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quality_2021
Community Member

Billing for Hourly rate:New Freelancer

Hi Everyone!

I am a new freelancer and really seeking for some clarity on payments from this supportive community.

 

I am looking to work on HR projects but very confused on billings. If for example i take an offer that pays $10 an hour and the client wants me to source lets say 3 resumes exactly matching the role. Now, if i spend over 4 -5 hours and then find that the resume i am getting do not meet the exact requirement;In this case do i get paid for the time i spent, or nothing will be paid to me?

 

I recently had this case, where i couldnt get relevant profiles after spending 3-4 hours  and then declined the offer as i was not sure if i should ask to be paid?

 

Also most of the deliverables in HR projects are subjective, for example if i develop a handbook and client comes back saying they do not like it. Do i ask for money for the time spent or not?

 

I really look forward to your responses and thank you for your help.

11 REPLIES 11
roberty1y
Community Member

From the time the contract starts, all the time you spend working on that contract should be tracked and billed to the client. If you think you're not working as fast as you should be, you could bill for less time than you worked, by turning off the tracker. But that is up to you.

martina_plaschka
Community Member

All of these tasks should be done with hourly pay. I admit it's tricky to work in a field where the outcome is not guarateed, which might lead to unhappy clients. You need to manage expectations beforehand and explain the risks. But if you set this up to only get paid after a certain outcome is achieved, you will not earn a lot doing this work. 

Thank you so much Martina,

 

I believe it being my first project, i was hesitant how it should go and i just did not charge the client at all.

 

If the same work is on a fixed budget and not hourly, same rule applies or that will depend on giving them the resumes they like,

 

Sorry i am just trying to understand it all, as this is the first time i am freelancing.

 

 

 

prestonhunter
Community Member

What exactly are you confused about?

 

People have been getting paid by the hour since clocks were invented: For hundreds of years.

 

Here is an example of how hourly pay works:


I hired a new waitress to work in my restaurant.

We had a slow day. No customers came in.

I decided to have a tasting for all of my staff, to help them do their jobs better by becoming more familiar with the menu.

My chefs prepared every dish.

The new waitress lit a cigar and held it up to a smoke detector.

This caused the automated sprinklers to go off in the dining room, ruining all of the food and causing thousands of dollars of damage to linen and furniture.

As the new waitress pulled out of the driveway to go home, she ran over my dog and killed him.

He was a beloved part of my family for years.

 

The waitress clocked a total of 5 hours.

Her hourly pay is $12/hour.

 

She earned $60.


Preston H wrote:

What exactly are you confused about?

 

People have been getting paid by the hour since clocks were invented: For hundreds of years.

 

Here is an example of how hourly pay works:


I hired a new waitress to work in my restaurant.

We had a slow day. No customer came in.

I decided to have a tasting for all of my staff, to help them do their jobs better by becoming more familiar with the menu.

My chefs prepared ever dish.

The new waitress lit a cigar and held it up to a smoke detector.

This caused the automated sprinklers to go off in the dining room, ruining all of the food and causing thousands of dollars of damage to linen and furniture.

As the new waitress pulled out of the driveway to go home, she ran over my dog and killed him.

He was a beloved part of my family for years.

 

The waitress clocked a total of 5 hours.

Her hourly pay is $12/hour.

 

She earned $60.


That waitress is probably a freelancer on Upwork right now, on the lookout for more easy money.

Preston you crack me up sometimes. Great explanation!

Preston must have been a funny teacher, with the way he explains things here and there, funny and also clears the issue at hand.

 

kinector
Community Member

Preston's example is both hilarious and perfectly accurate. 🤣

 

I just want to clarify how the system works in this case of hourly jobs.

 

- As long as you use the tracker, you will get paid for the time you have clocked. This works almost every time (some arbitrations issues might be an exception but those are never launched on small contracts because the cost of arbitration is higher than the whole project).

 

- The results you produce are either satisfactory or unsatisfactory to the client. Satisfactory results not being an issue, the unsatisfactory results go like this:

 a) If it was some misunderstanding or failure on the freelancer's side, most freelancers (probably) favor good client relationships over a few bucks more and do the corrections for free. Do the work without pressing the time tracker on.

 b) If the misunderstanding is because of bad instructions, unclear goals, or other vagueness from the client's side, a reasonable client will understand that what was asked was done. In that case,  a decent client would gladly allow the freelancer to clock more time to do the corrections. This is the case that usually starts with "Oh I forgot to mention...!"

 

- As time is relative (read Einstein for the specifics) and you've spent more time than expected by the client, even if the client might like your work, the satisfaction to the experience is not high as the bill is bigger than expected. Also, in this case, many experienced freelancers would try to do some small thing extra to make it up for the client to guarantee satisfaction to not only the results but the entire experience of working with you.

 

- When the contract is ended, both leave double-blind feedback. The private feedback can never be removed whereas the public ones sometimes can (Top Rated perk, client's violation of ToS, etc.)

 

Regardless of how the system works, I suppose the bottom line here is expectation management. What is it that you know the client is hoping to get as the impact of owning the results you have reproduced? Is it what was expected or not? What did you promise?

 

I hope this helps you think this a bit further... You decide what kind of business you do.

 

 

petra_r
Community Member


Mikko R wrote:

(some arbitrations issues might be an exception but those are never launched on small contracts because the cost of arbitration is higher than the whole project).


There is no arbitration on hourly contracts.

Ever

 

Disputes on hourly contracts are decided purely on whether the time was logged correct, so using the tracker, with meaningful work memos, good activity levels and all screenshots showing the freelancer working on the client's project.

 

So basically, use the tracker correctly and you'll get paid.

That's really all there is to it when it comes to hourly contracts.

tlbp
Community Member

Using the tracker correctly to secure Upwork's Payment Protection ensures payment. However, it doesn't ensure that your client will be happy and leave you a favorable review. 

 

Make sure you understand what the client's expectations are before entering into the contract. Confirm that it is their intent to hire you to put forth your best effort to find the desired candidates, not to guarantee them a qualified candidate. 

 

As a professional business owner, it is up to you to be sure you communicate fully with your prospective client and that you have a shared understanding of what is expected. Don't assume anything. Ask, clarify and confirm the expectations in writing. 

ashrafkhan81
Community Member


Parul S wrote:

Do i ask for money for the time spent or not?


Parul, I totally understand where you are coming from. Hourly jobs are not very common in India or UAE. Having worked in both the countries and more I understand your confusion.

 

Hourly jobs serve best for both the scenarios you just described.  When you do not know how long a job will take to complete you go for hourly contracts.

 

Subjective outcomes need a hourly payment setup, for the reason that outcomes are subjective and many need few revisions.

 

You should bill and charge for every minuet spent on that clinet's project. Do not feel guilty of loging time and not finding sucess, as long are you are putting your best efforts. Only take projects that you are 100% confident of delivering!

 

TIPS for Tracking Time:

- Upwork will cover you for hourly contarcts only if you keep the tracker on and do the work on that project. They track acivity and take screen shots.

- Do not keep count of time on your own, in order to inform the client about time spent and hoping they'd pay you. A few might pay that way, but upwork will not protect you in this case.

- Avoid logging manual time, even if the clinet has allowed you, this again is not covered by upwork.

 

Hope that helps.

 

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