Guide-Interpreter
Fee Regulations
1. Fees
The
employer of guide-interpreters must pay all expenses, including transportation
expenses, admission fees and hotel charges, which are incurred when they
provide guide service according to the itineraries agreed to in advance. In
addition, the employer must pay guide-interpreters the sum of the three types
of fees and expenses (A), (B) and (C) listed below. Prior to the conclusion of
guide-interpreter service contracts, the guide-interpreter must clearly present
these three types of fees and expenses for the itineraries offered by their
employer. The employer must firmly confirm these three types of fees and
expenses.
(A)
Basic guide-interpretation fees
The employer of guide-interpreters must pay half-day (A1) or full-day (A2) fees
for guide-interpretation service.
* The
half-day fee (A1) refers to a fee paid if the length of time from the
commencement of guide service to its termination is less than 4 hours.
* The full-day fee (A2) refers to a fee paid if the length of time from the
commencement of guide service to its termination is 4 hours or more and less
than eight hours.
(B)
Transportation and meal expenses
(B1)
Transportation expenses for starting work and coming home
The
employer of guide-interpreters must pay them for expenses incurred when they
travel from their home to the place where they start their guide service and
come home from the place where they terminate their guide service using public
transportation.
* If
guide-interpreters need to travel for starting work or coming home early in the
morning or late at night when public transportation is not available, however,
the employer must pay them for necessary taxi fares.
(B2)
Meal expenses
If
guide-interpretation service is provided during the period when breakfast,
lunch or dinner is usually taken, the employer of guide-interpreters must
provide them with these meals free of charge or pay them a meal allowance of
1,000 yen, 1,500 yen and 2,000 yen for breakfast, lunch and dinner,
respectively.
* The
breakfast allowance shall be paid if guide service starts at 8:00 a.m. or
earlier.
* The lunch allowance shall be paid if guide service extends to 12:30 p.m.
* The dinner allowance shall be paid if guide service extends to 7:00 p.m. or
later.
(C)
Special extra fees
Extra
fees shall be paid under special conditions or circumstances as follows:
(C1)
Extra fees based on the number of persons attended to
The
half-day (A1) or full-day (A2) fee presented by guide-interpreters shall be
paid when they attend to a group of one to nine persons. If they attend to a
group of ten persons or more, they shall add one of the fees listed below to
the basic guide-interpretation fee (A1 or A2) when they charge
guide-interpretation fees.
* Group
of 10-19 persons: 10 percent of the basic guide-interpretation fee (A1 or A2)
* Group of 20-29 persons: 20 percent of the basic guide-interpretation fee (A1
or A2)
* Group of 30-39 persons: 30 percent of the basic guide-interpretation fee (A1
or A2)
* Group of 40-49 persons: 40 percent of the basic guide-interpretation fee (A1
or A2)
(C2)
Extra fees for overtime work
If the
employer of guide-interpreters requests them to provide guide-interpretation
service for more than eight hours a day and they agree to do so, they shall add
one of the fees specified below to the basic full-day guide-interpretation fee
(A2). If an extra fee based on the number of persons attended to applies, they
shall add one of the fees specified below to the sum of the basic full-day
guide-interpretation fee (A2) and the applicable extra fee based on the number
of persons attended to (C1).
* For
every one hour worked overtime, a fee of (A2) ÷ 8 x 1.20 or (A2 + C1) ÷ 8 x
1.20 shall be paid. Even if the length of time worked overtime is less than one
hour, for example, ten minutes, the same formula shall apply to calculate an
extra fee.
* Even
if the job to which the basic half-day guide-interpretation fee (A1) applies is
extended to exceed four hours for an unexpected reason, the guide-interpreter
shall reserve the right to refuse the request for extension and come home. The
reason is that he or she may have another job or an important appointment
immediately after the half-day job. Therefore, if a job may exceed four hours,
the employer is recommended to reserve a guide-interpreter for full-day
service. If the guide-interpreter accepts the request for extension and the
total length of service time is more than four hours and less than eight hours,
however, he or she shall charge the basic full-day guide-interpretation fee
(A2) instead of the basic half-day guide-interpretation fee (A1). In addition,
if the total length of service time exceeds eight hours, the guide-interpreter
shall add an extra fee for each of the hours worked overtime to the full-day
fee (A2) when they charge guide-interpretation fees.
