Billing hours for clients down time

[francesw106]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to reach out and seek some advice on a situation I'm currently facing with a client. I recently resigned from my previous client and started working with a new one. Unfortunately, this new client has been experiencing technical issues for almost 2 weeks, which has caused me to fall short of my weekly earnings.

The client reached out a few days from these to weeks, asking me to bill him that day, but hasn't been communicating with me consistently about the rest of the days, leaving me wondering whether to bill him or not. On one hand, I value my work ethic and don't feel comfortable billing for work that has not been done. On the other hand, I have lost a significant amount of time and money due to these technical issues.

Before I decide to bill him or not, I would like to know if Upwork has any policies in place that protect freelancers from situations like this, where the client is at fault for the downtime, and has been unresponsive. Additionally, I would appreciate any advice or insights you may have on how to handle this situation in a professional manner.

Thanks everyone 🙂 

[wlyonsatl]

Upwork pretty much leaves it up to you to decide whether or not to bill a client for any reason.

If the client doesn't object to time you billed and pays you, then you're fine.

If the client does object and you have submitted for work time manually, you are not covered by Upwork's excellent hourly payment protection. (You can't use TImeTracker if you are not working on something for a client.) You will not be paid for the time you have manually billed the client for.

So, the answer to your question is to be sure the client agrees with you as to what amount of time you will submit for payment and be paid for.