Holiday Payment Delays

[Lena E]

Over the holidays, Upwork’s automated systems will be processing all requests and transfers as normal However, there can sometimes be slight delays in receiving and withdrawing funds due to bank holidays. This is because banks calculate direct Upwork-to-bank-account payments in business days. Holidays and weekends are not counted as business days.

Upwork operates in over 240 countries, so we must depend on you to be aware of the bank holidays in your own country and plan ahead. Upcoming US bank holidays are:

2016

Christmas Day (Observed), Monday, December 26

2017

New Year’s Day (observed), Monday, January 2

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 16

Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 20

Memorial Day, Monday, May 29

Independence Day, Tuesday, July 4

Labor Day, Monday, September 4

Veterans’ Day (observed), Friday, November 10

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23

Christmas Day, Monday, December 25

For more information, check out this Upwork Help Article

In particular, banks in the Philippines have very limited business days over the holidays:

Dec 24 : Christmas Eve (Special Non-Working Day)

Dec 25: Christmas Day (Holiday)

Dec 26: Public Holiday (Special Non-Working Day)

Dec 27: Banks may be open (confirm with your individual bank)

Dec 28: Banks may be open (confirm with your individual bank)

Dec 29: Banks may be open (confirm with your individual bank)

Dec 30: Rizal Day (Holiday)

Dec 31: New Year's Eve (Special Non-Working Day)

Jan 1: New Year's Day (Holiday)

Jan 2: Public Holiday (Special Non-Working Day)

[Juvy Ann P]

Thanks for this advisory.  I have not encountered any payment delays except last January 2, 2017.  But I was expecting it so I did not attempt to bother any of the CS reps anymore.  Thanks for this reminder again, Lena.

[Charmaine Marie P]

Hi, since we are talking about pays here..I have a quick question, because for a weekly/hourly rate freelancer like me we would normally see our balance available for withdrawal every Wedneday. However, for some reason last Monday Feb 6 it became available. Was it a glitch on the system? Or is the schedule for payment has been changed from Wedneday to Monday? How does this work? Thank you.

[Valeria K]

Hi Charmaine,

Please, refer to Lena's post earlier on this thread:

---

@Lena E. wrote:
We accidentally released earnings prematurely, and some freelancers will find they’re unable to withdraw those funds until the regularly scheduled availability date of Wednesday, Feb 8th. We apologize for the inconvenience.

We recognize the importance of you receiving the money you've earned in a timely fashion so be assured that this is something we take seriously. We are working diligently to ensure a smooth withdrawal for all of our users.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

[Anton V]

Hello,

Does somebody know, if there are any delays right now?

I have withdrawn funds on the 1st March 2017, but it still did not arrive.

I raise a help support ticket #18046992, they say it has been withdrawn successfully.

I have contacted my bank - they say, that money did not arrive and I need to ask UpWork to investigate.

In the ticket UpWork says, that I need to wait 8 days to initiate the investigation, but I cannot wait so long, because I need to do regular payments earlier on my side.

UpWork, please start the investigation, there is something wrong for sure.

Thanks,

Anton.

[Vladimir G]

Hi Anton,

Please note that your payment is still within the standard four business-day processing period and you should receive your funds soon, which are processed according to UTC time. Please refer to the information our agent shared and feel free to follow up on the ticket if you have any questions. Also note that our team needs to follow proper procedure in case a transaction doesn't arrive in the expected time frame, and can initiate a trace eight business days from the withdrawal date.

[Anton V]

Hello Vladimir,

Thank you for your reply.

Funds have finally arrived at the end of 4th business day.

Usually they have arrived at the end of day 2, that is why such a long delay is a significant.

As far as I was able to learn, 1st March was some holiday in Germany, and my bank

uses an intermediate bank in Germany to transfer funds.

So, I guess, this might explain things and I need to consider not only US holidays, but also German holidays.

Thanks,

AV.

[Abigail C]

I already requested to withdraw funds last September 2... Upwork usually process it on the same day, but it's already September 4 here in Philippines and I haven't got any email stating Upwork has processed my payment request. Why? Upwork should process it first so the payment request will reach my local bank in the next business day.

[Vladimir G]

Hi Abigail, sorry for the late follow-up on your post. I checked and your most recent withdrawal was processed earlier today. Please note that Direct to Local Bank transfers usually take about five business days to be processed and the funds to arrive in the receiving bank account.

[Abigail C]

Thank you for the reaponse...