The Welsh Language: are you up to Standard?

Transcription

1 Mae r wybodaeth hon ar gael yn y Gymraeg This information is available in Welsh The Welsh Language: are you up to Standard? A guide for staff: spoken communication Contents Activities covered by the Standards..Page 2 Telephone calls.page 3 Reception areas...page 4 Meetings and public events....page 5 Announcements.....Page 6 FAQs....Page 7 1

2 Activities covered by the Standards In assessing Welsh language requirements in your area, it s important to consider the extent to which the Standards apply. Service delivery standards (the principle Standards topic area) only apply to the extent that the activity undertaken or the service provided relates to: the admission and selection of students the welfare of students disciplinary proceedings in respect of a student careers service student intranet, virtual learning sites and learning portal sites the assessment or examination of a student allocation of a personal tutor student accommodation, libraries and arts centres complaints information provided to students and prospective students about the body graduation and award ceremonies public lectures learning opportunities calls to a main telephone number (or numbers), helpline numbers, call centre numbers and automated telephone systems; the awarding of grants and the provision of financial assistance signs on the body s buildings. 2

3 Telephone calls When you call someone for the first time*, you must ask them whether they would like to speak Welsh about the matter in hand, and keep a record of this (21). If the caller wants to proceed in Welsh, you must do so, except: - where it is necessary for a member of staff who does not speak Welsh to provide a service on a specific subject matter; and - where no Welsh speaking member of staff is available to provide a service on that specific subject matter. Calls to the main University switchboard, helplines, call centres Standards 8-17, 22 You should greet all callers in Welsh and in English by saying: Bore da [ Bor-reh dah ] / Good morning or Pnawn da [ Puh-noun dah ] / Good afternoon and let the caller know that you offer a service in Welsh. If a caller would like a service in Welsh, you should deal with the caller in Welsh as far as possible, until you reach a point where there isn't a Welsh speaker available to deal with the query on a specific subject matter or you have to transfer the caller to a relevant member of staff (for a specific subject matter), who cannot speak Welsh. Call answering services should include a message in Welsh welcoming callers to leave a message in Welsh. Calls to direct lines of colleges, academic departments and student-facing departments* Standards 19, 20, 22 You should greet all callers in Welsh and in English by saying: Bore da [ Bor-reh dah ] / Good morning or Pnawn da [ Puh-noun dah ] / Good afternoon If the caller asks to speak Welsh and you don t, you should transfer the call to a member of staff who speaks Welsh (we recommend that each area understands and agrees who these will be at the earliest opportunity so as to ease this process in the future), unless you are a Welsh speaker. If you reach the point where the Welsh speaker cannot deal with the query (i.e. they don t have the expertise required), you may transfer the caller to a non-welshspeaking member of staff who can assist the caller. Welsh and English services should be available on the same switchboard, helpline or call centre telephone number (not on separate numbers for Welsh and English services). All publicity for switchboard, helplines and call centres numbers (e.g. in brochures, leaflets, exhibitions, websites) should include a 3

4 sentence in Welsh saying that calls are welcomed in Welsh. (*in matters relating to the activities covered by the Standards see page 2) Reception areas Main reception areas Standards 68, 71, 72 Main reception areas have been specified as: MyUniHub The Library (Singleton and Bay) Taliesin The Great Hall Fulton House Singleton Abbey Talbot Building A Welsh language service, as well as an English service, of equal quality, must be offered at all these reception areas during normal operating hours. For example, if a visitor asks for a service in Welsh it is not acceptable for them to be told they will have to wait until a Welsh receptionist returns from a break. The reception area must have a sign stating that visitors are welcome to use the Welsh language at the reception. The sign must be in Welsh, as well as in English. Staff working on the reception desk, who are able to offer services in Welsh, should wear a lanyard and/or badge to show this. Signs, lanyards and badges are available from the Welsh Language Officers. Other reception areas Standards 69, 69A, 70, 71, 72 These include: the front security gate finance department reception area sports centre receptions college reception areas any other reception areas providing services to the public and to students. If your reception area does not have a member of staff who can provide the service in Welsh, you must arrange for a Welsh service to be available over the phone from the reception area (e.g. the visitor could use the Welsh service at one of the 'main' reception areas, over the phone). A sign (in Welsh and English) should be displayed to explain this. The reception area should have a sign stating that visitors are welcome to use the Welsh language at the reception. The sign should be in Welsh, as well as English. Staff working on the reception desk, who are able to offer services in Welsh, should wear a badge to show this. Pre-arranged visits: When staff working in the University arrange an appointment or meeting for a student/member of the public (in matters relating to the activities covered by the Standards see page 2), that will involve the person coming to the reception area, they should ask them in advance if they would like to receive a service in Welsh. If the person would like a Welsh-language reception service, you should arrange for someone who can speak Welsh to be there in 4

