Contract-to-Hire Opportunities

[4f19aa7c]

We’re making it easier for talent open to full-time work to find contract-to-hire opportunities on Upwork.

Check out the product update for Contract-to-Hire Opportunities, and let us know your thoughts about this update in the comments below.

[martina_plaschka]

Dear Upwork, please explain what this is. A few questions:

1. Will upwork support the relationship between client and freelancer/later employee with payroll, HR, the legal framework (and quite frankly, nightmare) of employing a person that resides in a different country?

2. What timeframes are involved from freelancing to full time employment? Opt-out fee? Exit process?

3. Are the ToS updated to reflect changes, if any?

4. Isn't this the old zombie way of working?

But I digress. You need to get the scammer problem under control before doing stuff like this. Scammers will jump on this, with a new and convenient angle. Among others, the company ID scam just became better and more convincing.

Please provide details. 

[colettelewis]

I've just seen this too - and I don't really see the point of it, unless there is some hidden agenda. I'm sure there must be plenty of freelancers, who already work on a long-term basis. What's the advantage for either client or freelancer? 

[martina_plaschka]

I see more advantages to the employee like severance pay and severance periods, for the company it's more expensive with all the additional taxes and social security payments.

No company willing to forgo the flexibility of hiring freelancers will be agreeing to pay upwork any fees for this arrangement, so I'm really interested in hearing all the detail how this is going to work. 

[data_divas]

Do you have a link? I'd like to see what this is. I have a client that wants to hire me but will have to wait until June 2023 to avoid the opt out fee.

Thanks!

[martina_plaschka]

It's just a box you can check on your profile.

There is absolutely no further information on it, which I why I try to find out more here. 

[d_gebeyehu]

I couldn't find any information from the updates sections also. I am also curious about this.

[abuhamad-adham]

Hi Julie

This article will help you https://community.upwork.com/t5/Product-Updates/Contract-to-Hire-Opportunities/ba-p/1178878

[2d0bb780]

I beg to differ here. This could really come handy especially for those who wish to grow on a particular career track.

[3f1a22cb]

hi mam i am rahul  i work seo wordpress

my site   :https://www.upwork.com/services/product/development-it-maximizing-online-visibility-effective-seo-st...

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Martina and others,

I've moved your comments to the feedback thread about this feature and encourage you to check out the update that's now posted here for more information. 

[3f2f0071]

Hello everyone, I have a question there is new filter in job filter called "contract to  hire". can anyone tell me about it ?

[ee5394a8]

Are you open to contract-to-hire? What is its purpose? For what kind of freelancers have such arrangements been made? How can I benefit from this?
Looking forward to the opinion of the experienced.

[martina_plaschka]

Never. It defies the purpose of freelancing.

I doubt there are many clients coming to upwork to hire full-time. 

I have no idea how it is supposed to work when the employer and client don't reside in the same country. The freelancer doesn't benefit from the healthcare/ social security benefits in the client's country, and the client can't hire him in a legal entity in the freelancer's country because he doesn't have one. 

[elisa_b]

"Then, if both parties agree to the working relationship, the job might turn into full-time employment at the conclusion of the contract."

This also contradicts the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" golden rule... 

[martina_plaschka]

And this just after upwork told employers they are ugly old zombies when they hire employees... talk about mixed messages.

[Anonymous-User]

Maybe it is only an indicator, ie if a client has been working with you for a long time, maybe it is a trigger to suggest to them that you are open to a more monogamous relationship, still maintaining the remote/no costs associated with normal employees.

Other than that I cannot see any other reason for it, and even then I think the potential for such a thing is extremely remote.

[martina_plaschka]

Yes, possible. 

But if you are a client on upwork and see that option on a profile, and you are interested in it, you would expect upwork to provide at the very minimum a guideline how to do it. It is a major change to a freelancing platform encouraging freelancers to look for full-time employment. At the other end of the spectrum, a client might expect upwork to provide a framework how to process the whole relationship, in the same way upwork offers payroll services (for US people, I assume). Now people will expect that to be extended to more countries. 

[a_lipsey]

I think Upwork continues to confuse the independent professional with the temporary employee. They have different needs and want different things. More and more Upwork is beginning to resemble a temp agency. 