* If
guide-interpreters stay at the same hotel as their employer, the period of time
from the time when they leave the employer at the end of their service on the
day to the time when they join the employer on the following day shall not be
included in their service time. Naturally, no extra fee for overtime work shall
apply to the period of time.
(C3)
Extra fees for technical interpretation No extra fee shall apply to
interpretation service provided as part of the guide service that inevitably
arises in guide-interpretation service. If the employer requests
guide-interpreters to provide business or technical interpretation service
during sightseeing and they accept such a request, however, the
guide-interpreters shall charge 50 percent of the full-day fee (A2) as an extra
fee whether they are assigned to a half-day (A1) or full-day (A2) job. If the
requested interpretation service requires a high level of expertise, or if
service consists mainly of interpretation rather than sightseeing, the
guide-interpreter can charge technical interpretation fees they set on their
own instead of the guide-interpretation fees stipulated in these Regulations.
* If the
employer requests technical interpretation service, he or she needs to explain
details in advance to guide-interpreters he or she hires and reach a firm
agreement with them concerning technical interpretation fees.
(C4)
Hotel charges for the night before the commencement of service or after the
termination of service
If
guide-interpreters need accommodation the night before the commencement of
service or after the termination of service because they live far away from the
place where their service begins or ends, they shall charge an extra fee of
10,000 yen in addition to the hotel charges they actually pay for.
* If
guide-interpreters need accommodation the night before the commencement of
service and after the termination of service, they shall charge an extra fee of
20,000 yen for both nights.
(C5)
Tour planning and consultation fee In principle, the employer of
guide-interpreters shall develop tour itineraries and make tour arrangements
according to the itineraries and then present the complete itineraries to the
guide-interpreters for estimated guide-interpretation fees. Some employers,
however, wish to seek the opinions or advice of guide-interpreters concerning
routes, accommodations, restaurants, places to be visited, etc. For such a request
for advice, the guide-interpreter shall separately charge a planning and
consultation fee of 10,000 yen per tour to the employer. The fee must be
remitted to the bank account of the guide-interpreter involved prior to the
start of planning and consultation. The paid fee shall not be refunded even if
the tour is not materialized.
2.
Cancellation fees and payment
2.1
Cancellation fees
If the employer cancels the guide-interpretation service contract already
concluded with a guide-interpreter, the guide-interpreter shall charge a
cancellation fee consisting of the sum of (A), (B) and (C) as calculated below
for each of the days in the itinerary:
If
cancelled on the day of the tour: 100 percent of the sum of (A), (B) and (C)
If
cancelled the day before or two days prior: 80 percent of the sum of (A), (B)
and (C)
If
cancelled three to seven days prior: 30 percent of the sum of (A), (B) and (C)
* For
example, if a ten-day job with the sum of guide-interpretation fees per day at
40,000 yen is cancelled on the day when the tour starts, cancellation fees will
be charged as follows:
Day 1
(cancelled on the day of the tour): 40,000 yen (100 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 2 (cancelled the day before): 32,000 yen (80 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 3 (cancelled two days prior): 32,000 yen (80 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 4 (cancelled three days prior): 12,000 yen (30 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 5 (cancelled four days prior): 12,000 yen (30 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 6 (cancelled five days prior): 12,000 yen (30 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 7 (cancelled six days prior): 12,000 yen (30 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 8 (cancelled seven days prior): 12,000 yen (30 percent of 40,000 yen)
Day 9 (cancelled eight days prior): None
Day 10 (cancelled nine days prior): None
Total cancellation fees: 164,000 yen
2.2
Remittance of advances
For payment of guide-interpretation fees, advances must be remitted in Japanese
yen to the bank account designated by the guide-interpreter no later than ten
days prior to the commencement of the tour. All expenses related to the
remittance must be borne by the employer. The balance must be paid in cash in
full to the guide-interpreter on the day when the tour starts.
2.3
Amount of advances
The amount of advances shall be as specified below:
For contracts on a one- to four-day tour: Total contract price
For contracts on a five-day or longer tour: Total contract price for the first
four days
2.4
Reimbursement of advances due to cancellation
If the employer cancels a tour, the guide-interpreter assigned must swiftly
remit the amount obtained by deducting applicable cancellation fees from the
advances received to the bank account designated by the employer using the
method of remittance designated by the employer. In this case, all expenses
related to the remittance shall be deducted from the amount to be reimbursed.
In other words, they shall be borne by the employer.