5 person for when they arrive, and provide them with this service. e.g meet and greet the visitor and lead or direct them to the meeting etc. Meetings and public events Meetings with ONE person Standards 24, 24A, 26, 26A When you arrange the meeting, you should ask which language the person would prefer to use. If they would like to speak in Welsh, wherever possible you should try and arrange for a suitable Welsh speaking member of staff to hold the meeting. If this isn't possible (e.g. if you don't have a member of staff who speaks Welsh, and is suitably qualified/specialised), you should arrange a simultaneous translation service (Welsh to English) at the meeting and let the invited person know that you intend to do this. If the meeting is to discuss a complaint about the person, or a complaint made by the person, disciplinary proceedings involving the person or to provide counselling or mental health support, you should provide a Welsh-English and an English-Welsh translation service. You must let the invited person know if you are going to be using a translation service. Meetings with more than one person Standards 27, 27A, 27D, 29, 29A When arranging the meeting you should ask each person about their preferred language. If at least 10% of the people attending would like to speak in Welsh, you should arrange to have a simultaneous translation service (Welsh to English) at the meeting. If all the people attending confirm that they would like to speak in Welsh, wherever possible you should try and arrange for suitable Welsh speaking members of staff to attend so that the meeting can be held in Welsh. However if this isn't possible you should arrange to have a simultaneous translation service (Welsh to English) at the meeting. It is good practice also to let people know that you intend to use a translation service, before the meeting. If the meeting is about a complaint or disciplinary proceedings involving one or more of the people attending, or to provide counselling or mental health or welfare support, you should ask each person about their preferred language. If at least one person wishes to speak in Welsh, and you are unable to hold the meeting in Welsh, you should arrange to have Welsh to English and English to Welsh simultaneous translation at the meeting, and let the person/s know that you need to do this. Meetings that are open to the public or meetings with a group of students in a particular cohort Standards 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 When staff working in the University arrange an appointment or meeting for a student/member of the public (in matters relating to the activities covered by the Standards see page 2), that will involve the person coming to the Public events Standards 35-37, 85 Any public events organised by the University, or for which the University provides 50% or more of the funding, should treat the Welsh and English languages equally, and give them equal prominence at the event. 5

6 reception area, they should ask them in advance if they would like to receive a service in Welsh. If the person would like a Welsh-language reception service, you should arrange for someone who can speak Welsh to be there in person for when they arrive, and provide them with this service. e.g meet and greet the visitor and lead or direct them to the meeting etc. This means that all the services provided to the public at the event should be in Welsh and in English, including signage, banners, audio announcements, tickets, programmes and displays. All promotional activities for the event should also be in Welsh as well as in English. These would include advertising, brochures, banners, exhibition materials and any promotional material published on the University s website, corporate social media accounts, or on the main social media account of a college or professional services unit. Announcements Standard 91 All public announcements, such as announcing the closure of a building (apart from emergency evacuation announcements see below) should be made in Welsh and in English, with the Welsh announcement made first. All announcements to staff in the workplace should be made in Welsh and in English, with the Welsh announcement made first. This could mean recording a new bilingual message or arranging for someone who can speak Welsh and English to make the announcement. Emergency announcements, or emergency drills, are not required to be made in Welsh whether they are made in public or within the workplace. 6

7 Frequently asked questions Do all staff have to give a bilingual greeting when they answer the phone? No. The Standards for telephone calls only apply to staff working in departments whose function, or main function, are the activities covered by the Standards, or any staff providing these activities (see Activities covered by the Standards on page 2). Switchboard staff and staff answering calls made directly to colleges, academic departments and student-facing services are required to greet all callers in Welsh and in English. A caller is transferred to our department from the switchboard, and they ask to speak to someone in Welsh, what should I do? I work in Student Accommodation, and need to phone a student urgently to discuss an issue about a payment. I don't speak Welsh, so what should I do if they want to speak to someone in Welsh about the issue? Security staff provide a service at the reception desk of Fulton house during the evenings and at weekends. Do these staff need to be able to offer a service in Welsh to visitors? If a student arrives at a reception area and asks to speak to someone in Welsh, and there are no staff to help, what should I do? How do I go about organising translation for a meeting and how much notice is needed? All staff who are able to give a bilingual greeting are encouraged to do so, and to include a bilingual greeting on their personal answerphones, wherever they work in the University. You should try to provide a service in Welsh wherever possible, even if the work of your department isn't covered by the Standards. Depending on the nature of the query, or the information required, try and find a Welsh speaker who can help. Welsh speakers in your department are shown on Webtel. As you're a department dealing wholly/mainly with students you are required to offer a service in Welsh over the phone, if the student asks for this. Do you have a member of staff who speaks Welsh, who has the specific knowledge to be able to deal with the issue? If so when you call the student for the first time, ask them if they would prefer to speak in Welsh or English, and if they request a Welsh speaker arrange for this call to be set up. If you need to call the student again in future about a completely different matter, you should ask again what language they would like to receive calls on this separate matter. No, this is not a requirement of the Standards. The service provided by security staff is an out of hours service, and not the normal reception service provided at Fulton House. It is the normal office-hours service which is required to be in Welsh and in English. All the main University reception areas (MyUniHub, The Library, Taliesin, The Great Hall, Fulton House, Singleton Abbey, Talbot Building) will provide a Welsh reception service during normal operating hours from the above dates. You can offer to put them in touch with one of these receptions over the phone, where they can receive a Welsh reception service. Translation services are provided by the University's translation unit, You should contact the unit as early as possible to discuss your requirements. Full details of the service are available here: 7