[martina_plaschka]

Ok, so this is nothing new. A client has to pay the same opt-out fee as before. But now he can hire the person full-time. Again, same as before. There was never a restriction of what can happen after the opt-out fee is paid. Nobody will pay the very high opt-out fee and not getting anything in return. What is the benefit to the client if upwork does not support payroll and everything that comes with it for people most likely not residing in the same country as client? If the freelancer is hired by the company in country A, but resides in country B, there are two ways to do that: company has a legal entity in country B and hires freelancer from there, but this is unlikely. Company hires freelancer in country A, which means he pays salary and benefits in country A. What is the freelancer to do when he gets sick? Fly to country A? How will he get his pension benefits? Are the former freelancers treated equally with the other employees of company? Will there be a class-action lawsuit if they are not?

Well maybe upwork assumes that their 75% US client base will not hire outside of the US. Might very well be true. But what if it isn't? Just slapping a different label on the opt-out fee is not worthy of a large corporation, do better. 

[kochubei_valeria]

Martina,

You are correct, the conversion fee and the process clients can initiate to request a contract conversion aren't new.

The contract-to-hire feature is new and it allows clients to label a job post as a contract-to-hire opportunity to let talent know this contract has that potential. It also enables talent to show their interest in contract-to-hire opportunities and search for such jobs. Upwork will highlight contract-to-hire opportunities for interested talent so people open to full-time opportunities can identify them, but there is no obligation to do so.

[gajda_mary]

I am curious about the conversion fee and  process clients in a bit more detail.

• Could you utilize this for Part-time as the contract-to-hire? = MaryG

[egaruth]

Hi Mary,

I would be happy to help. If a client would like to hire someone they found on Upwork as a full-time employee, they'll need to follow the contract conversion process and pay the Upwork Conversion Fee. Then, they would be approved to handle payment and contracts on your own. To start the conversion process:

1. Go to Jobs > All Contracts
2. Choose a specific contract under All contracts and select the (…) menu
3. Select the Request contract conversion button to start the conversion process

Here is more information about the process and the way the fee is calculated.

[the3dguru]

Since Upwork added this feature I keep seeing posts that are contract to hire and I find it discouraging.

I don't want to work under the conditions of a typical employee, that's why I freelance. I don't want to flog myself so that somebody makes a bit more profit, I don't want reponsibility for something that I don't own, I don't want to deal with company politics. I don't want a job title, to impress 'the boss' or to be let down when the company pivots away from what I'm doing.

Plus, I don't want the client thinking I intend to devote myself to their company. Don't get me wrong, I will devote myself to the work I do, I want to produce the best result I can and I always try to support it. I'm happy to do follow on, extend the project, deal with team members and so on. But what motivation is there to be involved beyond that?

I don't see employment as a reward, its just limiting my options. So dangling it in front of me like a carrot achieves nothing. Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me?

[martina_plaschka]

And we all know that the opt-out fee was supposed to be cost-prohibitive so the relationship stays on upwork for two years. Nobody is going to be willing to pay it just for the privilege of hiring someone full-time. 

[deardipu]

1. Recently Upwork has launched a new feature namely "Job Preference" which shows clients that freelancer is open to starting with a contract, and later exploring a full-time option.

2. Upwork has already a feature which is "Hours per week". It shows clients how many hours available freelancer is. Indirectly it shows clients that freelancer is open to starting with a contract, and if that contract goes well for both freelancer and client, they may make it as a full-time job, doesn't it? 

So what's the big difference between those features?  Curious to know.

Thanks.

[martina_plaschka]

They mean being hired as an employee, not a freelancer. 

[pradeephele]

Hi Md Nazmul,

The Job Preference feature allows you to show Clients that you are open to starting a contract and later exploring a full time option with them. As known as a contract-to-hire opportunity, it begins with a short-term contract and has the potential to turn into a full-time job later. On Upwork, clients can post a job labeled as a contract-to-hire opportunity. The short-term contract phase happens on Upwork like any other Upwork contract. It’s a contract-to-hire opportunity because the client expects to evaluate whether there is a fit for a full-time role once you work together. If both decide you want to transition to a full-time employment arrangement, the client can convert your contract and hire you full-time. Check out this Product Updates page for more information. I will also move this post to the feedback thread about this feature for your reference. 

