Do I have to pay the freelancer if the deadline is missed?

[c3b69898]

Hello everyone,

If a freelancer I hire misses the deadline, do I still have pay if he turns in the project late? Let's assume the project is of no use to me after the deadline.

Thank you.

[prestonhunter]

If you hire using a fixed-price contract, then you would need to get the freelancer's permission in order to get any refund, regardless of whether the work is late. It does not matter if the work is of no use to you.

The Upwork software system does not factor in deadlines, and it has no way of knowing that the work is of no use to you. A fixed-price payment has only these two options:

- release the money to the freelancer

- ask the freelancer for a refund 

If you ask a freelancer for a refund and the freelancer does not agree to the refund, then a dispute ensues.

If:

a) The deadline is important 

and

b) I want to be able to NOT pay for work that is late

Then it makes sense for me to use an hourly contract.

The problem you have is that these two goals are somewhat at odds with each other:

- minimizing cost

- ensuring work is done before the deadline

Decide which is most important to you.

On way to try to serve both of these goals is this:

Post a job for a team project. State that the project has a specific goal, and when that goal has been completed by the team, the contracts will be closed.

Hire freelancers using an hourly contract. They each work independently of each other, given the same assignment. Tell them what the deadline is, but emphasize that the contracts may be closed before then if the project is completed.

When the work is done, close the contracts.

There may be some people who say this method of hiring is "unfair." Maybe they are right. I don't know. If you want to avoid hiring multiple freelancers simultaneously in a way that is unfair, then you can use the Bonus tool to pay at least $5 to every freelancer you hire regardless of whether or not they do anything. That way there is no negative impact on their JSS due to having a zero-pay contract. And you can give every freelancer who does nothing five-star ratings.

Alternatively, you may hire freelancers sequentially rather than hiring multiple freelancers simultaneously. If you tell a freelancer that the deadline is 24 hours from now, then you have every right to close the contract when the deadline comes. Then, if you did not obtain the work you need by the deadline, you can close the contract and hire another freelancer.

[tlsanders]

It may be a hard sell that the project is of no use to you after the deadline if instead of closing the contract and requesting a refund when the deadline passed, you waited for the freelancer to finish and supply the work and then decided you didn't want to pay.

If the deadline was critical and you conveyed that to the freelancer, it would certainly have been fair to close the contract when it expired.

[prestonhunter]

I agree with Tiffany's assessment of what would be fair.

But keep in mind that the Upwork user interface doesn't recognize fairness. A client would still need to receive the freelancer's approval in order to receive a refund of a fixed-price contract's escrow funding.

[petra_r]

---

Preston H wrote:

A client would still need to receive the freelancer's approval in order to receive a refund of a fixed-price contract's escrow funding.

---

No.

1. - If the freelancer refuses to refund it goes to dispute and could go to arbitration. If the freelancer had from the start agreed to a "no payment if deadline is missed" term,  arbitration would likely find in favour of the client if it went that far.

2. - If the freelancer does not dispute, the money goes back to the client in 7 days.

[bd579e2e]

Assume my bidding close date is the same as project deadline.

do you thing it is fair that losing my bidding due to un-professional freelancers work/commitment.

what is the use of hiring someone else? Since my project with Upwork has no value then!! 

Upwork should maintain contract deadline and should be accepted by both parties.

I'm facing similar concerns and not willing to do any freelancing project with Upwork.

I'm the main source of money for Upwork and my rights should be protected.

[tlsanders]

If your bidding deadline is the same as your project due date, you are a horrible business person and should take some time to educate yourself before attempting further projects. Any sensible business person would build in a buffer to review the project, make any necessary revisions, and even to take back-up steps if the freelancer failed (unless it was a trusted freelancer you'd worked with several times in the past).