8 I'm organising a one-to-one meeting with a student about a complaint they have made about an academic course. They want to hold the meeting in Welsh. Is it necessary to book a translation service or is there another way to do this? I m organising a public meeting. Do I need to provide simultaneous translation? I'm organising a 'Women in Science' conference that is fully funded by the University. All the promotional materials will be bilingual but there are some women scientists giving talks. Do the talks need to be in Welsh and English? The University is jointly funding a public sports event. The partner in the event is responsible for the entire organisation, but as they are based outside Wales they are not covered by the requirements of the Welsh Standards. What should we do? Please be aware that you also need to allow enough time to gather responses from invitees about their attendance and preferred language. It's not always necessary to use a formal simultaneous translation service to hold the meeting in Welsh. Some people prefer to speak in Welsh, as they feel more comfortable in the language and better able to express themselves. Sometimes a Welsh speaking member of staff from another department, or a similar department, can act as an informal translator and convey the information. Every situation is different, and you will need to assess which option would be most appropriate. A public meeting is defined as a meeting where any member of the public or student can attend. Assuming that the theme of the meeting is dealing with the Activities covered by the Standards (page 2), where invitations aren t sent, simultaneous translation must be arranged. Where invitations are sent (stating that attendees should advise in advance thay they wish to Welsh), and no one advises that they want to use Welsh, there is no need to provide translation. In terms of the requirement to provide simultaneous transaltion, you will need to consider the various elements of this event and assess whether they are: - Public events - Learning opportunities - Public meetings - Meetings not open to the public - Public lectures The advice will vary accordingly. You also need to consider whether or not the content falls within the Activities covered by the Standards (page 2). If you re unable to find sufficient guidance in this document, please contact the Welsh Officers. As the University is providing 50% of the funding for the event, and if the event is being held in Wales, the event should comply with the Welsh Language Standards. It's the University s responsibility to ensure that the event is bilingual and this requirement should be made clear to the partner organisation from the outset, and in any contract signed. The University is responsible for monitoring and checking that the event meets the Standards. However, the notes to the Regulations state that A body is not required to translate into Welsh any text that it has not produced which means that anything that the partner is exhibiting or providing which does not have the Univerity's branding on it and does not appear to be linked to Swansea University in any way, is exempt from the requirement, unless that body is required to produce it bilingually under their own Welsh Language Standards (which would not be the case with a body from outside Wales). 8

9 I work in student recruitment. How should I deal with Welsh Language requirements for open days and visit days? Open days These are to be treated as events under the Standards, with guidance as follows: Standard 35 If you organise a public event, or fund at least 50% of a public event, you must ensure that, in promoting the event, the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than the English language (for example, in the way the event is advertised or publicised). Standard 36 If you organise a public event, or fund at least 50% of a public event, you must ensure that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than the English language at the event (for example, in relation to services offered to persons attending the event, in relation to signs displayed at the event and in relation to audio announcements made at the event). Further interpretation of the Standards: Services offered at the event: Money advice, welfare advice, disability advice: where possible, this will be available in Welsh. Welsh-speaking advocates to be available in welcome areas (with the acceptance that they cannot give expert advice themselves)* Welcome address: attendees should be made aware that Welsh welcome presentation is available (currently one out of four are in Welsh) o Good practice: any slides should be bilingual; English language welcomes should begin with Croeso and Welsh-language services highlighted Information about accommodation for Welsh-speakers should be made clear. Visit days We would look to treat these as meetings under the standards, therefore the guidance is as follows: Standard 27 If you invite more than one person to a meeting, you must ask each person whether they wish to use the Welsh language at the meeting. Standard 27a If you have invited more than one person to a meeting, and at least 10% (but less than 100%) of the persons invited have informed you that they wish to use the Welsh language at the meeting, you must arrange for a simultaneous translation service from Welsh to English to be available at the meeting. Standard 27d If you have invited more than one person to a meeting, and all of the persons invited have informed you that they wish to use the Welsh language at the meeting, you must arrange for a simultaneous translation service from Welsh to 9

10 English to be available at the meeting (unless you conduct the meeting in Welsh without the assistance of a translation service). Further interpretation of the Standards: Standard 27a/27d would only be applicable in the case of subject-specific sessions which included a Q&A session (for example). *In this scenario, our advice is to adopt the stance provided in other areas of the Standards, which is to say that, if a person wishes to receive a service in Welsh, you must deal with the person in Welsh until such point as it is necessary to refer to a member of staff who does not speak Welsh who can provide a service on a specific subject mater. 10