Thank you,

Pradeep

[aaticheema]

what is the option of open to contract-to-hire?

How does it work?

I have updated this option but I don't know right now, how it works.

Somebody explain it. 

[tinker_bell3]

Hi Atif,

A contract-to-hire opportunity starts with a short-term contract and has the potential to turn into a full-time job later. To learn more about this feature, please read this update. 

[pgregory_indigo]

If anyone from UpWork is listening. The new "contract-to-hire" things is a bit broken. It keeps telling me with a huge annoying banner at the top, that I need to set this preference, the "Job preference" section in the right panel is showing "no preference set", but when I try to set the preference, the only option is to set it to "I am open to contract-to-hire opportunities". I am not, and I want to explicitly state that and save my preference, but there is no way to do that. If I leave it unchecked and click save, it still tells me I haven't set a preference.

Did anyone actually test this feature before rolling it out?


Paul

[ashrafkhan81]

Paul, I understand your confusion, there should have been two options to choose from, but it is actually a checkbox and you can toggle the choice checking means YES and not Checking indicates NO. When they rolled it out, they probably set everyone to NO and whoever sets it to YES will be updated accordingly. Technically it is right, but I agree it could have been done in a better way. 

As for the banner, if feel, the way it is placed it is not customized to our choice. It will continue to display even if we set the preference to YES. It appears to be an informative banner, that is not customized per user choices. And since this is a new feature, it will continue to be displayed until they have something else to show in its place.

[pgregory_indigo]

That doesn't work, if I uncheck it and "Update" it still says "no preference set".

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Paul,

It is by design that unless the freelancer checks the box and selects to enable the "open to contract-to-hire opportunities" preference, it will show "No preference set." That's how it's showing in the edit mode of the profile.
I see how this may be confusing. I will go ahead and share your feedback about this experience with the team and merge these posts with the dedicated feedback thread about this feature..

[ericaandrews]

You should never have a window of 'options' where there is only ONE 'option'. That is always a design flaw. That's like going to a restuarant and being handed a menu with only ONE item on it. What's the point?  If a freelancer can mark themselves as being 'interested' in contract-to-hire opportunities, they should also be able to explicitly mark their profile as NOT interested in contract-to-hire opportunities, because many freelancers are on the platform because they CHOOSE to work independently or own their own companies and are not interested in being somebody else's 'employee'. 

Being able to explicitly see in search or on a freelancer's profile that they are NOT interested in contract-to-hire would also help clients not waste their time 'inviting' a freelancer who is not interested in being an employee. I think UW is starting to forget that the 'heart' of the platform has always been freelancing and independent talent marketing services, not a 'staffing agency' or 'placement firm' model - there are already a million of those.

[1a02e9c0]

what is the option of open to contract-to-hire?

How does it work?

I have updated this option but I don't know right now, how it works.

Somebody explain it. 

[pradeephele]

Hi M V,

Thank you for your message. A contract-to-hire opportunity starts with a short-term contract and has the potential to turn into a full-time job later. On Upwork, clients can post a job labeled as a contract-to-hire opportunity. The short-term contract phase happens on Upwork like any other Upwork contract. It’s a contract-to-hire opportunity because the client expects to evaluate whether there is a fit for a full-time role once you are working together. If you both decide you want to transition to a full-time employment arrangement, the client can convert your contract and hire you full-time. 

Thank you,

Pradeep

[atlinguist]

So this is not a "contract of employment"? I'm curious. Because if it's a "hire" rather than a "contract for services" (under platform rules), freelancers would have duties and obligations set by the employer. They would cease to be self-employed and subject to the Upwork terms and conditions for the duration of the new contract. 

[88fdf858]

Good morning I do believe the contracts starts and shows your potential for
that long job off and what I see so for it’s our duties to participate in
all responses and assignment of your interest to solve the problem more.
May I ask what’s your desire goal, dream job? The Answer to be hire with
the contract you do have? How long you been doing this and what are you
doing it for have you made any profits? ##- Please type your reply above
this line -##

[atlinguist]

As Valeria pointed out, this new "contract-to-hire" label merely shows that you are interested in being hired at some later point. Whether this follows a long-term contract on the Upwork platform or a short one is irrelevant. But it's simply not clear whether you will be hired by the client directly or through the platform.