would be willing to freelance and do translations.

Relius does provide their website, app and VRU in Spanish, but we have not seen it with their plan document software.

Pamela L. (Bobersky) Shoup CEBS, RPA, QKA

AMI Benefit Plan Administrators, Inc.

100 Terra Bella Drive

Youngstown, Ohio 44505

800-451-2865

www.amibenefit.com

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1 hour ago, Pam Shoup said:

We have used a local high school Spanish teacher for translation services for many things.  We use the built in translator in word for a bulk of the translation and then have the Spanish teacher clean it up from there.  We contract the service by the hour.  You could contact a local high school, college or a tutor and probably find someone who would be willing to freelance and do translations.

Relius does provide their website, app and VRU in Spanish, but we have not seen it with their plan document software.

Great advice!

 

 

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Good evening,

I am an American Translators Association English to Spanish certified translator. I have worked many years in HR both in the US and in Mexico/Latin America and I am familiar with the cultural and legal practices in both areas. I support companies who need to reach their Spanish-speaking employees with versions of their communications in Spanish. The documents include SPDs, Employee Guidebooks, Union Contracts, Open Enrollment communications, Safety Manuals and similar. If you think I can be of help with your needs, please contact me through this forum and we can discuss more in detail. Thanks.

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